how many world class fighters do we really have?

You just know Solaris will use this as another opportunity to slag off Burns.

On topic though, despite his recent fight id say Froch is World Class, being world class doesnt mean best in the world but maybe top 5? Like him or not there arent many better.

Id say Burns was but not sure if he is now and McDonnell id say is

 

Like you I don't want this to turn into a burns thread, but I agree we only have froch and imo burns, I truly believe he has his love for boxing back and come march he will beat Crawford, it might not be pretty but he will get the job done. So in answer to your question we have two, khan was until his last couple of fights seems to have gone downhill imo

 

Khan has been found out too many times for me to consider him, the things he is bad at/suffers from outweigh his attributes in terms of effectiveness...trying to say his Jaw, defence and IQ mean he will never test world level comp, despite his speed and boxing ability

 

Not yet, I don't think you can be classed as world class until you become champion and put together some defences.

 

Agree with what you say but you have to say maidana, malinaggi and Judah were all world class when he beat them.

 

Im not sure yet, really needed to say how his career develops a little for me. His next 2 fights will hopefully establish how far off, if at all, world level he is.

I say this because the Froch fight really needed to come to a legitimate conclusion as too many questions exist...Is he only world class for 6/7 rounds, did Frochs style play into his hands, can he adapt with more skilful boxers in there, despite getting into a brawl can he prove he can learn to avoid it and stick to a gameplan against the best fighters etc

 

People go way over-board in regards to 'world class' and that you have to be a champion to be world class.

Just because you don't beat a champion doesn't mean your not world class, as long as a fighter is competitive at world level they should be classed as a world class fighter.

I think ola afolabi is a good example, hasn't beaten a champion but has had a few very close fights with Marco Huck who is a champion.

 

spot on.

Macklin and Khan are both world class IMO

 

Yeah fair play its a good point but surely you need to be constantly fighting at that level, a lot of fighters get there chance and may give a champion a good fight on the night i.e groves but then look terrible in there next fight which in my eyes mean they are not world class

 

Like Chisora for example, gave Vit a rough fight but was sparked by Haye and outpointed by Fury (And you cant say he was out of shape against Fury as you could level that at Vitali which many claim Chisora deserves recognition for)

You have to be able to compete with the best and surely win some of those bouts, otherwise your a fringe contender are you not?

 

I like this post,

World class for me is in and around the world scene, clearly there is limitations on the label "world class".

What is supposed to separate world class fighters and world champions are world title's, we all know that world title's in over 50% of cases are worthless. Therefore what is the yard stick? It used to be clearly defined, now its open to interpretation to the fan. Now of course we are in the mega star PPV era where titles are often not even contested for, I believe this bracket is now labelled "the elite". 3 definitive layers of top level fighters: world class, world champion and "elite" or P4P standout. Thats my interpretation.

Some quick yes / no's IMO

George Groves - Yes
Ricky Burns - Yes
Kevin Mitchell - No (but I have faith he can capture a world title)
Tony Bellew - No (heavy defeat to Stevenson really did display how much he was out of his depth, really unfortunate and I look forward to seeing him at CW)
Frankie Gavin - No (not yet proved as a pro to be a world class fighter)
Kell Brook - Yes (beyond reasonable doubt IMO)
Gavin Rees - Yes

As examples, now, look at some of the more accomplished domestic guys such as Anthony Crolla and the likes, how can anyone say this guy is not close to being a world class fighter?

Contesting a world title, does this qualify as being "world class"?, Mitchell and Bellew were both obliterated convincingly in brutally one sided attempts at winning world title's? again, open to interpretation.

I think the majority who post are too quick to rubbish or criticise a "world class" label, and should really pay attention to what it means.

 

World class to me means beating (not being predicted to beat yet not facing ) other but not all top 5 ranked fighters, if you then went on to getting beat by 2 of them wouldnt mean your not world class- Eg Froch

You coud argue though the Top 1 rankings define world class, other people may relate to historical fighters to rank as world class-Ie Fury possibly is right now, but not in any other era

 

Froch
Groves
Murray
Frampton
Quigg
Burns
Fury