Now you may be thinking what in the he'll does this guy mean? Well having read various posts on this site I seen people state that (among others) Ricky Hatton and Carl Froch are or in Hattons case were not world class fighters. I'm interested to here what classifies someone as a world class fighter if these two aren't? I think people are getting confused between world class and elete. I think that they are obviously world class but they probably not elite though a case could be made for saying Hatton is elite. I'll have a go at describing what the two terms mean to me. World class= top 15 or so in your weight class in the world (depending on the depth of the division) elite = Top 5 or so p4p (again depending on the depth of the sport at the time) thoughts?
Nothing to discuss but yeah i kind of agree with you. There is no doubt in my mind Hatton and Froch are world class fighters but they certainly aren't elite
When I think "elite", I typically think of guys that you could drop into any era and they would be winning titles or Top 5. Guys like Floyd, Pacquiao, the Klitschko brothers, etc.. When I think "world class" I am typically thinking of guys who are Top 10 or so in the present era. Edit: Neither of these are hard and fast definitions and I've probably interchanged the words in the past.
Anyone who gets a title shot would have to be world class. I guess how you use the words depends on the context. Let's say there was a guy at your gym who was in the top 20 for his weight division. When you described your sparring sessions with him, you would probably say that he was a world class boxer. If you are a historian, or just a contemporary fan, you may not say that the same guy is a world class boxer - unless he beat (or fought well against) someone in the top 10 or so. Other people seem to use the term world class to mean a single dominant champion in the division. So, someone can be ranked #1, but if there are any challengers who could potentially beat them, then they don't get called world class. To me, I see any world class boxers as being elite. I see any boxers within spitting distance of a title shot as being world class. None of which stops Harrison from being a bum.
