what is a better indicator of a fighters level

Past level of competition counts, that's why I went with an old, unmotivated , fat and happy Lewis KO'ing good looking but faced no A level Vitali. :yep

 

I think the best true indication of a fighters ability is how they perform against proven top quality fighters.

You can assess certain aspects of a fighter by just looking at them, but this is related to more technical aspects of what they are doing right or wrong or what they know or do not know.

Attributes like speed and power can be flattered when facing weaker opposition and when they jump up these attributes suddenly become less advantageous. Wilder for example looked like a top level one punch KO artist until he stepped up, now he just seems like a good puncher but nothing remarkable.

Also when looking at when they face weak opposition you are not really seeing a fighter being truly tested you can't see the flaws in their game because their opposition is not good enough to expose these flaws and you are also not seeing them at their best either, they may have skills they have get to show off because they have not yet had to dig deep into their bag of tricks.

 

Obviously beating elite opponents is the only way of proving if some guy is legit. A guy might have a bit about him but one can only prove if you're great by fighting top opposition. You learn nothing about yourself as a boxer, and a fan learns nothing about their boxer when he fights absolute cans. The same people who idolise guys who take out the trash on the regular hate the likes of Wilder's guts....it's double standards bull****.

 

How do we know what an elite opponent is ?

The thread question can keep coming back to itself.
If you don't know how to assess a fighter's level, how can you know how to assess and categorize the opponents he's supposedly being tested against ?
It's a vicious circle, question with no answer. :yep

 

An elite opponent. Everybody pads their record with cans. That's how Broner got into the p4p lists, and how Chavez Jr. became a star. Right now, I'd say that's why Khytrov and Lemieux are so overrated.

 

Exactly. There are are only a handful of fights that matter in a fighters career. If you are elite then crushing cans means nothing. Its all about what you do against men of your own level.

People don't watch boxing to see one man destroy another. We watch boxing to see one guy take everything his opponent has and still manages to give it all back in spite it all.

 

I think there are several factors to tell if a fighter is elite. Level of opposition is important(is the fighters opponent a model or well known personality?).
Punching power is huge(how much damage can a fighter do to his ol' lady's face?).
Footwork is a big factor(at da club or while speaking in rythm over a backing track on the way to the ring).
Elusiveness is essential(when it comes to avoiding arrests, drug testing and any sort of convictions).
How much bling does the fighter carry?(obviously, gold chains and grills are way more important than title belts or actual achievements).
Also, you shouldn't pay attention to fighters who are educated in any significant way. How can a fighter be great if he wastes time becoming fluent in his own language or learning to read and write? Great fighters also need to be too self absorbed to show their opponent any sort of respect. If your opponent is a hard working contender willing to put his health on the line in order to make a better life for his family, a great fighter must constantly insult him and threaten to take his wife home.
These are the true ways to tell if a fighter is truly great!

 

But eventually the elite fighters always make their presence known. Guys like Mayweather, Pac, Klitchko, Bradley, JMM, Froch, Ward, have fought their way to the top and proven themselves among elite opposition. This is why they are elite fighters.

Guys like broner didn't make it, guys like Maidana almost made it elite but fell a step short. Guys like Wilder and Joshua and GGG are on their way but untested so far.

 

Thomas Delorme looks otherworldly crushing cans the moment he stepped it up his fragile jaw was exposed. just looking at skills is not enough to determine the relative merit of a fighter. Margarito looks like a lump of shiiit skill wise but has intangibles that lead to a championship belt. No one can ultimately prognosticate the ultimate merit of a fighter solely based on skill set. Rocky Marciano would not have been highly thought of nor was at the beginning of his career except for his incredible intangibles and the pedigree of his opponents.

 

i guess whichever method supports the agenda youre trying to push. for the ts it would have to be competition level, so he can say ggg isnt proven. for ggg fans, it would be the way he dispatches b level fighters with ease. for those who dont like to bull**** themselves, its a combination of these and other things.