Elite brits...

[mullenman]

Don't let the paper titles fool you..
There is three world elite level brits.....
Frampton
Fury
Degale..

Crolla joins the list of he beats linares

[Horse]

Crolla joins the list of he beats linares

Does he?

[smiling assassin]

Harsh not having brook in that list. I agree with horse even if Crolla beats Linares he still not elite

[tobyh5]

I agree and I do not have Brook on the list. Beating Porter (who was NOT the next Tyson and all that retrospective BS) is not enough.

In fact re: Brook and Porter, it fecking grates on me how everyone makes out Porter was something he wasn't just to elevate Brook.

[mullenman]

If he beats linares he gets the ring belt and three quality fighters he has beaten. Who else does he have to beat and don't say flangan as not only has he not beat much he doesn't sell 300 tickets a fight..

[crusader]

How low could you realistically have Brook at 147?

[mullenman]

How low could you realistically have Brook at 147?

Behind pacman therman and Bradley

And fourth don't get a medal in any sport I know

[Oiky]

Fury is definitely elite

[crusader]

I think Brook would have a great chance of scoring multiple wins if he faced all those guys.

[davie]

Don't let the paper titles fool you..
There is three world elite level brits.....
Frampton
Fury
Degale..

Crolla joins the list of he beats linares

I would be interested to see the criteria applied to this "elite" status.

Is it biased more towards ability, strength of resume or ranking?

The term "elite" is a wooly one, much like the term world class. And different people have very different concepts of what that entails.
Ability has to be a major factor to consider, but someone can often look better than they are based on their level of opposition
The level of competition they have faced has to be a major factor. But we then have to consider who they fought, when they fought them, how they performed and the weight and relative stage of their career the opponent was at. As well as various other factors such as injuries.
Rankings, well they have to be considered as they are there for a reason,. but they are as subjective as the above 2 factors and vary widely and are susceptible to opinion.

You're right, titles is not the qualifier to be considered "world class" let alone elite and your list there are arguably the top 3 we have in the UK just now. But are they elite? Is that an exhaustive list of our elite fighters? Where do we draw the line?

For me Frampton ticks every box. His talent is in little doubt and there are very few weaknesses in his game. He's been at world level since 2013 for me, he's beaten an actual world champion to win his first strap, he's unified and he's won a title at a second weight, again against a world class operator and naturally bigger fighter.

Fury? Talented, yes. Elite level talented? There are obvious holes in his game and things he could do better, but sometimes even the very best don't do everything perfectly. GGG doesn't move his head, Mayweather doesn't hit hard etc.
Resume? He fought a whole heap of second and third tier guys and made mistakes against almost every one. But he did the business and earned his shot.
He beat "the Man", so that has to give him kudos. Was the man past his best? I suppose he can only fight him when the opportunity presents itself. We'll find out a few more answers next month. For now he is the number 1 heavyweight (is he the best??? still lot's of fights to truly justify that.) but even being the number 1 man in your division doesn't qualify as "elite". Is the no1 Cruiserweight elite, is there an elite fighter at lightweight? Is there an elite fighter from flyweight down?
Fury, I'll give you, but there more than a few question marks

Degale?
He has the talent but does he have the desire and work ethic. He can look fantastic when he gives it 100%, but he never sustains that throughout a fight. He takes breaks and does just enough, can he maintain it when he needs to?
He is arguably (and arguably not) the best SMW, but only in the absence of Andre Ward. Andre Ward is an example of elite and he'd make mince meat of Degale.
Resume? Dirrell and Bute? That's not elite.
I'll wait until he faces C Smith or Ramires before I call him elite.

Brook, I would put on a par with Degale in terms of ability, with what looks to me to be more hunger and desire.
His Porter win, albeit narrow, was as good as Dirrell or Bute and his performance against GGG does nothing to dent his reputation.
He is still potentially the best welter out there, certainly has to be considered in the mix and I would put money on him to win a world title at 154 or 160 against someone who isn't Golovkin.
Elite, again not yet but has as strong a case as Degale.

Crolla? if he beats Linares?
Not quite. I still don't think he has proven he is the best British lightwieght, let alone elite.
Linares wouldn't qualify you as elite either

[Stuarty]

I think Brook would have a great chance of scoring multiple wins if he faced all those guys.

Likewise If DeGale is classed as elite then Brook should be as well.

[davie]

I agree and I do not have Brook on the list. Beating Porter (who was NOT the next Tyson and all that retrospective BS) is not enough.

In fact re: Brook and Porter, it fecking grates on me how everyone makes out Porter was something he wasn't just to elevate Brook.

To be fair, Porter looked crude but his performance against Thurman, left me very impressed with the winner and loser in that fight.
He is a world class win in my opinion.

[crusader]

Porter is better than Linares and everyone Crolla has beaten.

[davie]

If he beats linares he gets the ring belt and three quality fighters he has beaten. Who else does he have to beat and don't say flangan as not only has he not beat much he doesn't sell 300 tickets a fight..

Sorry I left ticket sales off my list, I forgot it was such a major factor in being an elite level sportsman.

There isn't a great deal between Flanagan and Crollas opposition.
Linares would be the best win but I don't think he beats him (hope he proves me wrong, yet again!) but he would be elite, no way!

[gilgamesh]

Don't let the paper titles fool you..
There is three world elite level brits.....
Frampton
Fury
Degale..

Crolla joins the list of he beats linares

Frampton is on his way to being Fighter of the Year possibly so I agree with you certainly on that one.

Fury: Let's see him win a World Title fight against someone that actually fights, maybe then I'd consider him Elite. Right now he doesn't impress me.

Degale: Doesn't impress me much either. He's beaten some decent fighters, but the fights are often closer than you'd expect, and he's not fighting the best the division has to offer. I don't think he's the best in the weight class.

Not sure if Crolla joins the list if he beats Linares, but it'd certainly be the best win for Crolla up to this point, and you gotta love Crolla for how he brings it.

[Horse]

Fury: Let's see him win a World Title fight against someone that actually fights, maybe then I'd consider him Elite. Right now he doesn't impress me.

[gilgamesh]

Fury: Let's see him win a World Title fight against someone that actually fights, maybe then I'd consider him Elite. Right now he doesn't impress me.

Rematch is coming up soon. Or at least I guess it is. Unless Fury wants to keep d*cking around. Let's see what happens. I'll never pretend there was something to be impressed by in Fury vs Wlad 1. Wlad didn't fight. Fury barely fought. Barely fighting was enough to beat not fighting. End of story.

One of the worst fights ever. 2 losers, no winner. Fury was handed the Heavyweight Championship that night, that's all the accolades he deserves until he actually proves himself against someone that's coming to fight.

[Horse]

Rematch is coming up soon. Or at least I guess it is. Unless Fury wants to keep d*cking around. Let's see what happens. I'll never pretend there was something to be impressed by in Fury vs Wlad 1. Wlad didn't fight. Fury barely fought. Barely fighting was enough to beat not fighting. End of story.

One of the worst fights ever. 2 losers, no winner. Fury was handed the Heavyweight Championship that night, that's all the accolades he deserves until he actually proves himself against someone that's coming to fight.

Since Fury became the undisputed heavyweight champion, I'd say he won.

I enjoyed the fight, but some people can't appreciate the finer things in life.

[mullenman]

Pacman would easily beat Kell brook

[gilgamesh]

Rematch is coming up soon. Or at least I guess it is. Unless Fury wants to keep d*cking around. Let's see what happens. I'll never pretend there was something to be impressed by in Fury vs Wlad 1. Wlad didn't fight. Fury barely fought. Barely fighting was enough to beat not fighting. End of story.

One of the worst fights ever. 2 losers, no winner. Fury was handed the Heavyweight Championship that night, that's all the accolades he deserves until he actually proves himself against someone that's coming to fight.

Since Fury became the undisputed heavyweight champion, I'd say he won.

I enjoyed the fight, but some people can't appreciate the finer things in life.

I scored the fight for him. So yeah he's the Heavyweight Champion. That's all the credit either of them deserve for that joke of a fight.

[gilgamesh]

Pacman would easily beat Kell brook

In his prime yeah. Now...I doubt it very much. It's not out of the question he'd still beat him, but there's no way in hell it'd be easy.

[Horse]

I scored the fight for him. So yeah he's the Heavyweight Champion. That's all the credit either of them deserve for that joke of a fight.

It was a good fight, very underrated.

Fantastic performance from Fury.

[gilgamesh]

I scored the fight for him. So yeah he's the Heavyweight Champion. That's all the credit either of them deserve for that joke of a fight.

It was a good fight, very underrated.

Fantastic performance from Fury.

What would you consider a bad fight if that wasn't one?

[crusader]

Pacman would easily beat Kell brook

Today's Pac? Not really sure it would be easy, and I'd give Brook great chances against Thurman and Bradley...I'd probably pick him against both.

[rossij8]

I always think fights that have (BBC) Radio 5 Live as a broadcaster for our boxers is a yardstick on whether you are in an elite class or popular (the two could be different)

Off the top of my head from last year onwards, Fury, Crolla, Khan, Frampton v Quigg (UK unification), Frampton v Santa Cruz and Brook have been given big commentaries on their world title fights

Liam Smith hardly got a mention last night and I don't think Degale or Groves got a slot either with their world title fights