What separates elite from great

[FredRekk]

I have been following boxing since the mid 70's and some of today's fighters are comparable to fighters from any era. It is easy to reminisce and claim that the athletes of today are no match for the athletes of the past. My father and grandfathers did it all the time. I claim B.S. Every decade has it's great athletes and that includes boxing. Some divisions may be weaker than others at times but that has always been the case. The issue with boxing currrently is that the promoters are too protective and are avoiding pitting the best against the best.

Yes you literally just proved my point with that sentence.

[KillaMane26]

Elite fighters never look avg vs blevel guys. They should completely outclass guys of lesser class.

[Pigeons]

Natural athleticism
Starting young
Working hard

[The Gambler1981]

Elite is an excellent fighter for whatever reason and gets to the top of the mountain. A great is an elite fighter with the desire and will to stay on top over a long period.

An elite fighter can have a great run in their career but when talking about them you would usually hear the term "what if" in a major way. If a fighter is truly great there are very few "what ifs" that are truly meaningful.

[Alan Smithee]

Ha ha... pretty similar to what I just posted above, cept it was the early 80s for me. Co-sign.

Agreed. This era has some pretty damn good fighters.

[sargo]

Elite - better than the rest

Great - did great things (obviously) like make elite fighters look ordinary, fight at a disadvantage, fought cleanly, longevity, etc.

[Curtis Harper]

What separates elite from great -

Longevity. A fighter can be great for a period of time (He had a great run). To be elite, one must be dominant for the larger portion of their resume.

[Marchegiano]

Wins

I'm not sure which is meant to be higher, elite or great, but the man with the more impressive wins is the higher exalted man.

Wlad vs Ali

Wlad was around forever, dominated the **** out of his era, has no wins worth mention; not in Ali's league.

[REDEEMER]

Elite would be abilities that are hard to improve on . Being great would fall in range of most world level competition otherwise they wouldn't be there. Elite would be ability to be the best at whatever you do even in losses the elite person is a winner almost always and stands out because of particular skill sets .

[Eff Pandas]

DN f#cking A.

And I think what really decides the tip top guys is work ethic. I think plenty of elite guys got the DNA but dont work hard. I think some guys without great DNA can work hard & become elite. But those guys who work hard & got the DNA are more of the cream of the crop who become the greats.