is hatton an elite or not?

[Howlin Mad Missy]

To me.. to be elite you have to beat the elites. And so far he hasn't done that.. you could argue that Tsyzu and Castillo were elite but it was clear they were past their best, although that doesn't take anything away from the victory, you can only fight who's infront of you after all.

I'm not taking anything away from Hatton, he's one of my favourite fighters, but I think he's always stumbled when trying to achieve elite status, and he always will. But I hope he ends his career on a high, I'd love to see one or even two more fights from him.. to me he can still easily beat Witter, Bradley or Holt.

I don't disagree with what you are saying apart from "Tszyu was clearly past his best" I honestly don't think he was, there were no signs of decline in Tszyu, he just got mauled and out gamed.

KT had been woefully inactive. It was an insane fight, stupid time in the morning and a ridiculous amount of mauling that Hatton was allowed to get away with. Most of the British fans didn't mind turning a blind eye to that as long as there man won - hence, calling the ref a cheat everytime Hatton fought in the US when he broke up the tight fest for 'not allowing Ricky to work'.

Castillo was way gone when Hatton got to him.

There are some good names on paper. For instance Ben Tackie is a decent name but a terrible 1-2 plodder.

Hatton, great British fighter, but far from the elite.