...'n one or the other gets stopped with one punch, how dramatically will it affect his place in history?
Its more like, who wins doesnt matter if its a KO or not. But i think I know where your going with this. If Pac was to get KO'd or loose, imo it shows that he had the right opponents styles to get this far... If Floyd was to get KO'd or loose, imo it shows it was hes time to loose. To be unbeaten for 16 years is something incredible. Bum opponents or not. But then both of these Great fighters were promoted by ARUM. I dont think you can take away what they achieved in the sport of Boxing, it just shows who was a better fighter THAT NIGHT.
I don't think either guy would be impacted "that much", simply because both guys are accomplished and have solidified themselves as ATG's prior to the fight. I think it does more to boost either fighters legacy more than hurts the loser, it's not as if losing this fight takes away anything else they've accomplished.
I had no underlying agenda, j. It was a legit question. If either gets starched with one shot, how dramatically will it revise fan opinions?
I think a one punch ko would do more positivly for the winner than nagitivly for the loser. A lot depends on when it happens if it happens early than more damage will be done. If it happens late in a pitch battle than less a lot less damage will have been done.
If Pac KO's or beats Floyd Majority of the public, will say that's what Floyd was soo scared about, hes a coward blah blah. Thats why he requested OSDT. If Floyd KO's or beats Pac Majority of the boxing fans, will say that Floyd had the superior skills, and that Pacs opponents had the styles that were tailor made for Pac For me, who ever wins that night, will show who's the superior fighter THAT NIGHT, but then what sucks about boxing sometimes is that, sometimes it ends with one lucky shot.
Even if they fight now, they obviously are somewhat past their primes. Floyd likes to stay in the pocket and Pac has had his wars. People will try to justify why such thing happened. Pac's legacy has been cemeted well before he even jumped at welterweight. Anything he is doing is just icing on the cake now. Mayweather probably had his best years at 130. Past 130, his resume is a bit thin. So, they basically are not fighting at their optimum weights. Pac's optimum weight would probably be at 140 while Mayweather's would be at 135 although he had only a few fight at that weight but it is obvious that he is almost unbeatable by just looking at his fluidity and strength at that weight. To answer your question, their status will get hit, but it would survive. Their body of work would make sure of that. I remember when Duran had his "no mas" against Leonard. His reputation got hit badly. But history had been kinder to Duran and infact he is ranked ahead of leonard in most ATG ranking. PS. In terms of how it affects the two fighters' reputation, I think Mayweather would have more to lose than Pac.As I have said, anything Pac is doing is just a bonus.