How would Floyd go down as greater? I have always thought a great fighter who fights them all should get credit, regardless of losing. Would Frazier have been as great had he not fought Foreman?
If the fight pushed through, regardless if he won or lost, he deserve a great amount of respect and we owe him a lot of credit.
pacquiaos an all time great so is floyd.. i dont think there is any shame in loosing to an all time great however i voted "Greater if he never fought him." because i believe if you disect mannys resume it reveals him as a very carefully matched and protected fighter thus lowering him in terms of greatness in my eyes its not like Leonard loosing to duran
But Leonard and Duran fighting each other and also fighting Hagler and Hearns, and then Benitez added to all their legacies. They are linked to each other's careers regardless of who beat whom. Floyd is missing that link to Pacman, which sort of adds a deeper element to his career. Can you imagine Frazier without Ali? The fact we can talk about great fighters fighting greats fights puts them in a certain class.
yes but what im getting at here is its another great name on leonards resume even if its a loss ITS ROBERTO ****ING DURAN!, but IN MY OPINION i dont think pac is half as good as floyd and it wouldent reflect well on him to loose to such an average opponent (again in my eyes) after dominating everyone he has been put in the ring with.. my fav fighter barrera lost to junior jones.. not once but TWICE now his hardly a household name and i doubt many people here would know who he is unless they answered "aww isent that the guy who beat barrera" my whole reason for choosing the second option on the poll is based solely on MY OPINION of pacquiao being a very overhyped well matched and protected boxer look at the leonard and hearns situation. its pretty much widely accepted leonard took layoffs and waited for hagler to slow down before fighting him (i think sugar even admits this in one of the documenteries about him) but people forget that.. they focus on the names on his resume and who he beat also its hard to really give a final judgement on the may pac saga because its still disputed and not known 100% who ducked who though there is alot of argument from both sides
Obviously if he never fought him. People will debate and say "he'd win" or "he'd lose" but bottom line is no one knows. If he fought him and lost then Pacquiao will be considered greater
people arent getting the point of this thread.. its generally accepted floyd would win against pacquiao but that is not an option in this pole.. its kind of a "best of 2 evils" for floyd kind of poll
I'm one of those people who think losses actually hurt a fighters' legacy. Recently, that seems to not be the opinion on ESB, but whatever... It would obviously depend on the manner of the loss; controversial decision, early injury forced TKO, early stoppage on cuts, ATG razor close war, double punch KO special, etc. But even then, there's no way those scenarios would elevate Mayweathers' legacy (unless it was a robbery, of course).
Unfortunately, the way this sport and its fans work, it's much better for Mayweather's legacy to not fight Pac and not lose, than to face and lose. If the latter happened, very few people would give him credit for stepping in the ring with Pac. Most would ridicule him and downplay his qualities and achievements. Look no further than Prince Naseem as an example of a cocky fighter experiencing his first and only loss. It's precisely this reason why Mayweather's '0' is more precious to him than anything ins this sport - belts, money, etc.
At the peak of Manny's hype, maybe. At this point, it'd look very bad for Floyd to lose to him. But I don't see how Manny would beat him.
In my eyes he would be greater if he fought him and loss (in all likelihood if they did fight there would've been a rematch clause anyway, so he would've got a chance at redemption)
I agree with this. Mayweather's '0' is everything to him. As soon as he loses that he'll never have the same confidence he once had. That air of invincibility will be gone.