On the flip side how will Floyd's legacy be affected if he loses to Mosley?

What if Shane wins? What if Floyd loses to a nearly 39 year old guy coming off a 1.5 year lay off ? Will you still call Floyd one of the best ever?

 

Quite a lot actually, that's why although Floyd HAD to fight Mosley really, after the Pacman fight fell apart, it's not the wisest fight for him to take.

Mosley is nearing 40, hasn't fought for almost a year and a half - Floyd is supposed to win. Thus - if he loses - it damages his legacy considerably. Especially given that Shane is the second legit welterweight he's fought in the 5 years he's been fighting at the weight.

 

So in a sense if Floyd wins he loses.(beat up a rusty 40 year old big deal) If Floyd loses he loses.(lost to a rusty 40 year old !) If Floyd doesn't take the fight he loses.(Scared to fight welterweights) Best part I don't feel one bit sorry for him.

 

It's the position he's in right now after years of not being in the fights people wanted to see him in at welter. And it's right he is. If he gets the win here and moves on it won't last forever.

 

Not gonna happen

 

He backed himself into this corner, though. If he wins impressively against Shane though, I'll look forward to him and Pac getting it on. Floyd seems really agitated with all the criticism, I hope it's sparked a fire under his ass and he fights a bit less safety first. If he loses to Shane there aren't very many action packed fights that can be made othen than Shane and Manny. Floyds legacy will suffer immensely, and if he gets knocked out, his insecurities might get the best of him and I get the feeling he won't be able to recover
his status.

 

I think if Floyd loses he will dissapears faster off the radar than Prince Naseem Hamed

 

I don't know how id cope with that.....

 

It's good to have Floyd around. Trully hoping and being on the edge of a seat everytime he fights hoping that maybe just maybe the next punch will knock him the fuck out and put him on a stretcher is a great thrill !

 

Short answer:

His legacy will suffer


Long Answer:

It depends on the nature of the loss.

If it's a loss because of injury (dislocates his shoulder, breaks a rib, suffers a bad cut early in the fight and the fight is stopped because of the cut)..then he could be forgiven if he comes back and gets revenge.

If he's DQ'd for hitting Shane when Shane is down...again..doesn't affect his legacy. (RJJ's respect from the fans didn't suffer at the time because of his loss to griffin)

If he is stopped or beaten legitimately on points, however, his legacy would take a hit.

 

Yup to a certain extent. But if he wins impressively (domination and or stoppage)..he wins. The haters would try to say that Shane was shot etc....but history would absolve him and the general public would again call him the P4P.

 

36 minutes of work for 30 or 40 million seems pretty wise to me

 

History's not gonna make Shane's age and inactivity go away. But ABOVE all though, from Floyd's perspective - he took on the best opponent available and has started to rebuild some bridges and regain some respect. He's certainly softened my attitude to him. How much the Shane win will mean historically will depend on how Shane looks against Floyd and any future fights though.opcorn:

 

wont hurt PBF.. just make Shane look great

 

When doesn't it though?

 

True, I guess.

But if for example..a fighter is beyond shot like Ali was against Berbick or Chavez was in the 2nd DLH fight then the legacy isn't affected. Or if Floyd were to lose a close decision to Pacquiao after defeating Shane...his legacy woudn't be affected as long as he avenges the defeat. (similar to Leonard-Duran)

 

Legacy wise, no, money wise, sure. How do you know he's getting that much for Mosley?

 

:: He's not making anywhere near that much.

 

Those are my thoughts too. I don't know how much he is supposed to be making, but that figure is the amount he would've been making for Pacquiao. I'm guessing around 10/15 mil for Shane.

 

it'll hurt Floyd BBBBBIIIIIGGGGG

 

Yes it would..precisely because Shane is considered slightly past prime.

If he were to lose a close one to Pacquiao though (pacman is red hot) and he avenges his defeat...he may end up looking better than ever...

 

Agree.

Hopkins has helped remove the stigma of losing to an old guy, though. And Mosley is coming off of one of the best wins of his career. So is he old? If he beats Floyd, no.

 

Shane is past his prime. Not slightly, past. 39 year olds are not in the prime of their career regardless of success or longevity.

 

Innit.

Slightly past prime. ::

Don't try to sugarcoat Mosley's age Sly, the man turns 39 in september.

I don't believe he is shot, but he's not slightly past prime, he's 10 years past his prime. Floyd is what you'd consider slightly past prime.

 

age aint nothing but a number.

The number 39, by itself, is not as relevant as his last performance. His last performance against the "formidable" margarito determines that Shane is defying his years and only slightly past prime.

He's not a SHOT fighter...which is what WELL PAST PRIME suggests.

Hopkins was 39 or so when he dismantled De La Hoya. Past his prime? Sure. Shot? HELL NO!

 

"Shot" does not suggest well past somebody's prime. It's a guy who has nothing left.

Nobody is claiming Shane is anywhere near the Ali that fought Berbick.

Shane is a fighter that is indeed defying his years. However it's not like he just climbed the peak of Everest yesterday and is now heading back down the other side.

Of course some people are going to try to dismiss the fight if Mayweather wins. Just don't try to go too hard in the other direction either.

It is what it is.

 

it will affect him by no longer having his undefeated record. But I think that will affect Floyd more than the rest of the world that watches boxing. Most people dont' put too much on an undefeated record.

Besides I think Shane is a live underdog. he is considered the best 147 champion. let's face it shane is not your average 40 year old.

I expect Floyd to win a tough fight. If he lost I would just give Shane his props insted of looking for the negative.

 

Hes legacy would get hammered if he lost this fight, and rightly so. Shane certainly isnt shot, but hes old and like someone else said (MWS?) a good 10 years removed from his best days... Floyd has to win this fight impressively to me

 

Losing to Mosley will have a torrential negative effect on Floyd's legacy. Since Mosley is really the first legitimate welter Floyd will be fighting in his "campaign" at "welter", a loss would be the defining characteristic of Floyd Mayweather Junior as a welterweight. People will (legitimately) begin to comb over his resume again, and in light of the defeat will basically conclude that Floyd handpicked his opponents for years, avoided many challengers he should have faced, and picked on smaller men whenever possible.

And of course they will point to the loss to Shane as the reason why.

This reconsidering of Floyd's career will be unfair to some extent, but I have no sympathy whatsoever since as other posters have pointed out - he is responsible for himself being in this position. Had he fought a few solid welters and beaten them, the Mosley fight would not count for so much in judging Floyd's true legacy at higher weights. If Floyd had fought and beaten Cotto, Margarito, and perhaps some other worthy welterweight contender, then a loss to Mosely would be put into perspective. People would (perhaps rightly) say that Floyd was virtually unbeatable at his prime weights, but in moving up and challenging himself he was still great but beatable.

But now his shenanigans have put him in a place where his legacy probably could never recover from a loss to Shane. Oh of course, he will still be a hall of fame fighter. But he will be seen as just another one of many skilled boxers who beat some good opponents in his prime, but when he finally tried to be great and move up to fight the best - he lost. When you protect the "0" at all costs, you leave yourself open to being heavily and almost summarily discredited when you lose. Joe Calzaghe suffers from this to some extent, and he never even took enough risk to actually get the eventual loss.

When you look at someone like ODLH, you can see the counter-example. A guy who for a very long period fought all the best, and thus some losses in mega-fights really did not take much away from his legacy. Floyd is pretty much the exact opposite case.

The upside to this is that if Floyd wins this fight, and then maybe 2-3 more solid fights at welter (one of which should be Pac), he will then have proven his case at welter and will reap the benefits of this in his legacy as someone who went up through the ranks and at least some of the time fought against the true best of those divisions. IMO that would be of immense value in the long term as far as judging Floyd's legacy.

 

Excellent, thoughtful post. Well said.