Mississippi Fight Sports Examiner | Brad Cooney
His detractors say that he cherry picked his opponents to an undefeated record. His detractors say that he fights smaller guys for the advantage. His detractors say that he is afraid to engage with his opponents, that he runs. If the Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather fight comes to fruition, "Money" Mayweather will get his chance to prove himself. Or will he?
If he beats Manny, does he redeem himself? Does he gain respect from those who love to hate him? Or will everyone say that he just beat another smaller guy? Or will he get some props for beating the mighty Manny Pacquiao? If Mayweather defeats Manny Pacquiao, he will have wins over names like De La Hoya, Hatton, Pacquiao, Marquez, Gatti, Corrales, Judah, Corrales, and Mitchell. Does defeating the likes of those names warrant legendary status? Would retiring for good with an undefeated record with names like that on your resume warrant legendary status? Some say absolutely yes! and some say, absolutely no.
If Manny Pacquiao defeats Mayweather, in a lot of people's minds it will squash any hopes of Mayweather going down as an all time great. A defeat for Mayweather would reinforce his detractors claims of cherry picking, and fighting and beating smaller guys. If Mayweather wins, he still has the stigma of fighting and beating smaller guys, so it's not a very good position to be in. It would probably take Mayweather beating a Shane Mosley, or a Paul Williams to really get some respect by those who love to hate him.
A victory for Mayweather is a must for him if he wants to salvage any respect from his foes. Floyd Mayweather has his fans, and he will make up to and perhaps more than 20 million dollars for this fight. It may be a matter of him not caring about legacy status. In his mind he may have done enough, and he just moves on to the next chapter of his life.
Source: Examiner.com
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