TRUE or FALSE: If Pac loses to Bradley, his legacy takes a hit???

[jvsnypes]

No, his legacy should not take a hit. In the lower weights, Manny is definitely an all time great. At WW, he has not established his greatness. Plus, Bradley is a very good champion. A lot of peole saying that Tim is inexperienced at this level. They don't expect him to rise to the occasion. But think about it. No one expected Manny to rise to the occasion to beat Barrera the 1st time. He had never fought on that level before. Who truly knows how a fighter will perform until he has the opportunity to fight on that level.

This could be the coming out party for Bradley, just like it was for Manny against Barrera.We don't know how great a fighter Tim could be until we see this fight. He could be another Zab Judah, who beats B and C level fighters but could never beat the A list guys. But with Tim's intangibles, that's not likely. I see a changing of the guard about to take place. I think that is the number 1 reason Bob Arum signed him. Bob was sitting at ringside when Tim fought Peterson. He was impressed and knew that this guy had what it takes to beat the elite fighters of the world.

So losing to a strong young champion like Bradley will not harm Manny's legacy at all. If its a gritty, tough, and exciting fight, it will only enhance it.

[turbotime]

Of course it does. IT already took a hit when Marquez got outright robbed in their last fight. Losing to Bradley will do Pacquiao no favours.

[White_Knight]

Of course it will. If you win you better your legacy; if you lose you worsen it. You can't expect your legacy to increase with a win, but stay exactly the same with a loss

Tyson may be remembered as a great fighter, but he'd be regarded as an even greater fighter if he had won all his fights. It is the same for every fighter. It couldn't be otherwise.

[bojangles1987]

Pac's legacy is set, it can only be improved. If he had never fought anyone as good as Bradley, that would be different, but he has.

Then again, I'm not one that thinks you can "lose" your legacy. Once you've accomplished something, outside of finding out later that you cheated like Margarito, there's nothing that can change what you've already done.

[hugh grant]

Pacs had a career and a half already. If he loses fights it will be this part of his career.
A win would be ideal, but if he were to lose it wont take away what hes done already. If people think Pac is the GOAT, and he loses to Bradley, people might think Pac is no3 instead of no1 of all time.
So a little perspective is needed.

[Bushbaby]

Nah, not in my book.

[AFighter4U]

Ahhh ... contraire mon frere!

Manny Pacquiao will always be popular as his fanbase could care less about whether he wins or loses.

If Pacquiao were to lose to Bradley his legacy would take a hit.

Why you ask?

Its because REAL FANS would then have to ask themselves "Wait a minute .. how did he beat all of those big, bad welterweights and just lose to little asss Bradley?"

Manny's wins at WW would then be scrutinized by the casual fanbase. They would eventually see the pattern that many of us have been pointing out for years.

6 opponents coming off losses starting with DLH(not counting tune ups)

Using catchweights in a division where he could make the limit

Facing three Top Rank Promotion fighters in a row(conflict of interests)

Avoiding top talent until someone else beat them first(e.g. Mosley begged for years)

Getting embarrassed by Marquez in what was supposed to be Manny's most dominate performance of his career, according to Roach and Ariza.

All that has already happened and Pacquiao is still popular.

Has a large portion of the boxing world finally acknowledged that the guy is quite a bit of hype? Yes.

Does his fanbase still devote large amounts of time and energy to have him deified? Yes.

Did Marquez expose Pacquiao's lack of versatility, in-fighting ability and defense? Yes.

But Pacquiao is still EXTREMELY popular.

A loss to Bradley at this point in Manny's career would only serve to reinforce the doubts that were raised in his match against Juan Manuel.

Bradley is smaller. Bradley is less experienced at this level. And Bradley is not as skilled as Marquez. A loss at the hands of Bradley would be severe for Manny's legacy.

In fact, if Manny doesn't absolutely blow a 140lb Bradley out of the water, the Marquez cloud will continue to loom over his public perception and his fans will continue to make excuses such as he's getting older despite him being younger than Mayweather.

question: how many champions, who were expected to coast to victory actually lost and stunned their fans?

answer: quite a lot

one thing you should know by know about boxing is that any fight has that element of unpredictability in that you can't say 100% for sure who will win.

of course, you will have your overwhelming favorites in a fight, but in the end, any fight has a chance of not going by popular expectations.

as for questions regarding manny's performances against larger foes, i suspect that you have already made up your mind that he's guilty of taking super duper steroids that make him perform like super duper man, and NOTHING i would say or do will change that, regardless of how manny performs against his succeeding foes.

[noekin3]

Pac's legacy is set, it can only be improved. If he had never fought anyone as good as Bradley, that would be different, but he has.

Then again, I'm not one that thinks you can "lose" your legacy. Once you've accomplished something, outside of finding out later that you cheated like Margarito, there's nothing that can change what you've already done.

This right here. Good post.

[tredh]

His legacy might not take a hit but his reputation sure will. I also think what will come back into play in a big way is the statement that Manny or his team has always avoided prime athletic black fighters. If Bradley wins that statement to many will be justified. I am not saying this is my opinion just saying this will be brought to the forefront by some people.

[AFighter4U]

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