Floyd Mayweather Has Nothing to Lose in Fight Against Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not only a master tactician in the ring but also a shrewd schemer outside of it. Upon agreeing to finally fight Manny Pacquiao, he's put himself into a position where he can't lose, no matter what happens in the ring.

Sure, there's the chance that Pacquiao defeats Mayweather and hands the soon-to-be 38-year-old the first loss of his professional boxing career.

Maybe that will make some fans remember Mayweather differently when examining his overall body of work. If that's the case, it would be a bit unfair to Mayweather. One blemish doesn't undo all of the progress he's made throughout his time in the ring.

Plus, who would blame Mayweather for taking a risky fight like this when he could make nine figures?

Some may argue that Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is five years too late. While that criticism is somewhat valid, the superfight is still poised to be the most lucrative of all time. Chris Isidore of CNN Money estimates that the purse could total $200 million. With 60 percent of that going to Mayweather, he's in line to potentially earn $120 million.

Mayweather is already the highest-paid athlete in the world and presumably sleeps on a bed made of money. It's not like he needs the money or anything, but he'd be insane to pass up a purse like that.

In a sense, simply agreeing to the fight was all Mayweather needed to do.

Fans don't mind seeing legendary athletes fail from time to time, especially in a sport like boxing. What's worse is an athlete being afraid of failure and not trying at all. And one of the biggest criticisms against Mayweather has always been his perceived ducking of tough opponents, most notably Pacquiao.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Snowden argued yesterday that Mayweather's legacy will be largely unaffected by the result against Pacquiao. He pointed to Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Robinson, among others, as examples of great boxers who lost big fights.

Snowden wrote that it wasn't so much the wins and losses that came to define their respective legacies:

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It was their willingness to meet the best fighters of their era, the courage to test their convictions in the ring, that make them unforgettable. It's only by facing his fears, through mastery of the most difficult moments, that a man's place in history is secured. Of the greats, only Rocky Marciano maintained a clean sheet—and his lack of competition consistently works against him in every historical survey.

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His willingness to fight Pacquiao shows that Mayweather isn't afraid to stumble and lose one of the biggest aspects of his fighting career—his perfect record. After all, that perfect record wouldn't have meant as much if he never fought Pacquiao.

In addition, nothing Mayweather does in the ring against Pacquiao will help or hurt him when discussing his place as the best ever, period, because that's an impossible question to answer.

Comparing eras is always so difficult, and it's something Mayweather had no interest in doing after his May 4, 2013, win over Robert Guerrero, per Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole:

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I take my hat off to Sugar Ray Leonard and all those other fighters who paved the way for me to be where I am at today. I'm not here to match myself against them because, like I said before, I'm not in their era. I respect them. I take my hat off to them. But I'm in my era, and I just do what I do.

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Should Mayweather beat Pacquiao, he'd be the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of his generation. Should he lose, he'll be one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters of his generation. The difference is only really semantic.