Manny Pacquiao: How Pac-Man Would Fare Against Boxing's All-Time Greats

One of the most difficult things to do in sports is to compare athletes from different eras in an attempt to measure who was better.

There are few arguments against the notion that Manny Pacquiao, along with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is the best fighter of the present day.

How well does Pac-Man stack up against some of the all-time greats that fought in his weight classes, though? That is the question that everyone wishes could be definitively answered. It can't be for obvious reasons, but it's fun to try anyway.

Many of the best boxer ever fought as lightweights or welterweights, which is where the majority of Pacquiao's biggest fights have taken place. The best fighters ever to compete at those weights include "Sugar" Ray Robinson, "Sugar" Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez and Henry Armstrong.

While you can't deny Pacquiao's greatness, I don't consider him to be at the same level of any of those boxers. Leonard, Duran and Chavez are more contemporary fighters, so it is easier to compare Pacquiao to them, while Robinson and Armstrong fought under much different conditions.

In terms of quickness and punching power, Pacquiao is the best in the world at his weight. He fights during a time when boxers get at least six months between fights, though, and don't usually compete in more than 60 or 70 fights over the course of their career.

Robinson and Armstrong both fought more than 180 times each, while Duran and Chavez each fought well over 100 times. Leonard only fought 40 times, but that is the exception rather than the rule for boxers who competed in the 1970s and 1980s. Also, all of the aforementioned fighters spent the majority of their careers with fights lasting at least 15 rounds.

There is no doubt that things are much easier on today's fighters, so I'm not sure Pacquiao would have the toughness necessary to beat any of the all-time greats. I'm not going to blame Pac-Man for it, but he has been pampered throughout his career, just like every current boxer has been. There isn't much adversity to face, and with so much time to train and prepare, it's easier to get through a fight.

Robinson, Leonard, Duran, Chavez and Armstrong would have considered a 12-round fight to be a cakewalk. It's a grind for today's fighters, though, and that speaks to how well conditioned the boxers used to be—even without the advanced training techniques that so many employ currently.

Also, you have to look at Pacquiao's struggles against Juan Manuel Marquez as a sign that he wouldn't be able to beat the elite fighters in boxing history.

Marquez has had an excellent career, but few would call him an all-time great. Despite that, he has given Pacquiao three difficult fights, and although he is 0-2-1 against Pac-Man, many believe he should have won at least two of those fights.

Marquez frustrated Pacquiao by not allowing him to string together combinations and by neutralizing his quickness. Because of that, Pacquiao was just ordinary—in their third fight especially. All of the Hall of Famers previously mentioned would certainly be able to do the same, so while Pacquiao is one of the best of his time, he isn't one of the best of all time.

In a lot of ways, Pacquiao is the beneficiary of a dark age in boxing. The competition isn't particularly good, so while Pacquiao is a fantastic fighter, it has made him look better than he really is. We'll never know for sure how he would have fared against the greats, but perhaps a win over Mayweather at some point could change the minds of many.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter