Who has been Pacquiao's most "Prime" opponent?

[Smokin' Joe]

Thoughts?

[bballchump11]

Juan or Bradley imo. Bradley wasn't in his best weight class though, so I say Juan

[Julien Sorel]

Jmm fight 1/2, him and Pac are equals imo, great rivals.
Outside of jmm its Barrera in the first fight for sure.

[Cinderella Man]

Voted Morales, but might as well have voted for Bradley.

[irishny]

The way in which he destroyed Hatton who was the man at thyat division was immensely impressive

[Smokin' Joe]

Originally Posted by irishny

The way in which he destroyed Hatton who was the man at thyat division was immensely impressive

True, but was that a prime Hatton?

[Hatesrats]

Pac KO'd a "Prime" David Diaz.

[JMP]

Only dealing with quality world-class opponents he's fought, it'd be Sasakul, Ledwaba, Bradley, Marquez in fights 1 and 2, Barrera in the first fight, and Clottey. Hard to distinguish who was the "most prime" among those, even if some of those guys are clearly better than another (Marquez clearly being a better boxer than Clottey for instance).

Morales, Cotto, Hatton, Margarito, Mosley, De La Hoya, Marquez in the third fight, and Larios were not in their best forms. Some of them were just about done.

What leaves me with a bad taste regarding Pacquiao is that he was never able to clearly or emphatically distinguish himself from the best opponent he fought. Now that's not a bad thing as it's happened to a huge chunk of great fighters, but in each Marquez fight chronologically, Pacquiao was supposed to be improving his skills, maintaining his tenacity and athletic gifts, and had a higher standing on the P4P lists. Marquez was thought to be getting older, slowing down, and moving up in weight (which supposedly didn't suit him as well as Pacquiao). But in each successive fight, I've had Pacquiao winning fewer and fewer rounds and thought he performed worse. This speaks to Marquez's greatness and doesn't take away from Pacquiao being one of the very greatest fighters ever, but it's just really odd to me - and makes me wonder about Pacquiao's H2H ability in a slew of divisions in a historical sense. I think he's going to get outclassed pretty handily next week, too.

[Hatesrats]

Besides Mosley...
all opponents after the COTTO destruction made Margarito be "Less" than himself.
^BEAST

[puga_ni_nana]

barrera, cotto, marquez and bradley. no wrong answer among these four.

[jan_fan]

Some choices here are good. Others are not
I'll go for Barrera, Marquez1, and Cotto (a little bit damaged though due to the Margo incident)
Bradley is not yet prime imo, his youth and athleticism is so much there though.

Hatton was a little bit damaged too but the truth is, he wasn't really that good even in 'prime'

[JMP]

Originally Posted by Hatesrats

Besides Mosley...
all opponents after the COTTO destruction made Margarito be "Less" than himself.
^BEAST

A younger Margarito was a beast. Regardless of potential plaster, I'd hate to have to fight a 5-11 welterweight with an endless supply of stamina, a ridiculous punch output, solid strength, and a guy who smiles and laughs at you when you connect with your best punches. That would suck - mentally and physically

[Smokin' Joe]

Originally Posted by JMP

A younger Margarito was a beast. Regardless of potential plaster, I'd hate to have to fight a 5-11 welterweight with an endless supply of stamina, a ridiculous punch output, solid strength, and a guy who smiles and laughs at you when you connect with your best punches. That would suck - mentally and physically

The fucker was a beast, plaster or not.

[bballchump11]

Originally Posted by puga_ni_nana

barrera, cotto, marquez and bradley. no wrong answer among these four.

man you're a fucking clown. No way Cotto was as in his prime as undefeated Bradley or Marquez in the first 2 fights.

[DobyZhee]

everyone except Oscar