I mean that's a pretty unfair match up ? Whitaker was considerably past his prime at that point whilst Pacquiao was at his peak. Pacquiao would probably struggle even vs that version of Whitaker but he wins a decision.
I want to say Pernell,but in fact,this version of him can't really outbox fighters the way he's used to,this version also lacks firepower,often looking like Benitez,make em miss and be kind for it.
I agree .. Whitaker was supposedly drowning in drugs and not focused ... while Paq was also past his best and had been KO'ed by Marquez he was still physically fresher ...
The ODLH fight was 4 years prior to the KO loss to JMM in their 4th fight. When Pacquiao fought ODLH he was at his absolute peak having numerous stand out performances vs Hatton, Cotto, Diaz, etc. So it's an even stronger argument for Pacquiao winning since as you said Whitaker was considerably past his best.
Whitaker was at the end of his stellar career when he fought Hoya , and beginning to lose himself to cocaine and alcohol. Hoya was at the end of his career when he fought Pac and was losing himself to inactivity in the ring, cocaine ,alcohol addiction and cross dressing. Whitaker was still slick enough to avoid real damage against prime Hoya though wasn't good enough at that time to win the fight. I believe if he fought Pac at that stage of his career it would be the same result.
Concur with what you’re saying but the thread calls for the version of Pac who beat De La Hoya which was years before he got sparked by Marquez. This means Pac was much closer to prime. So yes. Bad match for Whitaker
You're right ... for some reason I thought it read the Paq that fought Mayweather. The Paq that diced up Oscar beats the faded Whitaker that lost to Oscar for sure.