Joe Walcott he was a welterweight that fought quality light heavyweights and even fought soem heavys too.
Elite? Guess that depends on what you mean by "elite". He fought Bushy Graham (W10) one fight before Graham's 1st shot at 118 title (and four fights before he won it). And he fought Charles Bud Taylor twice for the title (draw and lost unanimous decision).
I don't know, never thought on it. I do know for a fact that Pacquiao wouldn't be above the likes of Duran, though. I also think Pacquiao's win over Sasakul at Flyweight title gets him so overrated in a pound for pound sense, as if he was a natural Flyweight or had any level of success at the weight (or the lower weights in general) outside of that one rather fluky win IMO. In reality, Pacquiao is a natural 126-135 pounder who started at a much lower weight at a much younger age when he'd yet to even begin developing really, and was terribly weight drained on top of it, hence his lack of any longevity there.
I wouldn't have Pacquiao on the same level as Duran in terms of weight-jumping ability either. I do rate Pacquiao very highly in that sense, but for a 38 year old natural lightweight to step up to middleweight and beat someone with the physical advantages that Iran Barkley enjoyed is a pretty special achievement in my eyes. If Pacquiao can win a welterweight belt against one of the best ww's (and that's a huge IF!), I'll rank him alongside guys like Duran and Hearns in a weight-jumping sense, but not before.
Pac beat sasakul in thailand..his title shot was not a gift..he works his way to the top. he was an OPBF champ..admit it or not, a pre-prime pac is a 3 division champ