Would Pacquiao have been able to Move up Divisons back in the day without Science?

I was thinking about this with regards to the comparison with Henry Armstrong as well as the many other little Men that challenged bigger competition. Today, Pac has his own personal trainer/nutritionist guru. Everything is mapped out to increase the evolution of Manny Pacquiao. He has not only been able to increase muscle size, but he is seemingly stronger, more powerful, and maybe even faster and has great stamina despite moving up many divisions in quick time at his current age. However, during Armstrong's time, did he really have such advantages? The quality of Protein Powders; Vitamins; Supplements; Science backing to understand nutrition and training made specific to the athlete... Of course, there are many top athletes in the sport that have such advantages so the elite guys may balance out... But how does it compare? Does it balance out or is there an advantage for one of them. Note: Not discounting skills since Skill is also a big factor in how far Manny got. Hatton moved up one division and struggled because his skills weren't up to par to enable him to be successful in the next division; he relied more on brute strength and bullying opponents. Manny however, technically, got better with time and that is something different. And what about competition and skill of fighters in the division for time comparison. I think Pacquiao is not only comparable to Henry but he may have surpassed him. While it is true what you said about the nutrition science being what we all know it is today, Pacquiao's opponents also benefit from that same advantages whereas Herny's opponents had a much wider range of physical preparations. Some were fit, some were not, some were smokers and some even had alcohol problems. A great comparison would be soccer, would Pele, regarded as the best ever, scored 1000 goals in today's soccer, which is played at sprint speeds and the pressure is IMMENSE? I don't think he would have scored 1000 goals in today's soccer. Same goes for Henry. So your narrative should really be applied to Henry Armstrong, not Pacquiao because if anything, Pacquiao has it harder, much harder than anyone in the past.

pacman i believe is a rare breed, the fighter who has all the physical gifts but a willingness to learn and a hunger for peer recognition and glory. sometimes we have fighters with one and not the other e.g. physical gifts: mayweather, but unwilling to test himself against the best, the hunger for competition/glory is there in hatton but his skills are lacking. imo pacmans natural weight class is LW, his body would have naturally developed without science, nutrition and all that rest of it. imo if he had trained without all the benefits of modern science i think he would be a LW today.

manny pacquiao is aging very well. he's only reaching his adult form now. his body when he was superfeather weight and below was not his fully develop adult body. his face as well is different now to when he was sfw and below all thank to alex ariza. they seem to have a pretty close relationship as well dont think he goes heavy on this stuff like you think he is. this will help you but to a certain degree only. if this stuff worked so great then we would be having hundreds of supper boxers he's trainer and roach let manny eat what ever he likes since he has no issues. manny eats filipino and thai food... manny benefits from both but more to the latter manny is the henry armstrong of this generation. what you are witnessing is a living legend Nice breakdown :)

It means that Henry's opponent didn't have science on them either. Pac's opponents have the advantages of science just as he does. simple nutritiuos post! you should learn from this!

great question... i think pac would have a hard time cause nobody invented science yet at during henry armstrong's era. So I'm guessing your being an ass ;) or you missed the point to what Science pertains to :)

if you mean could he have pulled an Armstrong? then I think he could have tried. I dont think Homicide Hank had to fight for the #1 contender for each division but I may be WAY off base. either way, Pac is a beast and the only reason he'll be beaten anytime soon is by the winner(Floyd) of JMM-FM so, I think that yes he could've. I'm old so I remember when Manny was just a name I didnt see on tv who held a title. and he has gone on to be this beast. truth be told I like him more than I do Floyd, but Floyd is from MI, and possibly a top 5 all time P4P so I cant go against him. maybe Pacman will be his Tarver/Johnson to Floyds RJJ...we'll see. either way it's damn exciting. and in the name of Ketchel, I will root for Mayweather I agree with most of your post except the possibility of Floyd being a top 5 all time great. Not a chance on that one. Im not knocking his skills, as he is incredibly talented. He just doesn't have the resume or accomplishments as the big dogs in boxing history. As far as Pac goes.....like somebody else said, he's a phenom. I don't think he would have moved up as far as he has, but he probably would have made it to lightweight comfortably. Same day weigh ins back then is a huge factor in all of this.

http://www.boxingscene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=268753

To be fair when Armstrong died his heart was found to be a third larger than the average human, he didn't need all that science crap. :D :D

dont think so. if you cant really handle to move up weight, science wont work. You have to have the skills to back it, no question, but that wasn' the point. Pac has developed the skills so that is a big part of it, but you can be a great talent and might not get as far if your physical ability doesn't continue to go with you while you climb.

if you mean could he have pulled an Armstrong? then I think he could have tried. I dont think Homicide Hank had to fight for the #1 contender for each division but I may be WAY off base. either way, Pac is a beast and the only reason he'll be beaten anytime soon is by the winner(Floyd) of JMM-FM so, I think that yes he could've. I'm old so I remember when Manny was just a name I didnt see on tv who held a title. and he has gone on to be this beast. truth be told I like him more than I do Floyd, but Floyd is from MI, and possibly a top 5 all time P4P so I cant go against him. maybe Pacman will be his Tarver/Johnson to Floyds RJJ...we'll see. either way it's damn exciting. and in the name of Ketchel, I will root for Mayweather

It means that Henry's opponent didn't have science on them either. Pac's opponents have the advantages of science just as he does. Pac would be facing Science in each division but he was getting stronger, faster, more powerful, and kept his stamina as he moved up....would Henry have the same? So where Pac can meet the demands of each division he climbs meeting the top athlete in that division having the advantage to Science...when Henry moved up his body might not have been able to progress that fast or even at all to meet the demands of the next division. Does that make sense? Basically: Pac can put on a ton of muscle quickly and not only keep the same speed (if not get quicker), become more powerful and stronger, but he also keeps his stamina......where Henry might not have been able to do that except his stamina was naturally freakish but the rest might not have gone with him or at least taken a lot more time to develop. Usually, even in today's era, you see fighters slow down as they move up but Pac didn't so this may be a credit specifically to him or his trainer/nutritionist or both.

It means that Henry's opponent didn't have science on them either. Pac's opponents have the advantages of science just as he does. totally agree! science is not the determining factor here nor the year, it's the fighter. i believe if henry is fighting in the 21st century, he could've done what he had accomplished 70 years before...

dont think so. if you cant really handle to move up weight, science wont work.

Science is nature and body is science Pac can move to any weight division...:boxing:

^^^^^ ???....... The more you know the better the advantage or something else?

I can only say Pac is a phenomenon, a freak of nature and suddenly born to be the one of the greatest ever to fight in the boxing ring. We're very lucky we've seen one of the greatest ever fight live. Yeah; it's a shame he might be out after two more fights if we go by Freddie. But, probably best.

I think he could go from 126 to 135 for sure. I think he could do 147 if we are talking in the days of same day weight ins, but his success might depend on who is in the division. His career path would have been idfferent had it been back in the day but since he has speed and power I think he could make it work.

I can only say Pac is a phenomenon, a freak of nature and suddenly born to be the one of the greatest ever to fight in the boxing ring. We're very lucky we've seen one of the greatest ever fight live.