It's the ultimate boxing "What if?" question. Who would win if, in a parallel universe, Fighter A from the 1950s or '60s fought Fighter B from the 1990s or 2000s? For this particular "what if?" question, we know the answer: the fans. It is hard to conceive of a more fan-friendly fantasy matchup involving any two fighters from any era than Manny Pacquiao versus Aaron Pryor.

For these "Classic Matchups," we try to go prime versus prime whenever possible, and identifying Pryor's prime is rather straight-forward: his dominant reign as junior welterweight champion from 1980 until his first retirement in '83, which included his two famous victories over Alexis Arguello.

For Pacquiao, it's a little trickier, considering he's held belts all the way from 112 to 154 pounds and beat Hall of Fame-caliber opponents in many of those divisions.

But for the purposes of this comparison, we'll make Pacquiao a junior welterweight also. Yes, he technically fought only once in the division. But that one performance was the most devastating he ever delivered (KO 2 Ricky Hatton in 2009), and in his surrounding major fights that most observers identify as his absolute apex, against Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto, he was a 140-pounder shoveling carbs into his mouth nonstop to tip the scales at 142 or 143.

At their best, both Pacquiao and Pryor were offense-oriented machines, dazzling audiences with blurs of leather and sensational knockout finishes. Their primes came 25 years apart, making it a fight of pure fantasy, but it's one that is well worth dreaming about. Below, we provide scouting reports for both men, and our panel of ESPN experts picks a winner in this Classic Matchup.

SCOUTING REPORTS

Aaron Pryor

The ultimate pressure fighter with power, accumulating a record of 34-0 with 32 knockouts -- including 26 early endings in a row -- as of his first retirement from boxing in 1983. Just missed making the '76 Olympic team and came up the hard way as a result, but eventually earned pro stardom with title win over Antonio Cervantes and legendary first bout with Arguello. Overwhelmed opponents with relentless volume (regularly threw more than 100 punches a round), and had a tremendous chin and enough technical skill to emerge as one of the mostly celebrated fighters of the talent-rich early '80s.

Manny Pacquiao

Arguably the greatest Asian fighter ever, arguably the greatest southpaw ever, arguably the greatest ever at climbing through a multitude of weight classes. Won titles at 112, 122, 126, 130, 135, 140, 147 and 154 pounds, including lineal championships in four of those divisions, while also claiming three Fighter of the Year awards. Hallmark in early days was an explosive straight left hand, but trainer Freddie Roach turned him into a two-handed fighter with improved footwork and defense, enabling "Pac-Man" to ascend to the No. 1 spot on many pound-for-pound lists for a couple of years.

ANALYSIS

Power: Yes, what Pacquiao did to Hatton was jaw-dropping. But he didn't produce that sort of power-punching display consistently. "The Hawk" did. Pryor's first nine title fights all ended in KOs. His career knockout percentage is 26 points higher than Pac-Man's, making this a fairly easy call. Advantage: Pryor