Was Erik Morales in his prime when he beat Manny Pacquiao?

Morales was my favorite fighter back in the day and still really overall top 3 favorite fighters. I think his prime was 122-126 for sure, at 130 he didnt have the same power and he started having problems even being able to make 130. Around the time of the second and third Pac fights with Morales moving to 135, people then were saying he was quite past it. He had definitely lost speed and power compared to his prime. Then something surprising happened, he moved to 140 and I thought he was good as dead fighting these younger guys there but he gave Maidana and Garcia very close fights, almost draws and thats when people at the time were expecting them to take his head off. If he still had the p4p power that he did at 126, I think he would have beat those guys. I would say his first manny fight was at the tail end of his prime, then he had a decline for a few years around 135, it didnt help that Rahim was a bad style match up for him and his speed was declining, then he had a late career resurgence at 140, where even in losses, he surprised a lot of people because we thought he was getting KTFO by garcia and maidana rather than making it an almost draw.

Whether the blood taken affected him physically or mentally or if it was something else entirely, in no other fight have I seen Pacquiao tire in 4 rounds. I would not favor a prime Morales to beat a prime Pacquiao or even this Pacquiao but that could keep his power/stamina like he usually did, Morales will always be badly beaten by the later rounds because Pacquiao’s power and activity will take their toll.

Was Morales at his peak when he beat Manny Pacquiao or was he a little bit past it at that time? He put on a peak performance probably his best boxing skilled performance of his career, so yes, remember this is a guy who was bloated and shot to pieces but still schooled a young Marcos Maidana with one eye shut for the majority of the fight. Morales is no joke.

He sure was!

He was in prime. Pac wasn't though Hav ing wars don't make you past prime. It makes you battle hardened and proven, and gives you experience, not untested. Too many wars may shorten your career though. But morales was 28. Come on, gimme break. He was in prime why ask question? That was Morales at his very best. He might have deteriorated after that fight though and may have taken something out of him.

Of course he wasn't.

I feel he was . albeit at the very end of it . I think the move to 130 was the kicker . He got one great performance and then started the decline . He fell off quite rapidly( which happens quite often with fighters who have so many wars ) , but then later had a bit of a resurgence at 140 . He was shot but was good enuff to beat some decent guys and pick up a vacant strap with a decent win over cano , and having very close debatable loses to madaina and garcia in the first fight.

I voted past it. I don't think Morales was in his prime when he beat Manny.