Morales Considered Shot at the Age of 29 Against Pacquiao

The lenient use of the term "shot" once a popular boxer with a gigantic following loses makes me cringe to be honest. No athlete can possibly decline that shortly after one's prime was hardly 2 years ago (27 is considered the best age for sportsmen). When you nutjobs witness a decline in reflexes, handspeed, footspeed, punch resistance and skill (at the age of 29! ) don't you think it's rather the opponent who has cracked your favourite fighter's code and thus bested him? How come Morales UDs Pac in March 2005 only to get stopped in January 2006 (mere 10 months later!) and demolished in November 2006?
Is it the the wars Morales has been in before that softened him up? Well, he didn't look too soft fighting one-eyed against 80% KO-Maidana at 140 only months ago and considering how well for example Pacquiao is doing today I don't know if one can argue that Morales has a demanding fight style that drains him earlier than other boxers when Pacquiao is clearly the busier fighter in the ring and still doing...um...quite okay?
I mean, even ATM Morales is just one year older than Mayweather - could you picture what Mayweather would do to him if they fought in 2011 at let's say 140?

No, you don't get shot over night. It's too easy calling your favourite boxer shot once he loses only to argue that he would've won had the fight taken place a couple of years earlier. (Well in fact, he did win when they fought earlier but that seemed to be more of a 1 out of 10 thing than anything else) Same thing with Mike Tyson who allegedly forgot boxing in his mid-twenties lol in jail whereas Hopkins was held back of sharpening his skills in the amateurs because of jail time (his own fault obviously) and yet managed to focus on boxing IN prison only to become a pro boxer of legendary status.

Again, you don't go to sleep and become a worse boxer the moment you wake up the next morning - some were just not as good as advertised (albeit not bad by any means, don't get me wrong).

 

I agree on that but that's another case. Bowe balooned up to 250 when he should have stayed 225-235. Morales did not gain weight though a poster on here says he should have.

 

Right, Hopkins was not shot and hell, he still isn't although he'd have a better claim at 46yo than Morales or Tyson.

 

I agree.