Mayweather said the last fight in his true prime was against Gatti, is he telling the truth?

He'd be the man to know. He was certainly in his prime as PBF and had lost a step as Money May.

 

Idk about that but I Always said he came back from his retirement a lesser version of himself but still better than the field

 

Thing is he also moved up in weight to welter after Gatti so it's also possible he was simply fighting bigger more durable men.

Maybe his hands were an issue but then again maybe that was only part of the reason as to why he couldn't stop guys like before.

 

It's hard to say exactly when as sometimes fighter's tend to perform at a higher level than other times at different points of their Careers, perhaps its a motivation thing or possibly underestimating his opponent's due to his defensive style & him not being in many hard War's either way,

I know the fight with Pacquiao was underwhelming to say the least, but for that night in particular where he lacked in punch selection he triumphed in his reflexes & speed, he was so quick very Cat like which was a big factor that i felt people overlooked & just expected Pacquaio to be the only fast one in there,

Impressively Sharp & Impeccable as he knew that unlike his previous opponent's that you cant stand in front of Manny like that especially in a Straight line & most likely trained really hard at not being in one place for too long & thoroughly pulled it off.

 

Of course he's telling the truth - everyone's physical prime ends before 30

Some guys may be very unnoticeable slippage, others appear to look better because they are wiser and more experienced...but physically all athletes peak at 26 and they can hold that peak through 29. But no elite athlete is more physical at 30 than he was before .

The legs, wind, reflexes, speed, flexibility all slightly decrease ... tiny decreases in all of those departments equate to a reduced overall package
Add in injuries like Floyd had and it's a sharper fall off

Floyd was 28 (few months from turning 29) in that Gatti fight. That was the last fight of his electric prime. I revisit that fight from time to time and always think this was his peak.