How great would Morales have been if he had moved up sooner??

OK so we all know god sent Morales to us to entertain us boxing fans.

Its obvious Morales still has some stuff left in the basement.
Im thinking he is not as shot as we thought but was actually the victim of not moving up in time for his age.

Morales is 5'8" with a 72" reach. He was fighting at SFW when he started showing signs of his decline. That is 130 lbs.
You know who else is the same size as Erik??
Mosley is 5'8" with a 71" reach
PBF is 5'8" with a 72" reach
Zab Judah is 5'7 1/2" with a 72" reach
Clottery is 5'8" with a 70" reach

All these guys could not make SFW and would be severely depleted trying to make it. I know these guys are thicker than Morales but the fact is they have the same frame and for a 30 year old fighter with that size to make 130 after a long punishing career it would definitely take a toll on you.

Morales messed up not moving up to 135 and 140 right around the time he started losing. I remember the picture of him making the weight for the second Pac fight in which he weighed 128.5 lbs and looked like a skeleton.
Facing a monster like Pac and taking those beatings just cut his career short by a few years and i think the rest he took was good for him but if he had moved up gradually instead of the Pac fights i think he would still be a top p4p fighter.

The skills are there still. His speed and power have moved up very well with him. His legs are whats gone which is usually the sign of a declining fighter but the chin and heart are still there.

What would have been had Erik moved up to 135 and 140 in 2005???

I believe around that time Casamayor, Corrales and Castillo were all fighting each other for the top spot.

 

I always wanted to see them 2 go at it. There is those sparring rumors about Morales getting the better of PBF back when they were both with top rank.

The thing is there really isnt an ideal weight they cold have met at. 130 is where they both fought but that was not Morales best weight. 126 would be a perfect weight for the fight as Morales was best at 122 and PBF at 130.

 

Yes but Caballero does not possess Morales skills. So its not a good comparison. I think Morales has shown that he is slowly adapting to the 140 division and is not as shot as we thought.
Im thinking this transition would have been alot faster and more succesful at a younger age.

 

He was complaining about not being able to make weight anymore around the Pac fight. So yea i dont think he was as shot as we thought he was. It was a combination of declining along with being weight drained.