Actually I seem to recall people, the HBO team especially, already talking about how his between fight drinking and binges were affecting him as early as the Urango fight.

Also, as has been said, the mental affect on a boxer's psyching being knocked out cannot be under estimated. There are countless fighters who were never the same after a beating, they just no longer had the belief deep down.

Pacquaio is clearly a better fighter than Ricky ever was though, no disputing that.