CHICAGO (jGLi) – The “perfect punch” from Juan Manuel Marquez that blindsided Manny Pacquiao was all natural. It was not aided by performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
In the run-up of the Pacman-Marquez fight, a bogeyman was raised that Marquez had bulked up courtesy of his conditioning coach, not his four months of grueling training in the high altitude of Mexico while Manny Pacquiao merely trained half the time in the low altitude of Los Angeles, California. It turns out the bogeyman is merely all hype.
Executive Director Keith Kizer of the Nevada Athletic Commission disclosed Friday (Dec. 14) that Marquez and Pacquiao have both passed the urine tests taken before their Dec. 8 non-title welterweight bout in MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada that ended in Pacquiao’s devastating knockout in the sixth round. In an email to this reporter, Mr. Kizer said, “Steroid and drug test results are back for Pacquiao and Marquez and they were negative for all prohibited substances.”
Prior to their fourth meeting, it was reported that a Top Rank publicist, who was assigned to monitor Team Marquez, was quoted to have said that there had been “a big change in Marquez’s training habits.”
The spokesman, who requested not to be quoted by name because he was not authorized to do so, observed “since Marquez acquired the services of Angel Heredia (real name Angel Hernandez), he has seen and felt major changes in his physical conditioning and the result of his third fight with Pacquiao is a testament to Heredia’s expertise.”
It was reported that while Pacquiao managed to knockdown Marquez in their first two fights, in their third fight, Marquez stood his ground despite Manny’s punishing blows.
Days before their fourth fight, Marquez was observed “doing Heredia’s special exercises featuring medicine balls and skipping ropes used in a bizarre manner apart from doing morning workouts in the track oval of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.”
Heredia was known to have supplied performance-enhancing drugs to track stars Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
