Pacquiao vs Marquez: Questions About Marquez's Trainer Overshadowing Bout

The last big boxing fight is les than two weeks away and nobody is talking about the fight.

Juan Manuel Marquez is looking to notch his first win in three tries against Manny Pacquiao, and has been working with a new trainer. His name is Angel Hernandez—or at least that’s what he’s telling people.

His real name is Angel Heredia, and he was involved in the infamous steroid sting with Victor Conte a few years back. The 36-year-old testified back in May of 2008 that he had given the blood-booster EPO, growth hormone and insulin to track stars Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery back in the early 2000s.

That was a long time ago and everyone involved claims this is a non-story. Yet it’s hard to ignore it when you look at the considerable amount of muscle he has put on over the past few months. Marquez is as big as he’s ever been, so naturally the question marks around his new trainer were going to surface—especially when that trainer is connected to the biggest steroid investigation this country has ever seen.

HBO’s 24/7 series gave viewers a look at the training regiment of Marquez, and it really doesn’t sound like it would result in massive muscle gain. HBO cameras filmed Hernandez talking about how Marquez has been able to gain so much muscle:

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A lot of the drills focus in speed and strength in the arms and shoulders. So his reactions will be more about muscle balance.

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That sounds like a workout more catered to toning muscles rather than making them huge. The other major change Marquez has made to his workout is a doozy as well:

He no longer drinks his own urine.

The boxer had been infamous for this in the past, but has finally stopped the practice after his doctors advised him to stop.

Who knows if Marquez is replacing urine with steroids, or some sort of PED. That’s the problem with associating himself with a guy like Heredia. The questions won’t be going away anytime soon and it's beginning to engulf the pre-fight buzz of round three of this epic battle.