Juan Manuel Marquez's newfound muscle raises questions about PED use
LAS VEGAS – Juan Manuel Marquez said he's "ready to go to war" with Manny Pacquiao, but the presence of an admitted steroids distributor in his corner Saturday night and a vastly more muscular body has skeptics questioning whether it's conventional warfare or chemical warfare he will use.
Marquez will meet Pacquiao for a fourth, and likely final, time on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden in a 12-round welterweight bout on HBO Pay-Per-View. Though he believes he won each of their first three fights, Marquez is winless, losing the last two after getting a draw in the first.
Juan Manuel Marquez listens to comments during a news conference.
Three years ago, when Marquez was 36, he moved up from lightweight to welterweight to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. Marquez looked puny next to Mayweather and had no muscle definition. It was hardly a surprise, though, since Marquez had never weighed more than 135 in a fight and weighed less than 130 in 50 of his 55 fights to that point.
Now, Marquez's physique has undergone a transformation every bit as dramatic as the one baseball star Barry Bonds did in the second half of his legendary career. He has big, bulging biceps, thick shoulders and a wide, broad chest. He accomplished this after he turned 38 and only after he hired Angel Guillermo "Memo" Heredia as his strength and conditioning coach.
