MANILA, Philippines - Juan Manuel Marquez putting on all those muscles in so short a time did not escape the sharp eyes of Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach.
Marquez, the 38-year-old Mexican, must be trying hard to catch up on Pacquiao that he must have been in the gym 24/7 for the last month or two.
In a training video recently posted on the Internet, Marquez looked more like a bodybuilder, a smaller version of Lou Ferrigno, than a boxer.
“Yeah he looks really good. My understanding is he has a good team,” Alex Ariza of Team Pacquiao told Ben Thompson of FightHype.
Ariza even suggested that Marquez, moving up in weight to challenge Pacquiao for his WBO welterweight title, is into something different.
“I guess (he’s working with) the same guys who work with Usain Bolt,” Ariza added, referring to those handling the reigning World and Olympic champion.
Bolt is the 25-year-old sprinter from Jamaica, and winner of five world titles and three Olympic gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters and 4 x 100 meter relay.
If Marquez is indeed working with Bolt’s team, then he must be working hard on his stamina, and not necessarily on his running condition.
Because nobody wants anybody running inside the ring when the two great champions square off on Nov. 12 at the MGM in Las Vegas.
Ariza said Marquez putting on all those muscles so quick might backfire on him.
“You never know, I mean, I’m not in his camp so I can’t speak, but I would never get my guy that big that fast because, you know, you never know how they’re going to respond to carrying that kind of weight when it comes to a fight.”
The strength coach from Colombia, who came into the picture as Pacquiao prepared to fight David Diaz in 2008, said it’s not the way they do things.
“Manny did it gradually and as time went by, he got bigger and bigger, but Marquez put on a lot of size really quick,” Ariza told FightHype.