Thoughts on Berto's body breaking down

As we all know, Berto's body has been breaking down considerably the last year (torn bicep in training camp, torn shoulder this past fight) ...

Some speculate it can be steroids. I would agree .... and I am a fan of Berto, though I acknowledge that he isn't a smart fighter.

I say this because Berto is built like a powerlifter (exception of his legs). As someone who has an understanding in body composition in regards to athletic training, very rarely do you see someone pack on the muscle he does while still being very low in body fat percentage. Not saying it can't be done, as I do intermittent fasting and I somewhat can gain a little bit of size and stay relatively lean, but its hard to pack on dense muscle and stay very lean at the same time. Now Bradley is also extremely ripped, however, he really doesn't have huge muscles like Berto and is much more elusive (less stiff).

Another thing I notice about Berto is his jab, when he commits, his jab is probaly as powerful as Cotto's. But unlike Cotto, I dont think he is a natural southpaw. This tells me that he trains primarily for explosiveness but doesn't include muscle endurance. This is why when he throws combinations of more than 2 punches, they are widely spread apart, b/c it is very hard to throw 3-5 punches power punches consistently in a fight w/o getting extremely fatigued in later rounds (Hence the accusations that Pac was using PED's) ... Now Mayweather doesn't throw a lot of punches either, but this is because he primarily relies on defense and timing (which negates the need to waste energy on combinations), and Berto definitely does not rely on defense (no disrespect).

I have seen his training regiment on you tube ... very explosive ... almost like a sprinter. There is nothing wrong with this, but when you carry a heavy amount of muscle with this type of training as he does, it makes it very difficult for your body to recover quickly. So he MIGHT be using b/c I find it difficult that someone can train in the manner that he does and can recover quickly w/o some external aid.

Also, for someone as muscular as Berto, he is easily pushed around. I have seen Collazo, Ortiz, Berto and now Soto pretty much easily push him around the ring. This appears to tell me that his muscles are not functionally strong but more relatively strong. Most steroid users (powerlifters, strongman competitors) are generally strong for short bursts but there strength doesn't last long term (i.e. in later rounds in fights, as Berto, tends to fade in fights)

Anyway it appears that Berto is suited for 140lbs. He isn't tall and is extremely too top heavy to be elusive in the ring, which means he takes a lot of punishment from heavier opponents. This post is not too bash Berto as again, I am a fan and wish him the best. Hopefully he can restore his career b/c at this point one more loss and it probaly is a wrap for him. Just my thoughts.

 

I understand this

Has nothing to do with topic of the post though

 

Actually it has a lot to do with increased explosiveness and poor stamina, but thanks for responding

 

True .. But the point of the thread was people are beginning to think that Berto may be a using steroids due to him tearing muscles (2X in a span of 12-18 months) at such a young age and the amount of muscle and stiffness he has, to which I gave my thoughts on why this COULD be true, didn't say it proves he was.

But yes, people get hurt in sports all the time.

 

Welll first things first, everybody bodies reacts differently.

But to answer your question, it is rumored that Evander's supplier and/or trainer knew how to monitor the dosage to ensure that the drugs (again if true) were used to the maximum of their effectiveness and also to keep it as undetected as possible. And there is a difference between steroids and illegal PED's.

Also, most of the opponents Evander fought were alot slower than him and lets keep it real .. He was a bit of a dirty fighter who usually resorted to tactics in 2nd half of fights, which COULD have slowed his opponents down and allowed him to not use as much energy.