Marqez Used P.E.D.s?

This writer nails it brilliantly, with a perspective that comes across plain as the nose on your face. He penned this Dec. 9th, independently saying the same **** I'm asserting:

By Ivan G. Goldman

" Me, I’m not the suspicious sort. So when Juan Manuel Marquez is miraculously transformed at age 39 into a polished man of steel who can laugh off tremendous shots to the head, leap tall buildings at a single bound, and punch harder and faster than he did a dozen years ago, I applaud his accomplishments.


When I see Marquez trained by a man with a history of peddling PEDs (and ratting out his associates when the feds close in) I see no reason to surmise that maybe something in the medicine cabinet ain’t kosher. But alas, we live in a cynical world, one in which suspicious minds maintain that the ravages of time and biology can’t remarkably transform athletes into unassailable specimens of speed, power, and conditioning at such an advanced age unless unsavory methods are embraced. And I fear that the cruel, insidious weapon of malicious gossip may seek to diminish Marquez’s fantastic accomplishment.

Yes, human beings have lost significant lung capacity at age 39 and can no longer run as fast or as far or jump as high or recover from physical exertion nearly as quickly as they used to. But when Marquez, obsessed with defeating Manny Pacquiao, hired Angel “Memo” Heredia, a banned-chemicals merchant who escaped prosecution by informing on those close to him, I admired Marquez for rehabilitating a guy that trainer Freddie Roach cruelly labeled a piece of something I won’t repeat.

It’s really sweet that Heredia, who now calls himself Hernandez, has been welcomed back into the world of big-time sports after supplying steroids to track stars Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, and Austin Gatlin and then working as an undercover informant to ensnare track coach Trevor Graham. What a nice guy he must be to stand up for justice like that by squealing on his pals. That was my reaction. And I see no reason to believe that the name change was a shady subterfuge. Why, it was no more questionable than Samuel Clemens calling himself Mark Twain.

But not everyone is quite so trusting and kind. In this wary age of ours, quite a few observers believe Lois Lane, for example, knows more than she’s saying, and that when oil companies hire third-rate scientists to tell us there’s no such thing as man-made climate change, well, maybe their findings ought to be looked into a little further, just, you know, to make sure.

There was no blood testing for this particular bout. Marquez said he would gladly submit to a test, but nasty critics note that Heredia had previously proved himself adept at having his athletes’ bloodstreams test pure as driven snow. (Can anyone define driven snow? How does it differ from undriven snow? But I digress.)

My policy is to believe what people tell me. When Mitt Romney said there was nothing wrong with a presidential candidate hiding money in Bermuda, Switzerland, and the Cayman Islands, I figured he knew more about it than I do. If anyone had asked me though, I wouldn’t have let him anywhere near Pacquiao’s dressing room. If you’ve been reading the papers, you know the guy’s luck has been running like the Titanic.

Backbiting observers noted it seemed a little odd that at his age Marquez could perform squats with weights the size of Volkswagens and not have to lie down for a week afterward. They took note that that first solid left hand from Pacquaio didn’t snap Marquez’s head back more than a millimeter or two. His neck seemed forged from the fires of metallurgy. Miraculous, I said. I won’t even repeat the comments of these relentless naysayers when they noticed the same phenomenon. And then of course that knockout punch at the end of round six that dropped Manny like a falling safe came quicker and harder than anything he threw in their previous 41 and a half rounds.

We live in a litigious age, one in which it’s safer, smarter, and easier to be open and credulous. Accept the tooth fairy. Embrace Santa. Congratulate fighters for their hard work and exemplary victories.

But allow me to point out that the world of boxing won’t be quite as unsuspecting. Even though we take Marquez at his word that his magical transformation was all on the up and up, fight guys won’t necessarily be quite so trusting. They now believe they have to cheat or lose. Expect the dogs of chemistry to run unleashed."

 

Your comparison is no comparison at all - apples to oranges, comparing Martinez-Williams2 to Pacquiao-Marquez4.

Marquez had never dropped Manny in 36 rounds. Martinez floored Williams once in their previous fight. And, adding the benefit of retrospect, the ghastly beating WIlliams took from Lara really underscored how much a vulnerable fighter Williams is. Manny had never showed that vulnerability.

Sergio Martinez never sidled up to a known steroid slinger only to emerge with an uncharicteristicly bulky physique, one not seen the previous 15 years or so of [their] career (Martiniez and Marquez are about the same age).

Your comparisons are really moot, really lax. Don't speak of Marquez and clean fighters in the same breath, it's disrespectful to the Martinez's of the world.

 

You should spend less time Kneeling down in front of your shrine to Juan Manuel Marquez and more time reading up on boxing. your desperate refutals remind me of how Johnny Cochran would sit and poke holes in the compelling eviedence in the O.J. Simpson trial in a desperate attempt to distract and divert the focus from O.J.s involvement. Your rush to protect JMM from being implicated reminds me of that.

I got no dog in this race, but you clearly do. What are you, some obsessed fan or something?

Your assertions/refutals are like the simplistic obsessions of some whacked-out, brainwashed religious cult member.

Higher K.O. percentage? Wow, you've really taken that and ran with it, never mind that it's such a mathmatically infinitisimal percentage as to bear no weight in any "marquez knocks out more of his opponents than Pacquiao" argument.

And, with your Marquez-is-virtuous, rose-colored glasses, you're never going to have the depth perception to see how physically transformed he emerged from the last two traing camps. You can't. You won't. End of story. Your lack of objectivity alone, and your name-calling and insults bely one who cannot permit any criticism to his idol Marquez.


You: "evidence? who needs evidence when I alone know he didn't cheat".

It must be great having the ability to be so all-knowing. You a betting man? Seems to me you stand to make billions of dollars. Or no, wait, that's fantasy-land, just like your abiltiy to percieve the obvious.

 

And here, yahoo sports writer Kevin Iole pens the definitive case against the plausability of Marquez being a clean fighter:

" Heredia, who also goes by the name Angel Hernandez, doesn't hide his past, but insists he's clean now. He said Marquez's stunning physical transformation is the result of hard work and training methods he said are proprietary.

"They're my secrets and I don't intend to tell so other trainers can copycat my secrets," Heredia said.

Manny Pacquiao arrives at a press conference in Las Vegas. (AP)

Heredia told Yahoo! Sports he was working with the government to develop drug-testing protocols for professional boxing. He said there are vast differences in three-round amateur bouts and 12-round professional fights.

However, that is unlikely since the World Anti-Doping Agency testing protocol is the same in every sport. It is no different for marathoners than it is for sprinters, so it would seem extremely unlikely a new testing regimen would be needed for boxers based upon the length of their matches.

Long-time boxing trainers were stunned to see Marquez squatting extraordinarily heavy amounts of weight. Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach has publicly questioned the transformation of Marquez's body, leading Heredia to threaten a lawsuit against Roach.

Heredia said he is working with nine other boxers, but he refused to name them. All of them, he said, are working the same routine as Marquez.

[Related: Manny Pacquiao's success tied to trainer, confidant Freddie Roach]

Testing Marquez so close to the fight would basically be useless. If he used any of a variety of substances, it likely would have long since cleared the body and be undetectable at this stage.

As the United States Anti-Doping Agency's lengthy investigation of cyclist Lance Armstrong showed, Armstrong and his teammates used EPO for years without testing positive.

EPO is a hormone which increases the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood. It helps the muscles perform better and over a more lengthy period of time.

If injected directly into a vein, EPO will clear one's system in fewer than 24 hours. An athlete who took EPO in the evening would have no fear of testing positive the following day.

According to WADA protocols, athletes have to provide a one-hour window to be available for testing. Since EPO passes the system so quickly, those using it can simply take it after the one-hour window has passed.



Dr. Larry Bowers, USADA's chief science officer, said in an affidavit in the Armstrong case that the lack of a positive test is not proof that one did not dope.

Victor Conte, the founder of BALCO, went to prison for his role in that scandal. Since his release, he's acted as an anti-doping advocate, the black hat turned white fighting for clean sport.

"I see in interviews that Memo is trying to say he is an anti-doping advocate like me now, but we are as different as night and day," Conte told Yahoo! Sports. "What happened was, I chose not to cooperate with law enforcement. I chose to accept the full consequences. I didn't testify. I didn't provide any documents or information because these were people that I gave the drugs to. I was the leader as he was the leader.

"So you're going to turn on them, you're going to testify against them, you're going to put them in prison while you walk free when you were at the top of the food chain and you were the leader of the pack? I didn't feel good about doing that. … I said, 'I'm wrong and I deserve consequences, whatever those are.' "

[Related: Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez have little to hide in rematch]

While Conte said it is theoretically possible that Marquez was able to transform his body the way he has at such an advanced age for an athlete, he remains suspicious of it.

He pointed out the massive amount of weight that Marquez was shown squatting during HBO's "24/7: Pacquiao-Marquez." Several boxing trainers and conditioning coaches have told Yahoo! Sports that it is highly unusual for boxers to squat such heavy weight.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez pose for photos. (AP)

Conte said there is a reason for that.

"That makes your entire body strong, not just your legs," Conte said of the squats Marquez has been doing. "If you want to stimulate speed, power and strength, you do it using heavy weight and exploding from under that weight with enough on your shoulders in the squat rack.

"But how many boxers do you know who are in the weight room squatting huge poundage? You don't see that. That in and of itself would make you stiff and sore and unable to walk for two or three days unless you are using testosterone or other steroids to accelerate the healing, where instead of it taking three days to recover from that type of workout, you'd recover in one day."

Heredia dismisses Conte, whom he describes as "that guy in San Francisco with a big mouth on Twitter," as out of touch and jealous. Heredia said he's working closely with USADA and said he remains a witness in ongoing investigations.

Heredia said he is going to meet with FDA special agent Jeff Novitzky, the man who broke the BALCO case, Thursday in Las Vegas and that Marquez will provide a blood and urine sample.

Heredia portrayed it as evidence that he is cooperating and attempting to develop a program that could catch cheats in professional boxing.

But Novitzky is a criminal investigator, not a man who would be setting testing protocols or even handling a blood or urine specimen.

Marquez swears he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs. Throughout his 20-year career, Marquez has been honorable and forthright and there's never been a hint of controversy surrounding him.

Until now. Marquez insists he's not worried about the skeptics.

"First of all I would like to tell you that I have never done this type of work before," he said of the training he's done with Heredia. "That's why my body has changed. I have been working very hard, specifically to get more strength. Angel is a professional and knows how much weight I am putting on. I am getting more speed and getting stronger at the same time.

"As far as people thinking I am taking steroids? I would take the test. Let them take my blood. I don't care. [I would do it] just to shut everybody up. Of course my fight tests have always been clean. I don't know how those rumors get started."

The rumors got started because of his association with a known steroids distributor and the subsequent dramatic transformation of his body.

He may finally get that coveted victory of Pacquiao, but in this case a win may create more questions than answers. "




Both Marquez and Herida refute criticisms of him possibly cheating with "...they have no proof"

fantasy land

Angel Herida/Hernandez responding to how Marquez transformed his body by saying "Those are my secrets and I don't intend to tell other trainers so they can copy my secrets"

fantasy land

Angel Herida/Hernandez refusing to disclose what other boxers he's working with, while at the same time bragging about a change to now using only legitimate methods

fantasy land

Marquez squatting "Volkswagons" in the midst of a boxing traing schedule, seemingly exempt from the usual recover time rigorous, heavy lifting demands

fantasy land

Angel Herida/Hernandez's cavalier, boastful attitude/answers about his position and perspective about the rightiousness and justifiability of athletes exploiting a P.E.D. regimine in a post-BALCO interview in 2008. And in that same interview, speaking proudly and fondly of his masterful legacy with P.E.D.s, and boasting how easy it is to get substances imported into Mexico (where he trained Marquez this time).

fantasy land

Angel Herida/Hernandez's shifty, evasive, defensive and secretive manner in interviews when addressing questions about his methods

fantasy land

Disgraced trainer Angel Herida/Hernandez adopting an alias, all the while preaching that he uses legitamate methods

fantasy land

Juan Manuel Marquez's sudden one-punch knockout power of a granite-chinned opponent (who hadn't tasted the canvas since age 21) whom he has not previously dropped in 3 previous fights, but solidly dropping him twice in their recent outing

fantasy land



Me, I'm fully convinced that Juan Manuel Marquez used only legitimate methods in beating Pacquiao.

I just returned home from vacationing in fantasy land. Proof? Read previous line.