My whole life I've been plagued with terrible calf cramps after extreme athletic exertion. It's because the cross section of the gastrocnemius is too large for maintenance of adequate hydration during exertion - overdeveloped calves are a curse. Pacquiao has the same shape to his muscles - his calves are too big and as he ages it is very difficult for his ion pumps to maintain the correct gradient across all that muscle volume - this is why large muscles are a hindrance in endurance sports, higher oxygen content and an increased likelihood of a ph imbalance that will result in cramping.
Seriously, overdeveloped calves cramp A LOT. For Pac anyway, I don't think it has anything at all to do with PEDs.
I'm amazed at the ignorance or deliberate misinformation. Speak to any credible strength and conditioning coach. The anaerobic nature of boxing and the volume of work on the calves before championship rounds ≠ cramps in any of the calf musculature. This is even more certain pre-fight and in early rounds. Unless the fighter is extremely dehydrated to begin with and/or has imbalanced electrolyte levels due to certain substances or terribly poor nutrition.
He bounces up and down on his toes. I have cramped in every tough amatuer match I ever had, and these lasted long into the night too. I don't take supplements at all, let alone PEDs. What do Pac and I have in common? Ridiculously oversized calves for 125 lb guys. pac's calves This content is protected my calf This content is protected Nutrients do not flow naturally through such dense muscles. It's because of the size of his calves. That's it, cramping happens all the time in them, even from pointing your toes.