Did Marquez take steroids?

LOS ANGELES – There is talk that a disgruntled former member of Juan Manuel Marquez’ team is ready to come out in public and expose the WBC lightweight champion of taking steroids to bulk up for his fight against Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas last weekend.

A source said the ex-member was fired by Marquez, probably for cause, and is out for revenge. He supposedly sneaked into Marquez’ home and took an illegal drug from his refrigerator. The illegal drug is some kind of steroid or performance enhancer.

Marquez, 38, bulked up to 142 pounds to face Pacquiao for the fight that had a catchweight limit of 144. The Mexican also brought his weight up to 142 when he battled Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2009 but couldn’t carry the extra weight and was badly outpointed. He hired Angel (Memo) Heredia, now Hernandez, as his strength and conditioning coach to prepare for his third meeting with Pacquiao.

Heredia, a Texas A&M University graduate, has a dubious reputation and was implicated in a drug scandal where he admitted to supplying track stars Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery with illegal substances. Heredia guaranteed before the Pacquiao fight that Marquez would be too strong for the Filipino and as the bout unfolded, it looked that way. He confessed to providing Jones with a blood-booster, growth hormone and insulin in 2000 at the request of her coach Trevor Graham. Heredia also sold banned drugs to other Olympians, including gold medalists Antonio Pettigrew, Jerome Young and Dennis Mitchell.

Victor Conte, founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative which distributed anabolic steroids, said Heredia testified as the star witness for the government in exposing drug use in sports and got off the hook because of his cooperation with authorities.

But Heredia insisted he did nothing wrong in building up Marquez’ capacity to put up a stiff challenge to Pacquiao. The Nevada State Boxing Commission administered drug tests on both fighters before and after their bout. So far, no positive finding has been announced.

While Heredia has a history of distributing steroids to athletes, there is no evidence showing any hanky-panky in working with Marquez.

“A go-between has approached certain Filipinos involved in boxing asking if they’re interested to meet this former Team Marquez guy,” said the source. “He claims the steroid came from Marquez’ refrigerator in his house but who’s to know for sure? It could just be a lie to discredit or embarrass Marquez because the guy has an axe to grind and a hidden agenda. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has tests to determine if a fighter is on illegal drugs. So if Marquez doesn’t test positive, there’s no way to link him with this illegal drug supposedly from his refrigerator.”

The former Team Marquez staffer supposedly claims he has proof that the Mexican took steroids to bulk up for the Pacquiao fight. But presenting an illegal drug to the public and saying it came from Marquez’ refrigerator wouldn’t be enough to throw the book at the fighter. A link has to be established to prove usage and without it, any allegation wouldn’t be credible.

Surely, Marquez did something in training camp to beef up and bring his power to the next level. Heredia said it was all scientific training and hard work. Marquez had never looked so strong before. And Pacquiao felt the sting in his punches from the onset. Marquez’ upper body was never as muscular and sculpted.

If Marquez was on drugs, it’s more to Pacquiao’s credit that despite the steroids, the Mexican still couldn’t swing the decision to his favor. Pacquiao didn’t only throw more but also landed more shots.

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It wasn’t a case of dwindling finances that prompted WBC lightwelterweight champion Erik Morales to stage a ring comeback after a 2 1/2 year layoff.

Morales, 35, makes a good living out of a garbage collection contract with the Tijuana government. He’s now considering to invest in a land-fill project where his share of the multi-million dollar garbage business would considerably jack up by providing waste treatment and disposal services.

Aside from the garbage contract, Morales maintains a stable of 15 fighters. One of his top prospects is WBC youth superbantamweight titlist Oscar Gonzalez whose record is 14-1, with nine KOs.

“I wanted to prove something to myself that I could still become the first Mexican to win four world titles in four divisions,” said Morales during a dinner the other night in an Italian restaurant hosted by his good friend and Filipino businessman Hermie Esguerra here.

It took a lot of convincing for Morales to bring his father and trainer Jose back to his corner. “My father advised me to stay retired, to spend more time with my family,” he said. “My plan was to do three fights in Mexico before fighting in the US again. That’s exactly what I did. I won three fights in Mexico in 2010 then fought Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas. Nobody gave me a chance to beat Maidana. I lost a close majority decision and surprised the experts.”

When the WBC lightwelterweight title became vacant, Morales and unbeaten Pablo Cesar Cano were picked to dispute the throne. Morales stopped Cano in the 10th round last September.

Golden Boy chief executive officer Richard Schaefer recently asked Morales if he’d be open to fighting Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Morales replied, “Why not?” If it happens, Morales said he’ll do to Mayweather what he did to him in a sparring session in 2000.

“I was training for a fight in Texas and sparred three or four rounds with Mayweather,” he recalled. “Mayweather’s father Floyd Sr. was my trainer and got me to spar with his son. I had him groggy and reeling but he never went down.”

Morales’ recovery from the depths of his storybook boxing career is an inspiring lesson of courage, said Esguerra. Morales lost four in a row and wallowed in depression until staging his comeback. “I was with Erik after he lost to (David) Diaz, his fourth straight loss,” said Esguerra. “In the car, Erik was crying and there was blood trickling from a cut near his eye. I got out my handkerchief and wiped the tears and the blood. I wanted Erik to know that we, Filipinos, are friends in good and bad times. I never left his side.”

Morales said he will never forget saying “Wala kang katulad, Manny” in a 2006 TV commercial for San Miguel Beer and is thankful to San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang for the opportunity to appear with Pacquiao.