Renowned Filipino boxing scribe Nick Giongco of the Manila Bulletin reported that Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach revealed that he mixes a small amount of a yellow, powdered substance with water for the Filipino world champion to ingest before each of his workout sessions.
In an article entitled “Ariza Bares Secret to Pacman’s Power”, Giongco wrote;
“Nobody knows what it is but it apparently makes Pacquiao perform superhuman efforts coupled of course with a training regimen that puts even the finest athletes to shame.”
He continued by saying that Ariza said there’s nothing special about the substance that he said is “…just a concoction of supplements”.
Giongco didn’t say, or even insinuate that there is any need to suspect that the substance is anything but a legal supplement.
However, it’s likely that Pacquiao critics will run with this information while ignoring the absurdity in assuming that Ariza would give his star pupil any type of illegal substance in front of a reporter, and then enter into a discussion about it with him.
Is A-Side Meth yellow?
Maybe it’s magical fairy dust or something.
I contacted well-known boxing trainer, and former WBF Intercontinental super middleweight champion John “Iceman” Scully in reference to the substance. He said that the boxing commission could collect a sample of the substance to have it analyzed if they chose to do so, but it’s unlikely they’ll feel that there’s any need to do so.
There are a multitude of over-the-counter supplements that are available to the general public. Ariza is an expert on nutrition and sports supplementation. The stuff could be a mixture of legal supplements of his own recipe, or it could simply be something that you could buy at your local sports nutrition store.
Professional boxer Kim Connor Hamby of Little Rock (who was set to fight for the Arkansas State Lightweight Title before the fight fell through) shared her opinion on the yellow substance.
“I think he is taking a supplement called MaxGXL, and the vitamins they make are a yellow powder. He’s probably using this product,” Hamby said.
Amateur boxer Lavale D. Wilson of Little Rock said;
“Maybe it’s a type of vitamin that he takes. Obviously it isn’t anything to worry about if it’s in the open.”
