And I realised he also suffered them in 2015, whilst preparing for the Mayweather bout. He had to seek permission from USADA to use special cream, for fear of this medication resulting in him failing PED tests.
And back in 2012, Alex Ariza was the strength and conditioning coach for Pacquiao and Chavez Jr., with both fighters at the time complaining of leg cramps, which led to Victor Conte claiming “the use of anabolic steroids can cause muscle tightness and cramps”.
So then I dug a bit deeper…
In 2010, Manny Pacquiao turned down a guaranteed opportunity to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a $40m payday, with the financials of that bout having already been agreed, due to refusing to undergo PED testing performed by USADA. There's a YouTube video of him confirming this.
A year later VADA was launched and quickly became the most popular anti-doping organisation used by boxing in the US.
Manny Pacquiao then refused to undergo VADA drug testing for his two immediate bouts following Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto's failed tests in 2012 (Bradley I & Marquez III).
Alex Ariza worked with Pacquiao for the Filipino's third bout against Marquez, where VADA wasn't involved. I'm sure he worked with him for the Bradley fight also (only Bradley was tested by VADA for his third bout against Manny, with the American initially believing the Filipino was being tested by VADA too... it was a controversial issue back then).
The Filipino then took a one-year hiatus and also stopped working with Alex Ariza.
When Pacquiao eventually made his ring return and competed in his only bout in 2013, it was against Brandon Rios, with 'Bam Bam' employing the services of Alex Ariza.
An out-of-character Team Pacquiao INSISTED that both fighters undergo VADA testing (possibly because the Filipino had cycled off the PED's and knew how Ariza was working with his opponent), with Rios subsequently failing their tests due to having methylhexanamine in his system.
And Alex Ariza has himself even claimed that Manny Pacquiao used PEDS:
"I can say unequivocally that I know Pacquiao was using performance-enhancing drugs. I don't know if he was taking steroids, HGH, or both, but I do know he was on PEDs.
"I stake my entire reputation on the fact, and I'm calling it a fact, that Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs, before and during training camps for several fights."
And it's important to note that Pacquiao was only tested by VADA very late during his training camp for the Thurman fight. He didn't undergo proper VADA testing.
As far as I know, unless someone can correct me, there wasn’t any VADA testing for the Pacquiao-Ugas bout.
So could this be the real reason why Manny Pacquiao suffered leg cramps against Ugas?
Thoughts?