Manny Pacquiao was profiled in the November edition of Playboy. Most of the information in the article was old news if you’re a hardcore Pac Man fan. It talks about his background as a poor boy growing up in the Philippines, and how he turned to boxing after his father ate his pet dog. There was one detail, however, that stood out to me. Some people already knew it, but this was new for me, so I feel like sharing.
Believing the old adage that sex saps strength, Pacquiao follows a strict no-[wife] policy during training. “We’ve talked to doctors about it,” [trainer Freddie] Roach says. “Sex lowers your testosterone, so you’re not as mean.” Most boxers abstain for a week or more before a bout. “I ask my guys for 10 days,” Roach says. Of course Pacquiao beats the others even when it comes to abstinence. He stays chaste for 21 days before a bout, husbanding his energies for postfight festivities.
It’s amazing he’s still as nice as he is leading up to fights despite not having sex for three weeks. Falcons defensive lineman Ray Edwards followed the same practice when he fought, and he said abstaining helped. Even a rugby advertisement urged fans to abstain from sex in a show of solidarity.
The other interesting note from the article concerned Manny’s training routine. We know boxers typically train hard when preparing for fights, but few do as much work as Pacquiao.
In eight weeks of training he’ll spar more than 1,400 rounds. His workouts continue with sessions on the heavy bag and the speed bag and 10 to 15 minutes of high-speed rope skipping followed by weight lifting, countless crunches and, in one legendary instance, a demanding abs-building routine: letting a friend smack him in the stomach with a bamboo stick.
He also runs 10 miles per day and is paced by an Olympics marathon runner. The article says Manny often outruns the runner. Pacquiao is not just an outstanding boxer; he’s a fantastic athlete.
