In boxing you get those rare fighters who can still compete well past the age of 35 like Bernard Hopkins, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.
Hopkins and Mayweather are both retired, while Pacquiao is still competing at the highest level at the age of 42 and is the oldest fighter in history to hold a welterweight championship.
The Filipino boxing legend is also an active Senator in the Philippines and rose eight weight divisions winning a world title in each.
Fans have questioned how did the ferocious Filipino southpaw climb so many weight divisions from flyweight all the way to junior middleweight and maintain his crushing power.
Undefeated former super middleweight champion David Benavidez told AHAT Live that Pacquiao is just a gifted fighter and freak of nature when asked about the Pac-Man’s ability to maintain his speed and power at the higher weights.
“I can’t really give you the answer to be honest with you. Manny Pacquiao is just a freak of nature,” Benavidez told AHAT Live. “He is a beast. He is one of the greatest fighters to ever lace up a pair of gloves. You know that is just gifted, there is something about him that a lot of 90 percent of the people will never have. That guy is just a legend.”
Benavidez does believe that Manny Pacquiao’s clean living diet and strict discipline to workout daily plays a factor into his longevity in boxing and helping maintain and build his power throughout the years.
“The thing about him and I feel like why he…well one of the reason why is because I think he would eat like five thousand calories a day or something like that. So that guy was eating, eating, eating, you know he was eating the right proteins, the right shakes, the right vitamins. Doing the right workouts.
“That’s the thing too, I feel like nutrition is a big key part in power. You gotta eat chicken, you gotta eat fish, you gotta eat vegetables, you gotta eat the right vitamins. You don’t get power from drinking soda and eating McDonald’s. The food benefits your body, it makes you go up to that next level. I know a lot of people don’t believe in the stuff but if you eat the right amount of stuff then your power goes up so you can do the right workouts – that’s where you get that power from,” said Benavidez.
