A little over a year ago, Paul-Brian McReynolds was asked to be the strength and conditioning coach for Middleweight contender Fernando Guerrero.
Since then, he has helped prepare Guerrero in two training camps: one in last fight with Raymond Gatica and now in his fight with David Lemieux, which will be the co-main event of the Light Heavyweight showdown between Adonis Stevenson vs. Andrzej Fofara on May 24.
“When I heard the name Fernando Guerrero, I immediately knew who he was,” said McReynolds, a long-time boxing fan.
McReynolds gave it a shot and, after a great first workout with several different drills, McReynolds was officially on board to join the Saucedo Brothers as they formed a new team for Guerrero.
McReynolds, who is from Cleveland, Ohio, had a long journey before becoming Guerrero’s new coach.
After practicing Tae Kwon Do for most of his life, McReynolds began competing seriously after graduating High School, fighting in national and international tournaments for ten years.
McReynolds even competed in an Olympic trials tournament but, as luck would have it, he was unsuccessful. This turn of events, however, allowed him to dedicate his time to being a strength and conditioning coach.
McReynolds worked for five years as a coach in Ohio, teaching his form of Tae Kwon Do as a group instructor before auditioning to be a coach for what was then called the Sports Club LA.
After getting the job, McReynolds sold everything and moved to Los Angeles, where he has since worked with the newly renamed Equinox gym in Beverly Hills, California.
It was during one of his classes that he met stuntman Steven Ho, a longtime friend of the Saucedo Brothers.
Ho informed him of the brothers’ new fighter and since then has worked hard to prepare Guerrero, making sure he is in great shape.
“I just played a heavy emphasis on making sure he has the ability to go from reserve to explosive, reserve to explosive” said McReynolds.
He believes in training fighters in aerobic and anaerobic exercises, giving them the ability to vacillate between fighting as a boxer and fighting as an explosive puncher several times throughout a fight.
McReynolds knows that he and the Saucedo brothers have the job of not only making him physically fit, but mentally fit. He knows that they need to give Guerreo a great training camp in order for Guerrero to be confident when he enters the ring.
The team hopes to have done its part to help Guerrero win the internal battle in a sport that is just as mental as it is physical.
“As long as you win the internal battle, you can go home with your head up high–win or lose,” concluded McReynolds, “because if you don’t win that battle, it’ll be a long ride home.”
This article is the second of a three-part series documenting Fernando Guerrero’s final week before facing David Lemieux.
