That was not their explanation though. their explanation was that Dorian's physique looks harder and drier in person, and the grainy look that does not show up in video and picture, this is why Yates won the prejudging and when you see pictures it did not look that way. People call BS but anyone that has seen yates in person knew about this look, very pleasing to the judges and 100's of people over the years have commented on this particular attribute. The fact is Yates and Haney were 1 hair apart in 91 and 92 had the same judging panels so if Yates had improved even slightly, which he did, then the judges would have giving him the win unless Haney improved as well.
And as I said, how was he going to pull that off? He looked every bit as big and leaner at a '86 grand prix show (though, in fairness, those pics were probably sharpened more than a certain poster's collection of masturbatory pics of Ronnie from all the shows he did in '99).
I hear people say, oh, Lee was young, he could've kept on growing, blah blah -- well, why didn't he, then? Some guys just peak earlier than others. Assuming they can keep growing just because some older guys find a second wind is bullshit. What they don't realize is Haney got big really, really FAST and started winning Olympias. Ronnie took his time but he wasn't gaining by leaps and bounds until he started showing up with a giant gut, legs and ass.
Haney had to have known he had two choices against Yates:
A. Try to come in more cut (and likely be smaller than in '91)
or
Option D. Come in even bigger and, again, as I said, risk losing the muscularity round by an even larger margin.
Look at it from Lee's perspective. Dorian was a young pup, 3 years younger than Lee. Lee had been winning the biggest titles for many years while Dorian went from relative obscurity to the very top in less than 3 years' time. Chances were good Dorian would be bigger than the previous year AND just as lean, if not leaner. And if he brought up his so-called "weak points" the way he brought up his back after losing to Momo at the '90 NOC ... sweet Jesus. WTF would you do? Retire with the record and dignity, or risk putting it all on the line and going out second-best?
That's another thing a lot of guys here don't understand. Contest prep isn't as simple as, "Well, I was 256, dry as a bone and 5.1% bodyfat least year; I've added a couple of pounds of lean mass, I'm on target to be at least that lean again ... hey, I got it in the bag." There ARE last minute fuck-ups. Family members can die in the final weeks leading up to a show. Any number of things can happen that can make any projection on paper, no matter how well-reasoned, bullshit when you're water-logged, thinking about a divorce, sick kid or even something as "benign" as a sinus infection and you're standing onstage opposite a guy with Yates' mentality.
