Placing 4th in a World's Strongest Man contest, especially considering he didn't know how to train for some of the events, is quite impressive. He's no Christopher Oketch, but.....
Sipes was a beast. The guy worked hard labor all day and then came for a 2 hour workout.
Sergio Oliva had a hard-labor job in a foundry. And he managed to hit the iron for a couple of hours. He also was no slouch in the strength department, as he was a weightlifter for Cuba.
Lou was stronger than Ronnie (Brutal if true)
People forget Lou was 6'5'' (in his prime) and also had anger issues due to him being deaf, it's crazy how strong he was, 900 lb deadlift, 600 lb bench press, etc, stronger than Franco and Arnold
Unfortunately for Lou, he was in bodybuilding and not powerlifting.
He may have made more money doing strongman stunts, like Bill Pearl.
Brutal.
I remember the Strongest Man in the World competition he beat out all the power lifters in the car deadlift.
Yes he was very impressive there.