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Getbig Bodybuilding Boards => History - Stories - and Memories => Topic started by: Deadpool on March 07, 2007, 02:31:10 PM

Title: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Deadpool on March 07, 2007, 02:31:10 PM
For the men, Vic Richards, Matt Mendanhall, or even Jumbo Pallumbo come to mind

the ladies, Teagan Clive...(you know I'm gonna say Sally McNeil, so I won't say it)

any more names?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BigSexy50 on March 08, 2007, 04:06:48 PM
For the men, Vic Richards, Matt Mendanhall, or even Jumbo Pallumbo come to mind

the ladies, Teagan Clive...(you know I'm gonna say Sally McNeil, so I won't say it)

any more names?

Jeff King
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: CDM on March 08, 2007, 06:32:47 PM

Jeff King is the man!

He couls train like a demon!
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: americanbulldog on March 10, 2007, 05:10:28 PM
Matt Mendenhall, by far. 
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: donrhummy on March 12, 2007, 03:57:32 PM
Rory Leidelmeyer, Edgar Fletcher
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: njflex on March 14, 2007, 07:11:43 PM
aau crossover's to npc who were great vic terra,joe deangelis,rory was good,their are so many even lighter wght npc guy's.vinny galanti but he has shot at master's  8)
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Tokyo Joe on March 21, 2007, 04:55:18 AM
Aaron Baker had the structure to be mr. Olympia..  always came in too heavy and smooth
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Deadpool on March 21, 2007, 02:44:14 PM
Rory Ledemyer, forgot about him, yeah, he was good
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on March 22, 2007, 09:09:08 AM
aau crossover's to npc who were great vic terra,joe deangelis,rory was good,their are so many even lighter wght npc guy's.vinny galanti but he has shot at master's  8)

Victor Terra, very underrated.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: njflex on March 22, 2007, 08:23:54 PM
Victor Terra, very underrated.
yes to say the least,check out his aau and nabba pic's,was lee labarada height and bigger,leg's were crazy thick,had great shape overall ,tough time placing in the national's he did .
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: donrhummy on March 23, 2007, 09:33:14 AM
yes to say the least,check out his aau and nabba pic's,was lee labarada height and bigger,leg's were crazy thick,had great shape overall ,tough time placing in the national's he did .

Yes, anyone have pics of terra? I haven't really been able to find any on the web.

This is all I've found:
(http://www.gmv.com.au/images/catalog/Victor%20Terra.jpg)
(http://www.gmv.com.au/images/catalog/Victor%20Terra%202.jpg)

Anyone know why he didn't try the IFBB?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on March 24, 2007, 12:01:09 PM
Crazy genes! But as we all know, height counted against him. Only short guys that did really well were Columbo, Dickerson, Labrada and Benaziza.
Terra would have been 6-10th place guy even ripped to shreds 210lbs at 5'4".
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: njflex on March 24, 2007, 12:46:58 PM
Crazy genes! But as we all know, height counted against him. Only short guys that did really well were Columbo, Dickerson, Labrada and Benaziza.
Terra would have been 6-10th place guy even ripped to shreds 210lbs at 5'4".
i like dugdale's build a lot and henry but terra was wider and thicker not quite as polished as them and same height give an 1" or so.he was stacked...
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on March 25, 2007, 12:09:11 AM
i have no idea why jeff and matt never made it. :-\

maybe someone could shed light on this mystery. i heard matt had some issues with booz, but the guy still showed up with a hell of a physique.

jeff had platz like legs (well, maybe not quite) but with an upper body to match.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on March 25, 2007, 04:12:21 AM
King was a neck above the rest...

(http://ironage.us/guest_edit/tj/tj11.jpg)
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on March 29, 2007, 03:02:28 PM
does anyone know if king trained his neck directly?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on March 30, 2007, 11:43:27 AM
That thing :o, if you wanna call it a neck, was HUGE, thick.

Probably genetic, not directly trained?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: wes on March 31, 2007, 08:08:54 AM
King trained his neck 3 x a week on the Nautilus 4-Way Neck Machine.

we trained in the same gym for many years.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on March 31, 2007, 08:17:16 AM
King trained his nech 3 x a week on the Nautilus 4-Way Neck Machine.

we trained in the same gym for many years.

what training philosophy did he have (for want of a better term)?

high intensity, volume, heavy, pump, etc?

i'm thinking that huge neck must have hurt come contest time. how else can you explain his passing over?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: wes on March 31, 2007, 09:21:34 AM
Passing over??

If you mean dead,Jeff is still alive,training hard,and weighs a lean 200 pounds.

He trained heavy,high volume.

The pic above taken in the gym is one of my own personal pics taken back in the day at Central City Gym in Springfield Mass.,I posted it on ironage.us but before that it was obviously never seen on the web.

I saw King at 301 pounds,and he was huge,but not excessively fat and his quads were gigantic at that weight.......at any weight actually.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on March 31, 2007, 09:54:31 AM
Wes, what was his training style, and his comp weight?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: wes on March 31, 2007, 03:01:22 PM
He trained heavy,with short rest periods depending on the bodypart and poundages used of course,and was a stickler for impeccable form.

Not sure about his weight on stage,but I would guess 240-250 possibly.

He actually did compete in the professional NABBA Mr. Universe,but was not an IFBB Pro.

The story goes that Weider talked to Jeff about signing him up to a contract but then told him that first he would have to win the NPC Nationals as well as the IFBB Mr. Universe.

Jeff explained to him that he had won the AAU and NABBA versions of those titles which by the way were very prestigous back then,but Weider insisted and Jeff told him to get lost.........otherwise King would more than likely be a household name today.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: wes on March 31, 2007, 03:03:21 PM
Heres a thread on my board that you might enjoy about King and others in the gym years ago in my hometown:

http://timwescott.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=oldies&action=display&thread=1101403778
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: The Squadfather on March 31, 2007, 06:11:23 PM
Jeff used to train here in St. Louis under George Turner, Clif Koons has a million stories about him.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: wes on March 31, 2007, 08:28:29 PM
Yup,he moved there for a while after he left Springfield.

Cliff Koons was another great bodybuilder.......is he still training.

Happy Birthday dude!!
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: njflex on March 31, 2007, 09:08:23 PM
every aau or nabba guy ,mr america class winner's bob gruskin had had tremendous leg's and great conditioning.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Hurricane Beef ! on April 08, 2007, 12:32:34 PM
i have no idea why jeff and matt never made it. :-\

maybe someone could shed light on this mystery. i heard matt had some issues with booz, but the guy still showed up with a hell of a physique.

jeff had platz like legs (well, maybe not quite) but with an upper body to match.

Matt did have an issue with the bottle . . . how big? Well he was boinking and then lost Rachel Mclish over it.

The Beef
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Danimal77 on April 08, 2007, 12:48:47 PM
Actually Figo, more short guys did well than you are giving credit for. You listed only 4 guys. WAY more than that have done well. Mohammed Makawy comes to mind, as well as Lee Priest (both under 5'4"). How you could forget him is criminal ;).

Tim Belknap should have done better. He was 5'4" and 245 pounds. The judges weren't ready for that kind of size in the early 80's.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: The_Iron_Disciple on April 08, 2007, 06:14:26 PM
Two people come to mind ...

1. Jeff King

2. Matt Mendenhall
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: freakfestMD on April 09, 2007, 08:14:50 AM
And what the hell ever became of Mike Francois (sp?).  It's like these guys just drop off the face of the earth some times.



PS--Great to see Gary Strydom lookin' HUGE at age 46!  (give's us older folks some hope ;D)
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: The_Iron_Disciple on April 09, 2007, 07:25:34 PM
And what the hell ever became of Mike Francois (sp?).  It's like these guys just drop off the face of the earth some times.



PS--Great to see Gary Strydom lookin' HUGE at age 46!  (give's us older folks some hope ;D)

Francois has a show that he puts on every year ( I believe it's called the Mike Francois Classic ) in Ohio ... btw, Francois WAS a Pro.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on April 10, 2007, 04:46:59 PM
mike was struck down by some type of bowell injury if i recall correctly. he then retired from pro bbing.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: americanbulldog on May 10, 2007, 03:59:22 AM
Actually Figo, more short guys did well than you are giving credit for. You listed only 4 guys. WAY more than that have done well. Mohammed Makawy comes to mind, as well as Lee Priest (both under 5'4"). How you could forget him is criminal ;).

Tim Belknap should have done better. He was 5'4" and 245 pounds. The judges weren't ready for that kind of size in the early 80's.

Belknap was a beast, but narrow clavicles, long torso doomed his chances. 
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on May 12, 2007, 06:29:27 AM
Actually Figo, more short guys did well than you are giving credit for. You listed only 4 guys. WAY more than that have done well. Mohammed Makawy comes to mind, as well as Lee Priest (both under 5'4"). How you could forget him is criminal ;).

Tim Belknap should have done better. He was 5'4" and 245 pounds. The judges weren't ready for that kind of size in the early 80's.

Makkawy, yes!

Priest, not even worth going there, the guy has been robbed of so much...
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Slintowin on May 14, 2007, 06:24:21 AM
Dave Palumbo
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: natural al on May 14, 2007, 11:27:02 AM
man, so many good names I can come up with that should have been...Mendenhall always comes to mind, he really did look amazing at times but he just came in at the wrong time, think of who he lost to:  Haney, Christian, Paris, Demay, Strydom...just dumb luck.  I've heard some stories about why Jeff King didn't go pro, it had more to do with politics than anything else.  Rory looked amazing to me and from the pics I've seen he could have been a great pro.  Edgar is probably the one I'd pick, he got screwed twice when he lost to Jerry Rogers in 90-I think and the worst screw job in any show I had seen up to that point when he lost the nationals to Chris duffy and Beau Matlock in 92ish, man Edgar was unreal at that show and NO WAY did he deserve to loose, he had everything and was probably the 2nd best guy onstage that day, best was John Sherman.  I just can't see how anyone could justify not giving him first at that show:
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: jwb on May 23, 2007, 07:07:47 PM
Jeff Williams was a massive guy back around 84 or so...
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on May 24, 2007, 05:51:53 AM
man, so many good names I can come up with that should have been...Mendenhall always comes to mind, he really did look amazing at times but he just came in at the wrong time, think of who he lost to:  Haney, Christian, Paris, Demay, Strydom...just dumb luck.  I've heard some stories about why Jeff King didn't go pro, it had more to do with politics than anything else.  Rory looked amazing to me and from the pics I've seen he could have been a great pro.  Edgar is probably the one I'd pick, he got screwed twice when he lost to Jerry Rogers in 90-I think and the worst screw job in any show I had seen up to that point when he lost the nationals to Chris duffy and Beau Matlock in 92ish, man Edgar was unreal at that show and NO WAY did he deserve to loose, he had everything and was probably the 2nd best guy onstage that day, best was John Sherman.  I just can't see how anyone could justify not giving him first at that show:

edgar looks awesome in that pic, but he did miss time his peak in a few shows.

duffy got extra points for special favours.

beau and rogers have both been scewed way more times than edgar.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: americanbulldog on May 30, 2007, 04:27:54 AM
Jeff Williams was a massive guy back around 84 or so...

I still have a Zaks fitness shirt that says life is too short to be small.  Too wide hips, waist, arms didn't match his wheels or torso. 

This shirt became a cult classic after the massive steroid sting that occured at Zaks. 
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on May 30, 2007, 10:57:08 AM
Jeff Williams rings a bell... Any pics?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: donrhummy on May 31, 2007, 09:15:40 PM
Jeff King was amazing. Too bad Weider didn't want to give him a pro card.

(http://www.darkwoods.com/bodybuilder/male/bb/gallery/fullsize/king05.jpg)
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on June 08, 2007, 06:36:38 AM
Jeff King was amazing. Too bad Weider didn't want to give him a pro card.

(http://www.darkwoods.com/bodybuilder/male/bb/gallery/fullsize/king05.jpg)

king had an amazing physique, particularly the legs.

i liked the fact that he put the effort into building up his massive neck, but why? for a bber it just retracts from your shoulder width and makes your limbs look smaller.

good to see though because the neck is such an important area to strengthen and just exudes power. for a fighter it's a great asset to have a strong thick neck.

king was absolutely awesome in my book and it's a real pity he was shunned like he was. what a fucking waste of real talent. same goes for nubret, oliva, callender, fox and many others that really were the real attractions for bbing. fuck weider. maybe he treated bbers with such arrogant contempt bbers because he was such a failure at the sport.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on June 08, 2007, 09:50:26 AM
king had an amazing physique, particularly the legs.

i liked the fact that he put the effort into building up his massive neck, but why? for a bber it just retracts from your shoulder width and makes your limbs look smaller.

good to see though because the neck is such an important area to strengthen and just exudes power. for a fighter it's a great asset to have a strong thick neck.

king was absolutely awesome in my book and it's a real pity he was shunned like he was. what a fucking waste of real talent. same goes for nubret, oliva, callender, fox and many others that really were the real attractions for bbing. fuck weider. maybe he treated bbers with such arrogant contempt bbers because he was such a failure at the sport.

Damn right. I know its been negated that Weider was racist, but all these men are of color, no?
Or is it a coincidence, and just because they were outspoken...and happened to be black?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on June 08, 2007, 10:13:41 AM
Damn right. I know its been negated that Weider was racist, but all these men are of color, no?
Or is it a coincidence, and just because they were outspoken...and happened to be black?

true, weider was a control freak and he wanted (still wants) the black bbers to behave like slaves at a fucking auction. look at the tricks shawn has always does for him? shawn has behaved like nothing more than a house guy.

mind you, he's got his white 'boys' to, like chick.

arnold played him at his own game though and ended up using that old fag up and spitting him out. ha ha
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: suckmymuscle on June 11, 2007, 10:09:25 PM
  Dennis Newman, Edgar Fletcher and Francis Banfatto. As for pros who went very far but still fell short from their potential, we have Flex Wheeler and Chris Cormier.

SUCKMYMUSCLE
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on June 12, 2007, 12:45:36 AM
Benfatto was a pro. 12th 89 mr o, 6th 90 mr o.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: suckmymuscle on June 12, 2007, 03:59:27 AM
Benfatto was a pro. 12th 89 mr o, 6th 90 mr o.

  Do you understand the concept of underachieving? My point is that Benffato should have won the 1990 Mr.Olympia, but didn't. Likewise, Wheeler should have won the 1998 Olympia, but didn't. No matter how far you go, if you could have gone further, than you underachieved.

SUCKMYMUSCLE
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on June 12, 2007, 05:54:31 AM
  Do you understand the concept of underachieving? My point is that Benffato should have won the 1990 Mr.Olympia, but didn't. Likewise, Wheeler should have won the 1998 Olympia, but didn't. No matter how far you go, if you could have gone further, than you underachieved.

SUCKMYMUSCLE

do you mean that benfatto, etc 'should have won' as in, they got ripped off or that they didn't actualise their potential due to lack of discipline/whatever?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: pumpster on June 12, 2007, 07:24:53 AM
It's very debatable that Cormier had so much more potential, this theory's trotted out every so often. There were other guys better IMO who were denied for various reasons, including Dillet, Padilla & Robinson.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on June 12, 2007, 07:32:09 AM
It's very debatable that Cormier had so much more potential, this theory's trotted out every so often. There were other guys better IMO who were denied for various reasons, including Dillet, Padilla & Robinson.

dillet didn't have a back. deal with it and move on.

when padilla's stars collided and he got everything right he was denied.

robinson was snubbed by weider his whole career.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: pumpster on June 12, 2007, 07:37:24 AM
dillet didn't have a back. deal with it and move on.

when padilla's stars collided and he got everything right he was denied.

robinson was snubbed by weider his whole career.

To point out Dillet's only flaw without acknowledging that most others had more flaws is misleading. Also, his back had plenty of width, as seen here where Yates' width and taper can't compare. Only back detail was missing.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Hustle Man on June 12, 2007, 07:59:41 AM
VICTOR RICHARDS

Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Hustle Man on June 12, 2007, 08:02:07 AM
A few more of Vic
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on June 12, 2007, 08:15:56 AM
god i hate photoshop.

i mean, why photoshop victor's pics? it's not necessary at all and any impression that he may have made in the pic is gone.

pumpster, that's not a good pic to expound on the differential of taper between yates and dillet. front relaxed, no question.

back detail is a HUGE flaw in a bbing contest. there are just too many muscles and too much muscle back there for it to be as bad as paul's was. it is akin to having weak legs.

apart from that, dillet's condition was never good enough. not dense enough, dry enough, grainy enough and nowhere near enough detail to make him a contender for the olympia. couldn't pose either which didn't help his cause, but when he did, nothing happened. makes me suspicious about just how much synthol he used because that, along with lack of detail and grainyness are 2 of the most telling signs.

the guy had a very freaky (perhaps the freakiest of all time) combination of size and shape. that's all.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: donrhummy on June 12, 2007, 09:40:27 AM
VICTOR RICHARDS



Doesn't count, he actually made it to the pro ranks.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on June 12, 2007, 10:26:33 AM
  Do you understand the concept of underachieving? My point is that Benffato should have won the 1990 Mr.Olympia, but didn't. Likewise, Wheeler should have won the 1998 Olympia, but didn't. No matter how far you go, if you could have gone further, than you underachieved.

SUCKMYMUSCLE

Yeah, for sure. I thought you meant he should have turned pro(as title thread implies). Best physiques that Mr O, 1990, were Ray and Benfatto. Labrada as great as he was, should have taken it 1989, but was off that year. So were Haney, Gaspari, and Christian forgot to train legs again.

Thing is, a 175-180lb guy would never take the O post Dickerson, things changed. He was freaking awesome, though.

Testing took its toll on big boys that year, heh?
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on June 12, 2007, 10:54:41 AM
(http://www.ronnie.cz/_img/Clanky/2506_3.jpg)
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Hustle Man on June 12, 2007, 01:57:53 PM
Doesn't count, he actually made it to the pro ranks.

Well the thread does not specify exactly what level was not attained for the individual to be labeled as a "never was", so I merely downloaded pics of a body builder who had some impacts but never accomplished what many expected or wanted him to accomplish, i.e. win the Olympia.

god i hate photoshop. Me too!

i mean, why photoshop victor's pics? it's not necessary at all and any impression that he may have made in the pic is gone. I didn't photoshop I just inserted the pics.  

Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: BEAST 8692 on June 13, 2007, 06:40:57 AM


nah, wasn't having a go at you Hustle Man. they were great pics mate, thanks.

just gives me the screaming shits, all this photoshop. it takes away the unique qualities of bbers and cheapens their legacy somewhat if you know what i mean.

victor, for example, was a freak in his time and much freakier in person. seeing that he didn't compete, that was his whole thing. photoshop just makes him look like a clown.

Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: eliscominblue on June 18, 2007, 08:15:06 AM

nah, wasn't having a go at you Hustle Man. they were great pics mate, thanks.

just gives me the screaming shits, all this photoshop. it takes away the unique qualities of bbers and cheapens their legacy somewhat if you know what i mean.

victor, for example, was a freak in his time and much freakier in person. seeing that he didn't compete, that was his whole thing. photoshop just makes him look like a clown.



Amen......photoshop pics should be banned from this board.
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: kkcfoto on August 07, 2007, 08:03:38 PM
Crazy genes! But as we all know, height counted against him. Only short guys that did really well were Columbo, Dickerson, Labrada and Benaziza.
Terra would have been 6-10th place guy even ripped to shreds 210lbs at 5'4".

Don't forget Danny Padilla
Title: Re: The best Pro that never was
Post by: Figo on August 08, 2007, 10:58:57 AM
Don't forget Danny Padilla

I didn't. Because Danny was great, but was overlooked/robbed throughout his career.