Samir Bannout in 1990 - So underrated

[Danimal77]

he pissed off the ifbb by competing in the wbba right after winning the O. he would never get a fair shake again no matter what he looked like. After 83 he often looked just a tad too smooth which didn't help.

Yeah, but in 1990 he didn't look smooth at all. He did something right for that competition big time. Had he shown up like that at the Mr. Olympia in 1990 he would/should have placed high.

[Natural_O]

he pissed off the ifbb by competing in the wbba right after winning the O. he would never get a fair shake again no matter what he looked like. After 83 he often looked just a tad too smooth which didn't help.

Samir didn't compete in the WABBA World Championships until after he lost the Olympia to Haney in '84. Samir competed in WABBA the next year in 1985 because he was pissed he dropped down to 6th in the '84 Olympia after winning it in '83. He stayed out of the IFBB from '85 until he came back in 1988.

[BSN]

[ Q ] You were also suspended by the IFBB in 1984. Could you elaborate on this?
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[ Samir ] Yeah I got suspended. You know sometimes I don't keep my mouth shut. Sometimes I just don't like people ordering me around when they are wrong. So I speak out and when you speak out, sometimes that causes problems. I had a problem with a promoter in England who was very pushy with me.
If you get to know me, you will find out better though. Because I love people, I love peace and I love sweet talking people (talking nice to them). And if somebody respects you, you respect them twice as much. This is my philosophy.

If someone is pushy with you and you didn't do anything wrong you don't have to react, but unfortunately on this occasion I had an untimely problem and I was treated terribly, so that's why the response was really bad. It's not that I'm proud of this and I do look back and think I should have handled it a little bit better. But I can say it was not my fault and I was provoked. And my response was a little bit more than I was supposed to do and that landed me in suspension (laughs).

[ Q ] When you did return to the IFBB were your placements compromised by your actions on the day that led to your suspension?
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[ Samir ] I do feel I was cheated a lot in the IFBB. I was cheated a lot because of my actions. When I deserved third they gave me fifth, when I deserved second they gave me fourth. It is very unfortunate. Some people in the IFBB I have had problems with but I don't want to go too much into this. Ben Weider is fine though. Joe Weider is the Godfather of bodybuilding and I got along with him real well. We had a couple of disagreements, but I saw him recently and we hugged.
But we do have a couple of issues and it is very unfortunate but I hold no hard feelings. I love the sport, I love the organization (the IFBB) and what's done is done. Peace and harmony is my way of life. I just wish they would treat the athletes a little bit better and I would just love to see the sport grow in the right way. Things happen and people get suspended. People get into complications and it happens to the best of us.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/samir_bannout_interview2.htm