for someone who claims to be knowledgable about how contests are judged, you sure are ignorant. Newsflash: bodybuilding is a visual sport. Your problem is that you only look at numbers at paper. You can't say "Ronnie was 247 lbs in 98 and 01. Therefore, he must have looked exactly the same." He presented different physiques both years. His legs were smaller and his conditioning was slightly better at the 01 ASC, which means he carried more muscle in his upper body.
larger is an improvement if the difference in size is greater than the difference in definition. 
I still don't know wtf you're talking about. Samir was one of the judges during the challenge round. He judged every pose including the posedown between Gustavo and Ronnie. He f*cked up when he picked Gustavo b/c the actual judges gave Ronnie 1st and Gustavo 3rd at the Mr. Olympia. It's amusing that you continue to defend the credibility of Samir when he's obviously not fit to judge physiques. 
muscularity is only part of the judging criteria. There's still definition, symmetry, taper, and fullness left. So I will ask you again since you seem to be struggling with understanding: show me where Ronnie said Dorian has the best back of all-time.
for someone who claims to be knowledgable about how contests are judged, you sure are ignorant. Newsflash: bodybuilding is a visual sport. Your problem is that you only look at numbers at paper. You can't say "Ronnie was 247 lbs in 98 and 01. Therefore, he must have looked exactly the same." He presented different physiques both years. His legs were smaller and his conditioning was slightly better at the 01 ASC, which means he carried more muscle in his upper body.
I posted two comparisons of Ronnie 2001/1998 which YOU did NOT comment on , no shit it's a visual sport and I based my opinion that he's neither thicker nor wider in 2001 YOU just made the comment and that's it great logic typical of you and what do you do? the same shit right over again....how the fuck do you know his legs were smaller and his conditioning was better? and I love how is the legs are smaller then his back must be wider LMFAO your deductive reasoning leaves a lot to be desired , did you see Ronnie in 1998 and in 2001 so close that you could judge he was lighter in the legs and wider in the lats? NO you're just claiming this bullshit because you need it to be that way because it supports your original bullshit claim his back ' evolved '
larger is an improvement if the difference in size is greater than the difference in definition. 
we're not talking about definition we're talking about DENSITY a bigger softer back doesn't make it a better back or an ' evolved ' back Dorian's back offseason was harder than Ronnies in 2003 so using your logic it's better because it doesn't sacrifice anything , he had a christmas tree at 300 pounds , and he still has advantages in trap size , lat length , detail , etc so he still has it all

I still don't know wtf you're talking about. Samir was one of the judges during the challenge round. He judged every pose including the posedown between Gustavo and Ronnie. He f*cked up when he picked Gustavo b/c the actual judges gave Ronnie 1st and Gustavo 3rd at the Mr. Olympia. It's amusing that you continue to defend the credibility of Samir when he's obviously not fit to judge physiques. 
of course you don't know what I'm talking about , you don't know how contests are judged just because Samir won the challenge round doesn't mean he deserved to win the whole contest , again one can win and loose poses and still win the contest , and who says he's not fit you? the IFBB decided otherwise and on the topic of backs it's arguable that Dorian has a better back same with Ronnie , is it so far out of the realm to think he might be right? NO you're just trying to discredit him because his point of view doesn't coincide with yours
muscularity is only part of the judging criteria. There's still definition, symmetry, taper, and fullness left. So I will ask you again since you seem to be struggling with understanding: show me where Ronnie said Dorian has the best back of all-time.
Show me where Ronnie said it isn't the best back of all-time

his opinion crushes yours period , how does one have the thickest & freakiest back but it's not the best? and many other people say it's the best so it coincides with an established fact , and you're the idiot trying to harp on ' muscularity is only part of the judging criteria ' yet you'll claim Ronnie's bigger softer back which isn't as sharply defined as it was in 1998 or 2001 is somehow an evolution lol lets say his back is the best of all time what does that say when Ronnie says someone has a thicker and freakier back than him?
You think Greg Merritt is somehow more of an authority than Samir Bannout? a man noted for his outstanding back development? same with Ronnie Coleman the Greatest Bodybuilder of all time? or Flex in 1999 when they voted Dorian the best back of the 20th century , that includes Ronnie 1998 and 1999 and it's safe to assume that his back in 1999 was wider and thicker than 2001 as well and they said outright Dorian's was better , oppppssss so much for evolving lol
In the end you have plenty of people saying Ronnie's back was better , plenty of people saying Dorians is , in the end it's arguable and in the end Ronnie still concedes Dorian still has advantages over him

that's gotta suck