Lee Labrada - Why wasn't Lee one of the best?

[nasht5]

Lee Labrada - Why wasn't Lee one of the best?

Because no one remembers who came in second.

[Dr Dutch]

he is the best out of the worst

This sounds adequately

[johnny1]

He WAS one of the Best Especially in the 1980s where he won a Heap of Pro titles and got a 2nd @ the O to Haney in Italy in 89 if Memory serves right with Looking online, he was also one of the Best @ presenting his Physique onstage, while not a Fan of his Type of Physique the Guy was a Class act in and out of BBing, the pic below is from the 1987 Olympia, and even thou he was a small guy that type of Conditioning back then was Exclusive to very few in that era, Guys like Gaspari, Bannout (when in shape) and 1 or 2 others spring to mind that had this type of Conditioning witch was Rare back then.

[erics]

Don't be blind.

Lee Labrada was one of the greatest of them all.

He was the consumate professional and routinely defeated guys much larger than he was.

If those larger guys were as proportioned, conditioned and poised as Labrada was, no one would remember him.

[Big Worm]

[ Invalid YouTube link ]

Met him once.. Really nice guy..

[Big Worm]

Wonder what exercises he does for ear development?

He just listens..

[TrueGrit]

Drugs or not the guy looks great for someone in his 50's.

[hipolito mejia]

The fact that in the 90's being in his early 30s,with  beautiful wife,kids and top of his game he said  "I'm retiring because I'm not going to disfigured my physique chasing Dorian Yates" makes him one of the best,  at least on my book.

[hipolito mejia]

Too short?


Like me.


Not as short as Lee Priest or Jose Raymond though...

Yeah Columbu and Dickerson had that same problem too.

[Dr Dutch]

Lee could easily win the Dwarf masters 2011....

[erics]

The fact that in the 90's being in his early 30s,with  beautiful wife,kids and top of his game he said  "I'm retiring because I'm not going to disfigured my physique chasing Dorian Yates" makes him one of the best,  at least on my book.

He said this? That's great.

A lot of the guys now have little to no concept of physique, only of mass.

As an aside, in my opinion, the judges at the 1992 Olympia could have easily chosen Labrada instead of Yates (I'll never understand how they chose Levrone over Labrada and Ray for second place that year...)

[JasonH]

Labrada was definitely one of the best of all time, certainly during the era when he competed professionally, and even now he still looks amazing for his age. No idea what the original poster is smoking.

[MORTALCOIL]

He said this? That's great.

A lot of the guys now have little to no concept of physique, only of mass.

As an aside, in my opinion, the judges at the 1992 Olympia could have easily chosen Labrada instead of Yates (I'll never understand how they chose Levrone over Labrada and Ray for second place that year...)

Ray placed 4th in '92, Levrone 2nd and Labrada 3rd. Ray as far as I recall only beat Labrada once and that was in '93 when Flex placed second and Levrone 5th. Labrada may have been a dwarf and a non-mass master but probably the most balanced Bber ever. His best showing might have been '89 but the most impressive showing somehow was the '90 Olympia. So called tested but even though that was bullshit, everybody came in flat except Labrada who looked very decent. No matter what he used, just showed that he was smarter then most.

[booty]

I think he looks Amazing!  Definitely one of the best.

[MCWAY]

Lee Labrada - Why wasn't Lee one of the best?

Because no one remembers who came in second.

Tell that to the Buffalo Bills, or Flex Wheeler, or Kevin Levrone, or Rich Gaspari

[MCWAY]

Ray placed 4th in '92, Levrone 2nd and Labrada 3rd. Ray as far as I recall only beat Labrada once and that was in '93 when Flex placed second and Levrone 5th. Labrada may have been a dwarf and a non-mass master but probably the most balanced Bber ever. His best showing might have been '89 but the most impressive showing somehow was the '90 Olympia. So called tested but even though that was bullshit, everybody came in flat except Labrada who looked very decent. No matter what he used, just showed that he was smarter then most.

Ray and Labrada went head-up six times at the Olympia. Labrada beat Ray all but once (1993).

[erics]

Ray placed 4th in '92, Levrone 2nd and Labrada 3rd. Ray as far as I recall only beat Labrada once and that was in '93 when Flex placed second and Levrone 5th. Labrada may have been a dwarf and a non-mass master but probably the most balanced Bber ever. His best showing might have been '89 but the most impressive showing somehow was the '90 Olympia. So called tested but even though that was bullshit, everybody came in flat except Labrada who looked very decent. No matter what he used, just showed that he was smarter then most.

Yeah, my point was that Labrada and Ray looked incredible in 1992.

When the final placings were down to the top four, I was very surprised that Levrone didn't get 4th. Yates, Labrada and Ray were so much more balanced and proportioned than Levrone was.

As far as I am concerned, Levrone never improved on his physique after 1992.

[MORTALCOIL]

Yeah, my point was that Labrada and Ray looked incredible in 1992.

When the final placings were down to the top four, I was very surprised that Levrone didn't get 4th. Yates, Labrada and Ray were so much more balanced and proportioned than Levrone was.

As far as I am concerned, Levrone never improved on his physique after 1992.

Ok, sorry. I misread your previous post. I agree Levrone never improved on his '92 physique, his best showing after that one was '95 but his balance was not going to improve. Lervone was the only one who would somehow compare to Yates that ear as far as mass/thickness is concerned. He always lacked a little extra refinement in conditioning though. Though I prefer Lee and Ray's physiques, I didn't think the placing was unfair. Same in '93. But Lee should have won in '90 at least.

[erics]

Ok, sorry. I misread your previous post. I agree Levrone never improved on his '92 physique, his best showing after that one was '95 but his balance was not going to improve. Lervone was the only one who would somehow compare to Yates that ear as far as mass/thickness is concerned. He always lacked a little extra refinement in conditioning though. Though I prefer Lee and Ray's physiques, I didn't think the placing was unfair. Same in '93. But Lee should have won in '90 at least.

I think you may be the only other person I know who thinks that Levrone didn't improve after 1992. In anycase, I thought Levrone was too out of balance that year to place ahead of either Labrada or Ray.

I thought that Ray deserved second in 1993, ahead of Wheeler and Labrada. Labrada that year seemed to have hit his maximum size for his frame. He seemed smaller than he did in previous years.

[Radical Plato]

Lee could easily win the Dwarf masters 2011....

There might be another DwarF Lee who might have something to say about that

[Radical Plato]

Competitive history
 
Labrada is one of the few men in history to place among the top four contestants in seven consecutive Mr. Olympia shows, although the first-place title itself eluded him during his highly-successful professional career.

 1982 National Physique Committee [NPC] Texas Collegiate Championships (1st Place)
 1982 NPC Junior Gulf Coast Championships (1st Place)
 1983 NPC Texas Championships, 1st Middleweight and Overall
 1984 NPC USA Bodybuilding Championships (2nd Place, Light Heavyweight)
 1984 NPC National Bodybuilding Championships (5th Place, Middleweight)
 1985 NPC National Bodybuilding Championships (1st Place, Middleweight)
 1985 IFBB Mr. Universe (1st Place)
 1986 IFBB Night of Champions (1st Place)
 1987 IFBB Pro World Cup (2nd Place)
 1987 IFBB Mr. Olympia (3rd Place)
 1987 IFBB Pro German Grand Prix (3rd Place)
 1987 IFBB Pro French Grand Prix (3rd Place)
1988 IFBB Mr. Olympia (4th Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro German Grand Prix (3rd Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Greek Grand Prix (1st Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro British Grand Prix (1st Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Spanish Grand Prix, Madrid (1st Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Italian Grand Prix (2nd Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro French Grand Prix (2nd Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Spanish Grand Prix, Barcelona (1st Place)
1989 IFBB Mr. Olympia (2nd Place)
 1989 IFBB Pro Dutch Grand Prix (1st Place)
 1989 IFBB Pro Finnish Grand Prix (1st Place)
1990 IFBB Mr. Olympia (2nd Place)
 1991 IFBB Mr. Olympia (4th Place)
 1992 IFBB Mr. Olympia (3rd Place)
 1992 IFBB Pro World Cup (1st Place)
 1993 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational (2nd Place)
 1993 IFBB Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic (2nd Place)
 1993 IFBB Mr. Olympia (4th Place)
 1995 IFBB Arnold Classic (5th Place)

Impressive 13 year career - IMO

[johnny1]

Competitive history
 
Labrada is one of the few men in history to place among the top four contestants in seven consecutive Mr. Olympia shows, although the first-place title itself eluded him during his highly-successful professional career.

 1982 National Physique Committee [NPC] Texas Collegiate Championships (1st Place)
 1982 NPC Junior Gulf Coast Championships (1st Place)
 1983 NPC Texas Championships, 1st Middleweight and Overall
 1984 NPC USA Bodybuilding Championships (2nd Place, Light Heavyweight)
 1984 NPC National Bodybuilding Championships (5th Place, Middleweight)
 1985 NPC National Bodybuilding Championships (1st Place, Middleweight)
 1985 IFBB Mr. Universe (1st Place)
 1986 IFBB Night of Champions (1st Place)
 1987 IFBB Pro World Cup (2nd Place)
 1987 IFBB Mr. Olympia (3rd Place)
 1987 IFBB Pro German Grand Prix (3rd Place)
 1987 IFBB Pro French Grand Prix (3rd Place)
1988 IFBB Mr. Olympia (4th Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro German Grand Prix (3rd Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Greek Grand Prix (1st Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro British Grand Prix (1st Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Spanish Grand Prix, Madrid (1st Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Italian Grand Prix (2nd Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro French Grand Prix (2nd Place)
 1988 IFBB Pro Spanish Grand Prix, Barcelona (1st Place)
1989 IFBB Mr. Olympia (2nd Place)
 1989 IFBB Pro Dutch Grand Prix (1st Place)
 1989 IFBB Pro Finnish Grand Prix (1st Place)
1990 IFBB Mr. Olympia (2nd Place)
 1991 IFBB Mr. Olympia (4th Place)
 1992 IFBB Mr. Olympia (3rd Place)
 1992 IFBB Pro World Cup (1st Place)
 1993 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational (2nd Place)
 1993 IFBB Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic (2nd Place)
 1993 IFBB Mr. Olympia (4th Place)
 1995 IFBB Arnold Classic (5th Place)

Impressive 13 year career - IMO

Yip the internet is a Great for this sort of thing in Data, Yes very Impressive Competitive Career for Lee there

[Radical Plato]

Nothing lower than 5th place - Was always consistent and competitive

[NarcissisticDeity]

Yeah, my point was that Labrada and Ray looked incredible in 1992.

When the final placings were down to the top four, I was very surprised that Levrone didn't get 4th. Yates, Labrada and Ray were so much more balanced and proportioned than Levrone was.

As far as I am concerned, Levrone never improved on his physique after 1992.

I disagree wholeheartedly , I think this trumps 1992 by FAR and easily among the best he's ever looked. 

[Schnauzer]

I miss the old days when Lee Haney called him Flea Labrada