Does anyone have comparisons between Francois and El Sonbaty from the early '97 shows? IIRC, Mike was about 260 and had much deeper separation in his quads than Nasser in the '97 ASC. And obviously, he didn't look like a mess from the back.
At the time, I figured Francois' superior balance should have garnered him 2nd place behind Flex. But I admit part of that was influenced by Julian Schmidt's LSD-induced contest
raving review and not so much good pictures and video.
I will say this, though: I do think Nasser probably should've won the '94 NOC. Francois smoked him from the back (even though that's the best I ever saw Nasser's back look), but I'd easily give Nasser front biceps, ab/thigh and probably front lat spread. Side poses ... eh. I reckon Nasser took the side-triceps. Side-chest, I dunno. Mike's chest seemed to have deeper cuts from that angle but Nasser's chest was very hard and jutted out more. Most-muscular is tough to call. Nasser's delts were bigger, but both guys' pecs were very detailed from the front. Nasser knew how to hit that pose while Francois always seemed awkward, too bent over or something (?).
When Nasser won a year later, I'd suss he'd definitely beat Francois' form from the year before. And I also think Flex and Ronnie in the '96 show would've beat them both
Well, Flex anyway. Ronnie was upwards of 240 by that point and shredded as fuck, but his posing was still very rough and compared to his arms and chest, his shoulders still lacked a little bit.
Of course, when he won the same show in '98, he'd passed Nasser, Flex, Mike and everybody else by a parsec or two
