I'm not an expert in that era, but I always loved Serge Nubret's physique. Sure, he wasn't the biggest guy on stage, his back was lagging and he was a bit shy on stage (like most guys back then), but he had a great shape.
Weird that they placed Franco 2nd in '73 
When I first saw "Pumping Iron" I wasn't familiar with bodybuilders and didn't know who any of the names of the time were then. The most jaw dropping scene for me is when they first introduced Serge Nubret. Seeing him just standing relaxed as his abs contracted and relaxed as he breathed was near shocking! I never saw anything like that ever in my entire life and just the sense of awe it instilled with me.
Upper body wise I like Serge better than Arnold when just standing relaxed. In comparison poses I did feel that Arnold was better in the majority of them. But as I don't walk around in real life striking bbing poses I would have prefer Serge's upper body over Arnold. But he really lost it in the leg department. When compared side by side and full length with Arnold I thought Arnold was vastly superior. Not only dwarfing Serge in over all size but Serge's legs, especially his calves, where such a glaring deficiency. It's odd that you would choose Serge as you are very critical of Arnold's quad development when Serge's is far weaker in the leg department.
I will say this: Serge achieved his greatest shape ever in 1975. Due to political reasons which I forget, he was told that he would not be allowed to compete. So he dropped his training prep and I forget how much weight and size he lost but I believe it was 15 pounds. Basile would know all this. Then at the last minute he was allowed to compete. I don't think there has been any photos published prior to the Mr. O except I believe one of them posted below. Assuming he was just 10-15 pounds heavier on stage than he was in 1975 then I think it would have been a different story. Not a different out come. No way Serge would be allowed to beat Arnold under any circumstances especially in South Africa in that time. But he would have beat him in the court of public opinion.
Perhaps at his all time best there would have been more truth to his warning to Arnold in the pump room, "Looks like I can take you."
