Best Meet Bench was #610 at #220, and he would routinely work up into the mid #5's.
Here's a meet pic with a good amount on it -
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Just a note because the numbers seemed off. Eddie embellished a bit, here's the story on the #610 bench -
"Question - A lot of people don't know this, but you had a famous benchpress showdown with pro bodybuilder Eddie Robinson. The contest ended with some controversial happenings and there were some circumstances surrounding the event that were upsetting to you. Please tell the complete story for our readers as I'm sure powerlifters and bodybuilders alike will want to hear this.
Joe Ladnier - Rick & Debbie Poston, 1983 AAU Mr. & Mrs. America, owned Athletes Fitness Center in Tampa, Florida. They would hold the Florida Bench Press Championships each year back in the early 80's in the parking lot of their gym. The first year Eddie and I competed against each other, I think we were around 19 or 20 years old. I hit my first 600lb bench and he did like a 585. Rick used this as a marketing tool for publicity for his gym. World Champion Powerlifter against World Champion Bodybuilder. The next year I had just had reconstructive knee surgery and had not trained in a couple of months. Dick Armatrout, the owner of SunCoast (Powerlifting) Gym asked me to compete in the bench meet for just team points. I weighed in really light around 218lbs. Eddie was off season and was weighing around 243 from what Rick told me. I came in and benched around 525, while Eddie did a touch and go with 605 or 610. ".
So, off a little, but still big numbers.
