Kovacs was massive, and extremely strong, I think he could bench maybe 800 lbs

Knew him and he was absurdly gigantic. Once hung a whole weekend with him and Nassoil and Greg made El Sonbaty look like a twink. He was 320 and Kovacs around 380 or more.
He was extremely strong, yes, (lifted with him) but an 800 bench?! Get real. Not. Even. Close. At that time, only a couple men had broken seven, raw.
Edit: At that time, just ONE man had officially broken seven. In 2023, I know of only five. The strongest RIGHT NOW (Maddox) is working towards eight … and he won’t make it. In my opinion. The BEST 700-plus is Sarychev’s 738.
And Kirill was a “light” 385-ish pounds when he did that. Julius is pushin’ towards 500. Probably high fours. I think he’ll drop dead if he keeps going for that 800.