perhaps richard values his integrity more than $$ ... a concept that goes right over your head in sure 
why not ask him
at
http://groups.myspace.com/clubgetbig
Or, perhaps Richards' ego can't take getting beaten by smaller but better bodybuilders, like Shawn Ray, Lee Labrada, or Rich Gaspari (again).
Where was all this "integrity", when he was cashing those checks from Weider, courtesy of his contract? Why didn't he show "integrity" by competing against the best of the NPC, instead of beating a bunch of relative nobodies in Nigeria (BTW, how many Nigerian National champs have turned pro, since or before Richards?)?
As I said before, if Richards could live up to the press, he would have dominated IFBB competition and been making far more than "peanuts" (which again, he was already doing, courtesy of his deal with Weider).
He certainly wasn't concerned about the financial well-being of the other competitors. As
American Muscle (cicra 1991) put it,
"Since he's never won a contest, it's quite a shock to current pros that Victor is practically being given a pro card." There were guys who had won the USA, North American, or the Nationals, who didn't get such a deal (i.e. 1992 Nationals Champion, John Sherman, who faced and DEFEATED FAR GREATER BODYBUILDERS than the ones Richards beat at the Nigerian Nationals).
I've seen Richards' interviews on his Rebel Nutrition website and elsewhere. It's the same stuff: Loads of alleged conspiracy theories about people trying to keep him down. The irony of it all is that many folks in the early 90s felt that the Weider boys (which Richards was, at that time) got favored more at the Olympia. To top it all off, Richards was rumored to being offered a special invite to the 1992 Olympia.
Had Richards lost in IFBB competition, we would have heard the same old stuff: His blaming everyone else for getting beat.
