Sunday afternoon, I received the news from Lonnie Teper that Irvin ‘Zabo’ Koszewski has passed away, at the age of 84.  While I didn’t know Irvin, I had heard his name a number of times from the past, as he was considered a great bodybuilder.

Here, from the ifbb.com website, is all about the Bodybuilder Hall of Famer. Irvin ‘Zabo’ Koszewski was born August 20, 1924 in Camden, New Jersey.

In the history of our sport, perhaps no one has been identified with – and applauded for – a particular Bodypart more than Irvin “Zabo” Koszewski; so much so that his nickname is better known and more used than his proper first name. Throw in the fact that he has been a Muscle Beach fixture for more than 50 years, and it is clear why he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

Zabo’s quest for a perfect midsection began at the age of seven, after seeing photographs of Eugen Sandow’s abdominal development. This early determination would serve him well later in life, when he would seldom fail to win best abs in the contests he entered.

While in high school, athletic Zabo lettered in track, swimming and wrestling, and he was also captain of the football team, for which he was selected as an all-state guard. He began weight training outdoors at Roberts Lake in Collingswood, New Jersey, and when the lake was closed for the winter, Zabo brought home the barbells and began a gym in his basement.

In 1943, Zabo enlisted in the army infantry, along with training partner Dino Mazzo; a photo of Zabo from that year appeared in Strength & Health magazine when he was stationed in Utica, New York. During his enlistment, Zabo served in New Zealand and Australia, and he fought in three combat landings. While in Japan, he was stationed near an iron foundry and was able to improvise his training by using odd pieces of iron. However, malaria and dengue fever reduced his 185 pounds to 135.

Zabo continued his training when he returned stateside; he won Mr. New Jersey in 1948, as well as the junior and senior Mr. Middle Atlantic titles in 1950. The following year, he stepped foot on Muscle Beach in California and knew he had found home. Between 1950 and 1954, he would win Mr. Pacific Coast and Mr. California titles and enter the AAU Mr. America contest four times, achieving placings of 13th, 5th, and 3rd (two times) – while always winning best abs.

At the 1965 Mr. America, held in conjunction with the inaugural Mr. Olympia, Zabo placed third in the medium class, he won, of course, best abs. Two years later, he won the Mr. International medium class, as well as the unique title of World’s Best Abs. His bodybuilding successes led to mainstream notoriety, as he landed a part in the TV series Combat for five years, worked in movies and toured with the Mae West Show.

Evidence of Zabo’s longevity can be found in his participation in the 1970 Pro World event in Columbus, Ohio, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sergio Oliva faced off in the tall division, and Zabo landed fourth in the short class. By 1978, he was honored as the Venice Beach Bodybuilding Man of the Year. Zabo is still employed by World Gym in Venice.

I will heading down to the evening part of the 2009 NPC Max Muscle Natural competition this weekend, on Saturday, March 28th.   While last weeks NPC San Diego had over 130 competitors, this contest already has 100 competitors, which is a new record for this competition.  It is in Los Angeles, aka Culver City, at the Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium. 

As for the emcee in the evening, it is none other than the best one in the business, Lonnie Teper himself, one of the ‘Experts’ at the mike!

See you there…

The NPC San Diego contest was the first NPC show in California to feature the new NPC Bikini division, and a lot of people were anticipating to see exactly what were they look for, and what the differences would be between Figure and Bikini.  This was a big local show, over 130 competitors, and there were some surprises, plus some promising competitors that will do quite well this year.  There was also a lot of novice competitors, and it was nice to see people go up on stage and feel good about themselves, through training, diet and discipline.

Here are some pics and the results from the event…

Results

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/results/6922

Men’s Bodybuilding Pics (Novice and Open)

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/gallery/contest/6922/event/1/mode/will/

Women’s Bodybuilding Pics

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/gallery/contest/6922/event/2/mode/will/

Figure Comeptitor Pics

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/gallery/contest/6922/event/3/mode/will/

Bikini Competitor Pics

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/gallery/contest/6922/event/6/mode/will/

Misc Pictures from the event

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/gallery/contest/6922/mode/will/page/756

Thanks for making it a great show!

It was a sold out venue here in San Diego as promoter Jon Lindsay had another spectacular event with over 130 competitors, and a standing room only crowd that spilled into the expo area. Here is a picture of the overall competitors, including Rob Pyfer, Jennifer Nixon, Michelle Gullett, and Ron Sargeant with promoter Jon Lindsay. Diana Feather (women’s bb) is not pictured.

Here is a picture of Super Heavyweight Ron Sargeant, Heavyweight Jamie Grote, and Light Heavyweight Rob Pyfer at the final comparisons.

Here is a picture of Middleweight Craig Jones, Lightweight Enrique Ortiz, and Bantamweight Tyler Anderson in the final comparison round.

The first NPC California show of the season, and the competitor that brought out the biggest buzz from the audience was Ron Sargeant, a massive 280 pound guy who was competing in his FIRST show.  Ron won the overall novice, and when you look at the picture of the novices, he dwarfed them all, buy height and size.  Ron told me that he isnt even in shape yet, that he is preparing for the NPC Orange County Muscle Classic, where he will be ready, and just wanted to get on stage here in San Diego to see what it was like. Here are some pics of Ron.

Hidetada Yamagishi, Idrise Ward-El, Kris Dim, Brandon Curry and many others were in full force supporting and checking out the 2009 NPC San Diego bodybuilding, figure, fitness and bikini competition at the Scottish Rite Auditorum on Saturday, March 21st.  Hidetada told me that he currently is in better shape that he was at the 2009 Ironman, and will make the top three and qualify for the 2009 Mr. Olympia when he gets on stage in Orlando. Here are some pics.

Lonnie Teper is once again the 2009 Arnold Classic bodybuilding emcee, and a part of our little group of ‘experts’, in which we try to accurately predict who will place in the top 10 of various contests. In his current blog, LT details how Isaac Hinds, Ron Avidan and LT differs in their predictions. Who do you predict, and can you outpredict the ‘experts’?

Here is the blog with all three of our predictions.

http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/blogs/lonnie/?p=877

Monday morning, and a lot of rumors were started on the Getbig boards that Kai Greene, while training at Gold’s Gym of Venice over the weekend, passed out while doing cardio, and someone called 911 to get him help. Furthermore, they said he was taken to the emergency room too.

Well, I received a few calls today on this matter to set the story straight.  According to various people, Kai was training and working on his third round of cardio. When he finished the cardio, he was quite tired, and laid down in the back of the gym to catch his breath.  Some member of the gym saw him back there, and ran up the to front desk, and told them that somebody was passed out in the back of the gym.  According to them, no one called 911.  Kai rested, then got up, walked to his car, and drove himself home. 

Now, another confirmed source said that he DID pass out.  He was on a stairclimber, doing cardio, and missed a step, whereas he fell off and passed out. They did call 911, but by the time they got there, he was ok, and he left on his own.

So until Kai tells us the truth on what happened, we will just have to wait.

Kai intends to come into the Arnold Classic at 270 pounds. He is currently at 276 pounds, from his original off season weight of 303 pounds. 

Rain, snow or shine, on March 6th, we will be heading to the 2009 IFBB Arnold Classic in downtown Columbus, Ohio.   And as we do every year, many of us like to predict on how will win and who may not be the best at the contest.  Of course this is just for fun, because in reality, none of us know how one is going to look in stage that day, but via rumors, reports and talk from follow competitors, fans and training and diet partners, the hype has begun. So who do I think will place well at the 2009 Arnold Classic. Here it goes, based on the 13 athletes that should be there.

1 – Victor Martinez.  Yes, a knee injury sidelined Victor from competing in the 2008 Mr. Olympia, in which many thought, if he had been healthy, could have been the new king. Instead, Victor now has some doubts from his fans, and others around the globe, on whether Victor will be ready when he gets on that state. Yes, he upper body should look fantastic, but will his legs match his incredible physique??? I think it will, and at the end, Victor will be crowned in first place.

2 – Branch Warren.  What? The man from Texas in second place? No way? Well, once again, we have a competitor who was injured going into the 2008 Mr. Olympia, and is very hungry on proving that he is on top of the bodybuilding world. Branch has been training very hard in Texas, and judging by fellow reports out there, he is ready to go, and will look his best at the Arnold. Branch should surprise the rest of the top competitors.

3 – Toney Freeman.  I didn’t predict Toney would do well at the 2008 Mr. Olympia, and boy was I wrong. And Tony let me know it too! Toney backstage before he even went on at prejudging blasted me and said ‘I will prove you wrong’. And he did.  But this is a new year, and it looks like Toney could of perfected his style and his physique in terms on final preparation. Toney will look good, and will impress all of us again.

4 – Kai Greene.  Kai  Greene was third last year at this contest, but also was injured soon afterwards. Kai is looking good now, and he may have a chance to be in the top two. However, reports of Kai being 292 pounds has worried some that he may not be able to shed all that weight and look 100% great for the Arnold in time.  Thus, I am putting Kai in 4th place.

5 – Silvio Samuel. Silvio let me know it big time when I chose him in second place in my predictions for the 2009 IFBB Ironman Pro. Said how can I not predict him in first at that show. At the time, Moe El Moussawi looked great, but in the last few days, faltered in his preparations, in which Silvio handily won the 2009 Ironman.  But the 2009 Arnold Classic is a much tougher competitor field. The top four above Silvio did not compete in the Ironman, and rumors are they will look great. Have we seen the best of Silvio at the Ironman? Or will Silvio step it up a little more and beat my prediction of 5th place.

6 –  Dennis James.  Two shows last year, the Tampa and the Europa, Dennis James came in second place, with Toney Freeman beating him. Dennis was not happy with those results, because Dennis looked real good.  At the Olympia, Dennis was one spot behind Silvio, which means that Dennis is going to have to look spectacular in order to move up from 6th place here.  Go Dennis Go!

7 – Moe El Moussawi.  We had such high predictions for Moe for the 2009 Ironman, but Moe just wasn’t 100% there.  In terms of getting ready, Moe gained 10+ pounds, but lost some of his shredded look.  Moe has beat Silvio in the past, and if Moe can come back to his shredded look, and take his time in getting ready in the final days of the show, he may surprise us all, and place higher here. And if he doesn’t, then Ronny Rockel, Gustavo Badell and Johnnie Jackson just may pass him up.

8 – Ronny Rockel.  Surprised us all at the 2009 Ironman, which many saying that he should of placed second there above Moe El Moussawi.  So Ronny has something to prove, coming into the Arnold with a motivation to show others that he is better and will be more shredded at this show.

9 – Gutavo Badell. Gustavo was supposed to compete in the Ironman, but dropped out, due to family obligations.  But with Gustavo, you never know how good or bad he will look on stage.  I hope he looks good, and comes back to the overall shape he was at one time, but this year may be difficult. We will see.

10 – Johnnie Jackson.   Johnnie entered into the 2009 Ironman at the last possible minute, and looked much worse than any of us predicted we will be.  Johnnie could and should of looked much better than what he did, and I know he will improve coming into the Arnold Classic. The question is, with this tough lineup, can he do better than 10th place.

11 – Ahmad Haider.  At the 2009 Ironman, Ahmad qualified for the Mr. Olympia by placing 5th. He looked good, but I am not sure how much more can Ahmad improve, giving his fellow competitors an edge. I may be wrong, but Ahmad by just place out of the top 10 here in Columbus.

12 – Marcus Haley.   A tough lineup here, and his will be good experience for Marcus. Whereas Marcus will not crack the top 10, he does have a change to prove he is the best poser, with only perhaps Kai Greene, and maybe Toney Freeman challenging him for that. Have fun Marcus, the Arnold is one great contest.

13 – Sergey Shelestov. Wow – not sure why Sergey even wants to compete in this tough lineup, with almost no chance of not placing last, no matter how many people are in the lineup.  A very interesting choice to be invited for the Arnold.  Enjoy the show, and come in shape please!
 

Nutrabolics is on a role, first signing MMA fighter Frank Mir, who will appear at their booth at the 2009 Arnold Classic Weekend, and now also has signed IFBB pro Ben White. Ben White was the 2007 NPC USA Overall champion, and startted his IFBB pro career at the 2008 New York Pro, only to fall short of a qualification to the 2008 IFBB Mr. Olympia by one place. 

This year, Ben is going to try again by competing in the 2009 New York Pro bodybuilding contest. In a press release, Ben said “I would like to thank my new sponsor Nutrabolics for helping me to get ready for the 2009 New York Pro Show. I am very happy to be part of such a great time of athletes and I would like to thank all my fans for their contrinuing support. As everyone knows, I took the whole 2008 off to work on impriving and perfecting my physique. I have made great strides and gains, and I look forward to competing in the 2009 IFBB schedule in the best shape of my career.”

Lee Priest is most definitely out of the 2009 Australian Pro, which has disappointed thousands of fans who wanted to see the comeback of one of the most prolific IFBB competitors, who was suspended when he left for a while. Lee is going to have surgery this Wednesday in Australia (that is Tuesday here in the US) on a torn tendon, which needed to be screwed back on to the bone and stitched (Lee’s words). After that, he won’t be able to move the arm for six weeks.

We wish Lee a speedy recovery. For all those fans in Australia, Lee is still supposed to be at the 2009 Australian Pro, just not competing on stage, but to greet the Australian fans.

Lee Priest anticipated return to the IFBB pro circuit at the 2009 Australian Pro five weeks away has been talked about for a long time now, and here are a few pictures of Lee Priest.

You can see more pics and a discussion of Lee Priest on the Getbig Boards at

“In light of recent circumstances, I feel it is my responsibility to clear the air and explain one of the many reasons why both Dave Palumbo and John Romano were terminated.

Dave was hired two years ago to be Editor-in-Chief of the Muscular Development website. During the first year, he was instrumental in helping to grow it. During this past year, Dave’s interests were focused increasingly on his side businesses of training athletes and launching his supplement line. John was hired by Dave as a paid employee to endorse and promote this supplement line.

Because of this, John’s position as Senior Editor was compromised. Together they were using MD and the website as a vehicle to further their own interests, and as a result, less time was being spent on increasing the website’s potential and taking it to the next level. During their employment, Dave and John’s contributions were very much appreciated, and they were well compensated.

Editor-in-Chief and Senior Editor are full-time positions and we require those who hold these titles to be willing to give their total focus. This was not the case. Dave and John have not worked onsite in the MD offices for over one year, which made working as a team extremely difficult. No one person is bigger than the team as a whole, and anyone who thinks Dave or John built MD is sadly mistaken. We have always had the best team of writers, athletes and employees and will continue on that path. When one door closes, another one opens and usually for the better.

I love bodybuilding and have always given MD 100 percent and have only had the best interest of the readers at heart. I ask anyone to dispute the fact that I have always been extremely loyal and generous to anyone who has worked for MD.

We are very excited about having Robbie Durand as the new Editor-in-Chief. He brings passion and incredible scientific knowledge to the site and will do whatever is necessary to meet the same high standards of excellence as Muscular Development magazine. Robbie wants very much to work with everyone in making this a team success. I hope you will welcome him aboard.

In closing, I want to reassure each of you that we will never compromise our mission and will always look to enlighten and inspire as well as search for new ways to continue to make MD the best bodybuilding magazine and website on the planet!”

Monday began with a jolt in the small world of bodybuilding, as we learned that Dave Palumbo and John Romano, were both let go by Muscular Development.  Robbie Durand has been appointed the new editor in chief of Muscular Development’s web site.

After Romano was fired by MD, he sent the following statement to PBW Radio about the situation.  (John’s statement was read by Dan & Bob on the PBW’s Feburayr 2nd show).
  
“After 18 years of dedicated service to Muscular Development Magazine, and more recently its website, the relationship that saw me rise from a mere contributor to Senior Editor has come to – as all things inevitably do – an end.  However, the end was not unforeseen. My gradually eroding confidence in the manner in which business was being conducted, and the decisions that were being made, painted a very telling picture of things to come.  Clearly, the direction the magazine and website are now headed counter my beliefs, not to mention those of my radio partner, and former Editor-in-Chief of the Muscular  Development.com, Dave Palumbo.  As you all probably know, Dave’s relationship with MD also ended today.  The manner in which the end unfolded was rather unfortunate, but not unexpected. It evinced quite accurately the evolving attitude of Muscular Development.
 
I am very grateful to Steve Blechman for the opportunity he has afforded me over the years and I wish him and his future endeavors much success.  To all my fans and loyal readers and listeners now decrying the gigantic whole I left in MD, rest assured –  You ain’t seen nor heard the last of me…..”   – John Romano