The Item: IFBB Pro League Contest Results, Andrew Oye's IFBB Pro Athletes Roundup
The Scoop: Just Announced: Over the weekend, IFBB Pro Mamdouh Elssbiay, a.k.a. "Big Ramy," had a
repeat victory, winning 1st place in the Open Division of the 2014 New
York Pro Bodybuilding Championships at the Tribeca Performing Arts
Theater. IFBB Pro Juan Morel took 2nd place, shifting up a spot from
last year. Also bumping up from the 2013 NY Pro, IFBB Pro Jon Delarosa
took 3rd place. IFBB Pro Lionel Beyeke was the 4th place finisher,
followed by IFBB Pro Max Charles in 5th place.
Some of the
remaining field: Hungarian IFBB Pro Daniel Toth (6th), Greek IFBB Pro
Michael Kefalianos (7th), IFBB Pro Marius Dohne, "Sutan of Symmetry"
(8th), Russian IFBB Pro Sergey Shelestov (10th), IFBB Pro Jeff Beckham
(12th) and IFBB Pro Saiid Kamara (15th). Making pro debuts were recent
IFBB Pro card earners: rookie IFBB Pro Akim Williams -- 2013 IFBB North
American Championships winner (11th), and new IFBB Pro Henri-Pierre Ano --
2013 CBBF Canadian National Bodybuilding Championships winner (13th).
The "So What?": As reported in "Andrew Oye's Pro Muscle Report," the IFBB Pro Olympia
Qualification Series Point System applies to IFBB Pro League athletes'
eligibility to compete at Joe Weider's Olympia Weekend (September 18-21)
in Las Vegas to challenge reigning Mr. Olympia IFBB Pro Phil Heath. The
New York Pro is a Tier 2 contest, i.e., one of few to award more points
per placing than Tier 3 or Tier 4 contests: (1st automatic
qualification, 2nd - 6 Points, 3rd - 5 Points, 4th - 4 Points, 5th - 3
Points).
Andrew Oye's Verdict: Perhaps it's a sign of the times that there were only 15 contestants
and few super-strong threats to the defending champion at a contest
formerly known as the highly regarded and highly competitive Night of
Champions, which once averaged 25-35 contestants in the late 1980s,
throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. Past NY Pro and NOC
champions include: 8-time Mr. Olympia winners IFBB Pro Lee Haney and
IFBB Pro Ronnie Coleman, 6-time Mr. Olympia IFBB Pro Dorian Yates,
5-time Masters Olympia winner IFBB Pro Vince Taylor, 4-time Arnold
Classic Champ IFBB Pro Flex Wheeler, 2-time Arnold Classic Champion IFBB
Pro Kevin Levrone, 2-time Olympia runner-up IFBB Pro Lee Labrada,
2-time Arnold Classic Champ IFBB Pro Branch Warren, and IFBB Pro Gary
Strydom (champion of WWE CEO Vince McMahon's former WBF World
Bodybuilding Federation -- for which Hall of Famer IFBB Pro Tom Platz
was Talent Director).
Because he overcame a respiratory illness
earlier this year, there was endless back-and-forth speculation as to
whether "Big Ramy" Mamdouh Elssbiay (2012 IFBB Amateur Olympia winner)
would defend the title he won at his pro debut at the 2013 New York Pro.
Surely his fellow competitors were hoping he would have elected not to
compete. The sheer massiveness of Elssbiay's physique nearly cancelled
all of his competitors' attributes that he might or might not possess. Now a member
of the "Quadzilla" club, Elssbiay's thighs balloon to such a degree
that he may need the calves of IFBB Pro Erik Fankhouser to balance his
visual presentation. Ramy has yet to step on a stage at one of the
Arnold Sports Festival's many international editions of the IFBB Pro
Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic Bodybuilding Championships, so I'm
interested to see what he can do in that arena -- since we have seen that
the Olympia (where he placed 8th in 2013) does not allow newcomers, no
matter how impressive, to easily disrupt its hierarchy.
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