Arnold Classic 2020 - William Bonac dominates the competition for the second time!

Author: František Randáček

08.03.2020

12 minut čtení

The 32nd edition of the Arnold Classic, which is considered the second most prestigious competition in the world of professional bodybuilding after Mr. Olympia, is now history!

The inaugural contest of this year's Jim Manion IFBB Professional League season will surely be one that will be remembered for a long time to come, especially as it was marred by the scare caused by the viral disease COVID-19!

The competition, and by extension this year's entire Arnold Sports Festival, was to be without the world's largest fitness expo, Arnold Fitness EXPO, at first, but otherwise without any major interference with the schedule.

Arnold Classic 2020 - William Bonac dominates the competition for the second time!

2020 Arnold Classic Soutěže

08.03.2020

12 minut čtení

The 32nd edition of the Arnold Classic, which is considered the second most prestigious competition in the world of professional bodybuilding after Mr. Olympia, is now history!

After that, it was announced that some sporting events would be cancelled, and those that were to take place were to do without spectators, with the only exception being the final fights of the Arnold Classic.

But then there was a change, and some of the sporting events were indeed cancelled, but spectators were to be admitted to all of them.

Unfortunately, this decision didn't last long, and the final verdict was that this year's festival would have to do without not only the Arnold Fitness EXPO, but even without spectators at absolutely all competitions.The only exception was the IFBB professional finals!

So what a sad sight to see in the auditorium, where only a few people from their teams were watching all the athletes! The auditorium was empty, but also quiet!
Those few people, who could often be counted literally on the fingers of one hand, could not create an atmosphere worthy of such a show!

Certainly the saddest and most pronounced was this fact during the fights at this year's Arnold Classic! Although the few spectators tried their best and cheered on all 13 pros who took the stage, it was still more of an intimate setting than a sporting one!

Even the fighters themselves showed that they were not happy posing for the few people in the audience and the judges! Here it simply showed that those crowds of supporters are needed, and without them the atmosphere not only in the auditorium, but especially on the stage is at the freezing point!

At least the organisers managed to negotiate the presence of spectators for the final fights!

But enough of Koronavir! Let's take a look at how the contestants themselves fared at the 32nd Arnold Classic.

As far as the competition itself was concerned, much, as is almost always the case, should have been revealed by the semi-finals. In it, the competition's head judge Steve Weinberger had the six Steve Kuclo, Dexter Jackson, Akim Williams, Cedric McMillan, Mamdouh Elssbiay and William Bonac called up for the very first comparison.

Then when the pair of Bonac and Jackson moved into the middle after a few poses, it was clear that these two fighters were the candidates for the triumph!
McMillan and Williams subsequently moved to either end of the line, hinting at the fact that these two would not make the top 3!

This was then confirmed during the second comparison, for which this pair remained on the podium, with the foursome of Patrick Moore, Victor Martinez, Sergio Oliva Jr. and Maxx Charles rounding out the field.

In the third comparison, the weakest trio of the starting field, Joshua Lenartowicz, Johnnie Jackson and Morgen Aste, had it out.

The last comparison was then marked by the Top 4, Steve Kuclo, Dexter Jackson, Mamdouh Elssbiay and William Bonac.

Semi-final battles

As for the final night, it started with a speech by IFBB Professional League President Jim Manion. In it he mainly thanked the organizers for the fact that despite the adversity of the current situation they managed to negotiate the presence of spectators at the final fights of the competitions of his organization.

His speech was then followed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who thanked his partner Jim Lorimer, with whom he has been organizing this event since 1976!
He then spoke about his friend and sparring partner Franco Colombo, who passed away on August 30th last year.
It was to Franco that Arnold dedicated this year's edition of "his" competition!

Arnold and Franco had a friendship that lasted a hard to believe 55 years! They trained together for 53 years. No wonder Arnold is taking this loss very hard. As he said himself, the loss of Franco is so devastating to him that no one else can even imagine!

Arnold decided to honor his greatest friend with a statuette dedicated to the most muscular competitor of the competition, which depicts and bears the name of the 1976 and 1981 Mr. Olympia title holder!

The very first person to receive this statuette from Arnold's hands could not have been anyone other than the 136 kg Mamdouh Elssbiay! In addition to the statuette, he also received a cheque for a very respectable 10 000 dollars.

Mamdouh "Big Ramy" Elssbiay with the prize for the most muscular fighter of the 32nd Arnold Classic

Another special award, this time Ed Corney's award for the best posing fighter, was awarded to Sergio Oliva Jr.!
The latter presented a truly phenomenal loose routine on stage, which even had Arnold himself filming it standing right next to the stage.

Sergio's free routine at the 32nd Arnold Classic

While presenting this award and a check for $10,000, Arnold then recalled that it was in Columbus 50 years ago that he had a duel with Sergio's father on stage!

Sergio Oliva Jr.with the prize for the Best Posing Fighter at the 32nd Arnold Classic

The winner of the 32nd edition of the Arnold Classic was William Bonac, who also walked off the stage of this prestigious competition as the winner in 2018!

The fighter, whose assets are muscular development, round, full, hard and plastic muscles, was not quite perfect! In fact, his muscles lacked 100% sharpness, especially in his back stances.

A more pronounced weakness was his quadriceps, which lacked fullness. This was even more evident at last year's Mr. Olympia. As Bonac himself explained, he had to deal with the consequences of an injury at the Olympia, when he could not feel one of his thighs properly due to a damaged nerve.

The second place went to the five-time winner of the Arnold Classic, the most successful bodybuilder in the world, 50-year-old Dexter Jackson!

The 2008 Mr. Olympia winner was in better shape on stage than he was at last year's Mr. Olympia. Symmetry, full, rounded and perfectly separated muscles, excellent abdominal control and flawless posing were the qualities of this fighter, so he certainly expected that the victory (the 30th of his career!) could be his.
Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but as he says, he's not giving up! His goal remains to score his 30th win! He would love to take it at the Arnold Classic South America in April. That's the only competition bearing the legendary Arnold's name that he hasn't yet dominated!

Dexter recently announced that this is his last contest season, and so a great legend will leave the bodybuilding world in the fall !

Third place went to the competition's most powerful fighter, the gargantuan Mamdouh "Big Ramy" Elssbiay.

The fighter, who was considered one of the strongest favorites of the contest thanks to his sunken cheeks indicating a really excellent form, really offered something that he has never done before!
In fact, he showed great improvement in most of his muscles, most noticeably in the case of his quadriceps, which have never been so sharp!

His form was also very good, and very close to what he showed at Mr. Olympia 2017. However, that was the semi-finals! However, as the competition progressed, his form began to deteriorate!

However, not only his form was leaving, but also his strength, and fatigue and cramps began to set in, making it difficult for him to strike certain poses!

Fourth place went to Steve Kuclo. He too is seeing an improvement in his physique! He himself had spoken before the competition that he would like to present himself in Columbus in better form than he offered at last year's Olympia. In particular, better muscle hardness and maturity, better back and upper chest detail. This he more or less succeeded in doing, and so his placement in the Top 4, unlike his 6th place at the aforementioned Olympia, is well deserved!

In his debut start at the Arnold Classic, Sergio Oliva Jr. was the best poser of the competition.

Although Sergio was 2 points behind Cedric McMillan after the semifinals, he literally overpowered him in the final !

The big surprise of the competition was the duo of Akim Williams and Maxx Charles, who showed excellent forms on the podium! The latter ended up taking 7th and 8th place.

Patrick Moore, on the other hand, remained behind expectations, who, just like at last year's Olympia, took 10th place. Although he offered more muscle than at the aforementioned Olympia, his form fell short!

But again, among all the mountains of muscle, he was a relic from a bygone era. For no one else could boast a wasp waist and a pouch!

The competition was certainly a disappointment for Johnnie Jackson, who returned to the competition stage after a three-year hiatus.
The 49-year-old Texan once again offered breasts and shoulders as round and full as anyone on the stage, and his trapeze is still decgbering as well! Otherwise, though, not much, and the form was more worthy of exhibition than top competition!