2012 WNBF Worlds Write-up

My write-up of the 2012 WNBF Worlds is now posted in the gallery.

Returning to the WNBF Worlds Stage: Now a 4x LW World Champ!

On November 10, 2012 I returned to the WNBF stage after taking the past 2 years off from competing.  This year’s contest was held at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.  Originally thinking I would be in the Middleweight class, I weighed in about a pound and a half over the Lightweight cutoff of 165 lbs.  After waiting about an hour to take my polygraph test (and peeing multiple times), I weighed in again and made the LW cutoff.  I felt very confident going into the show, and ended up winning the LW class of 12 competitors with perfect scores from all 7 judges.  This is something I had not accomplished before, and am very proud of.  In the overall, I found myself up against the massive Middleweight from Australia, Hayzer Cayli, and the even bigger Heavyweight from the U.K., Richard Gozdecki (last year’s overall winner). The crowd was truly amazing during the fight for the overall title, with the Aussie, English, and U.S. contingencies cheering on their man!  In the end Hayzer Cayli’s massive quads, thick back, and dramatically improved condition earned him a well-deserved overall World title.  Both Hayzer and Rich are very down to earth people, and I’m proud to call them friends.  Hayzer and I chatted for quite a while before the morning show – as soon as I saw him putting his color on I knew he’d be tough to beat.  It was a unanimous decision for Hayzer, making his win even more impressive.  I was surprised but pleased to learn that I had garnered 6 of the 7 2nd place votes in the overall, meaning that I had gotten the better of last year’s overall champ. This was no small task considering that Rich weighed in at nearly 230 lbs, was in true contest shape, and has now beaten the always-impressive Martin Daniels 2 years in a row.

I was very pleased with the result of my longest off-season to date, and I got multiple comments from the judges about the marked improvements I made over that time. I have now won 4 class titles at the WNBF World Championships, more than any other male athlete in WNBF history. I will try to get a full write-up of the show completed soon, but for now, here is a picture taken right after the end of the show: