It’s the heaviest weight benched raw in the States, and the second-most worldwide. The previous raw American record was 711 pounds, done by James Henderson in 1997. The overall record is 738.5 pounds (or 335 kilograms), accomplished by Russian powerlifter Kirill Sarychev in 2015.
Maddox made it clear that he’s gunning for that No. 1 spot. “Missed 739 at the lockout,” he wrote on Instagram, “just know the [fire] is lit and I’m coming back for it.” We have no reason to doubt him. He made the 723.1 bench press look like light work, and he’s part of an elite club: he’s only one of five people in history to bench more than 700 pounds, according to tuffwraps.com.
Before becoming the new American record holder, he told his hometown newspaper that he trains for two to three hours per day, four or five days a week. He started lifting at 25, shortly after he kicked a drug habit. Maddox is definitely someone to keep an eye on, and we’re sure the 31-year-old lifter will be making more headlines soon.
