Upon arriving backstage at the Trump Marina Hotel in Atlantic City, Melvin Anthony – less than 24 hours removed from taking the stage for prejudging at the 2008 Atlantic City Pro – was waiting with a smile. And a message.
“What’s the best you’ve ever seen me?”
The 2006 Olympia.
“Well,” Anthony said, breaking into a grin, “This is better.”
With the prejudging slated for tomorrow morning at 10:30 am, that obviously remains to be seen. But on this night, Anthony is certainly the best he has been since then, and light years ahead of where he was at last year’s Atlantic City Pro, when he came into the show treating it as a tuneup for the Olympia two weeks later, only to finish fourth. This year, Anthony made sure not to make the same mistake.
“Everybody thought I was making a mistake doing this show again,” Anthony said. “But I’m not treating this a a tuneup. I’m treating this like it’s the Olympia. I’ll think about the Olympia later.”
In these pictures, Anthony is tipping the scales at 240 pounds. He’ll likely drop three to five pounds of water before tomorrow’s prejudging, which means he will be very close – if not better – to matching his condition at the 2006 Olympia. Which, in all likelihood, means Toney Freeman is the only man in this lineup capable of stopping Anthony from notching the second win of his pro career and the first since the 2004 Night of Champions.
