A six-pack of things to look for heading into the weekend’s Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships
by Allan Donnelly
August 6, 2008
FLEXONLINE.COM
If the IFBB were the WWE or the UFC, this weekend’s Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships would likely be called IFBB 96: Redemption. Catchy, right? It’s also true. At the top of this veteran-laden lineup, a number of big names will be looking to redeem themselves after subpar outings in recent contests. At the top of that list are Dennis James, Toney Freeman, Darrem Charles, David Henry and Mark Dugdale. Below, we take a look at a six-pack of topics – remembering not to leave the ladies out, of course – heading into Saturday’s showdown.
Stay tuned to Flexonline.com for continued coverage leading up to the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships!
TOMORROW:Dennis James By The Numbers THURSDAY: Women’s Spotlight FRIDAY: Five Questions with Flex Lewis SATURDAY: Complete coverage from the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships
WHAT:Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships WHEN: Saturday, August 9 TIME: Prejudging at 9 am EST; Finals at 6:30 pm EST WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa FL FOR MORE INFO:pbwproshow.com
COMPETITOR LISTMEN'S BODYBUILDING Abiad, Fouad Almohsinawi, Khalid Alves, Jorge Arevalo, Pablo Baker, Paul Becht, Marcus Belgrave, Lyndon Borrelli, Omar Brown, Elvis Carrasco, Raul Chacon, Marcos * Charles, Darrem Clarke, Fedel Devis, Clarence Ducasse, Guy*** Dugdale, Mark Elsetouhi, Tarek Finocchiaro, Anthony Francis, Vonne * Freeman, Toney Hampton, James Henry, David Horvath, Jaroslav * Huff, Roland Jackson, Richard * James, Dennis Jones, Ken*** Kindred, Michal* Lewis, James Flex* Liu, Vincent * Long, Jeffrey Lytle, Daron Mehmet, Yildirim Mishin, Evgeny Nemeth, Istavan Nicholls, Jerry Ojex, Bola Pica, Gian Enrico Rabiei, Carlos Majid Sauvage, Frederic Shabazz, Roc Torres, Clifton * Valentino, Mike * Weatherill, Bob Wonsley, Nathan * Hampton, James Henry, David Horvath, Jaroslav Huff, Roland Jackson, Richard * * - denotes 202-pound competitorsWOMEN'S BODYBUILDING Andersen, Irene Ball, Nicole Bazemore, Mercedes Bramwell, Debbie Bustamante, Myriam Caputo, Giusy DiRenzo, Beverly Grozajova, Aurelia Jerumbo, Mary Ellen Larson, Klaudia Linke-Sippl, Jana McCready, Wendy Moore, Tonia Partenza, Claudia Perez, Kim Pfuetzenreuter, Nicole Rivieccio, Annie Salotti, Carla GO TO PAGE TWO FOR OUR TAMPA SIX-PACK
A six-pack of things to look for heading into the weekend’s Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships
by Allan Donnelly
August 6, 2008
FLEXONLINE.COM
If the IFBB were the WWE or the UFC, this weekend’s Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships would likely be called IFBB 96: Redemption. Catchy, right? It’s also true. At the top of this veteran-laden lineup, a number of big names will be looking to redeem themselves after subpar outings in recent contests. At the top of that list are Dennis James, Toney Freeman, Darrem Charles, David Henry and Mark Dugdale. Below, we take a look at a six-pack of topics – remembering not to leave the ladies out, of course – heading into Saturday’s showdown.
Stay tuned to Flexonline.com for continued coverage leading up to the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships!
TOMORROW:Dennis James By The Numbers THURSDAY: Women’s Spotlight FRIDAY: Five Questions with Flex Lewis SATURDAY: Complete coverage from the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships
WHAT:Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships WHEN: Saturday, August 9 TIME: Prejudging at 9 am EST; Finals at 6:30 pm EST WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa FL FOR MORE INFO:pbwproshow.com
1. LADIES NIGHT Of the 17 competitors in womenÂs bodybuilding, only two  Annie Rivieccio and Nicole Ball  have qualified for the Ms. Olympia. Since the top three here will qualify, that means that at least one lucky lady will be booking a trip to Vegas and the Orleans Arena for the first time come Monday morning.
(From L to R: Annie Rivieccio and Nicole Ball at the 2007 Ms. Olympia)
2. LITTLE BIG MEN Tampa will play host to the third Under 202-Pound Contest of the year. Former-giant-killer-turned-giant (well, in this class) David Henry returns after placing second to Kevin English at the first 202 show of the year in New York in early May. The 202 class seemed tailor-made for Henry, and a loss here will further damage HenryÂs reputation as the best of the best among the smaller class. The most likely to unseat Henry? WeÂll go with Welsch wunderkid James ÂFlex Lewis. The PBW Championships will Mark The US debut of the 24-year-old Lewis, who earned his pro card by winning the light heavies and overall at the British Nationals in October of 2007. Roc Shabazz, Guy Ducasse and Tricky Jackson should also be in the mix.
(James “Flex” Lewis winning the overall at the 2007 British Championships)
3. DAVID VS GOLIATH How will the 202 winner fare in the open show? A year ago, Henry had no problem beating a number of mass monsters at their own game when he placed 10th at the 2007 Olympia. Should Henry win the 202 Class, heÂll be hoping for a repeat performance. Results from when the two previous 202 Class winners – English in New York and Ray Arde in Houston – entered the open class were mixed. English fared well in New York, placing 2nd to Kai Greene in the open class. But Arde wasnÂt so fortunate last month in Houston, winning the 202 class but falling to 14th in a relatively weak lineup.
(David Henry placing 2nd in the Under 202 Class at the New York Pro in May)
4. HITTING THE MARK A year ago, we thought Mark Dudgale was the perfect candidate to win multiple 202 titles, despite his placing out of the top 15 at the ’08 Olympia. No chance of that happening now. ThatÂs not a knock on Dugdale, who is routinely one of the best-conditioned guys in any contest he enters. ItÂs simply because, after a productive offseason, weÂre hearing Dugdale will be coming in at around 220 pounds, or roughly 10 heavier than he was at the 2007 Olympia. A bigger, conditioned Dudgale could be the surprise of the contest.
5. DARREM DROPPING? Has Darrem Charles lost the nickname Mr. Consistency for good? Or was his lackluster 6th-place showing in Houston  his first contest of the Â08 season  an abberation? Charles has rebounded from subpar outings before, most recently when he placed … sixth at the 2007 Keystone Classic in June of 2007, only to return to his trademark shredded condition later in the season to win the Montreal Pro and place second at the Atlantic City Pro. But at 39 years old, is Charles slipping? How he shows up here could determine whether the 18-year veteran still has gas left in the tank or if heÂs nearing the end of the road.
(Darrem Charles placing 2nd at the 2007 Atlantic City Pro)
5. X-MAN RETURNS? After a disastrous 2007 Olympia, Freeman rebounded to some degree in the early part of the 2008 season by placing fourth in Australia and third at the New Zealand Pro in March. Freeman was still a long way away from matching his dominating pair of performances to start the 2007 season (winning the Ironman Pro and placing third at the Arnold Classic), but his improvement silenced the critics saying the 42-year-old FreemanÂs best days were behind him  for a while. We know heÂll be one of the biggest competitors in the contest at around 275-280 pounds, but we wonÂt know if Freeman will silence the critics for good until we see the condition heÂs in when he sets foot on stage.
6. PLAY IT AGAIN DJ Fourth place at the 2003 Olympia. For years Dennis James had been trying to get back to that form. But the harder he tried, the further away he got. Chasing Ronnie Coleman, you see, has itÂs pitfalls, and as James got bigger, he lost the proportions and conditioning that got him there in the first place. James hit rock bottom at last year’s Colorado Pro, finishing eighth. Now, after over a year away from the stage, James plans on coming into the PBW Championships at around 245-248 pounds, much closer to the 242 he weighed at the Â03 Olympia. If James can regain that form, it might not matter how anybody else comes in.
