A short pictorial review of the stage careers of Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan
May 31, 2008
FLEXONLINE.COM
1995 NPC USA CHAMPIONSHIPS The leading three in the heavyweight division (from left: Craig Titus, Phil Hernon and Gerard Dente) await the announcement of the top placings.Titus was the pre-contest favorite with Hernon arriving in Denver virtually unheralded.
1995 NPC USA CHAMPIONSHIPS Upon hearing Heron being announced the winner runner-up Titus stormed offstage past fourth-placed Ron Flowers and proceeded to kick a few chairs around backstage. For this bad conduct Titus was suspended by the NPC for six months and his “bad boy” persona was established.
1996 NPC USA CHAMPIONSHIPS Craig Titus in winning form in taking the NPC USA heavyweight division in Long Beach, California. The win entitled him to a pro card but due to being imprisoned in 1997 for two years (on charges emanating from an ecstasy bust) he did not make hi pro debut until 2000.
1996 NPC USA CHAMPIONSHIPS Titus (right) mugs it up with heavyweight runner-up Tom Prince. The duo later appeared on the cover of the November issue of FLEX. Of that victory Titus said, “Winning the USA was the best day of my life since my children were born.”
1996 NPC USA CHAMPIONSHIPS Before the decision is announced Titus and Prince take a time out. To the right is third placed Edgar Fletcher. In this one shot is captured three of the most promising amateurs of the mid ’90s who for differing reasons we never able to fulfill their seeming potential.
1999 PHOTO SHOOT Kelly Ryan at a Muscle & Fitness photo shoot one week before the 1999 Fitness Olympia. In this her Olympia debut Ryan soared to second place behind Mary Yockey and with her unmatched vaulting and tumbling skills was nicknamed Flyin’ Ryan.
2000 FITNESS INTERNATIONAL Although she competed through 2005, winning the 2000 Fitness International was the highpoint of Kelly Ryan’s career. In that contest she beat Timea Majorova into second place.
2000 PHOTO SHOOT Kelly Ryan at a Muscle & Fitness photo shoot three after she won the 2000 Fitness International. A few months later Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan became man and wife.
2005 FITNESS INTERNATIONAL On March 4, 2005 Kelly Ryan finished fourth at the Fitness International, which turned out to be her last contest. Over the next few months she and husband Titus talked of starting their own bodybuilding and fitness federation and then in December ’05 came the horror of Melissa James murder and the world of Titus and Ryan changed forever.
