Bodybuilding needs rivalries. In recent years, Phil Heath versus Kai Greene has sucked up most of the oxygen, but there have been lesser wars of words. One of the best occurred at the 2012 Olympia press conference when Ben Pakulski asserted that Branch Warren shouldn’t have been in the top three of that year’s Arnold Classic. (Warren won, and Pakulski was fourth.) Pak-Man later claimed his legs were better than Warren’s. “Imagine if this guy actually wins a show how much trash he’s gonna talk,” Warren shot back, and even “this guy” had to smile.
Pak-Man still hasn’t won a pro show. And by any statistical analysis—head-to-head record, pro wins, Olympia placings—Warren wipes the floor with him. But many may choose the more aesthetically pleasing lines of Pakulski over the grainy, veiny thickness of Warren. And as for who has the superior legs, that was an open question in 2012, and it remains so today. Together, they have four of the best wheels in the history of bodybuilding, but do you prefer the distinct curves of Pakulski’s lower body or the feathered density of Warren’s?
