HARD TIMES
PHIL HEATH
STILL A
PHENOM
PHIL HEATH
won his seventh
straight Olympia last
September, and it was
a little like Groundhog
Day, as once again the
consensus was that
he was good enough
to win but has yet to
replicate the look of his
first win back in 2011—
when he was crisper
than freshly fallen
snow, tighter than
Shawn Ray’s wallet,
and fuller than Lambeau
Field on a Packers
home day. There were
those who were trying
to make a case that
runner-up Big Ramy
should have toppled
the champ. Ramy was
probably 40 or 50
pounds heavier than
154
FLEX | JANUARY ’18
the 250-pound Heath,
but the devil is in the
details, and the devil
is Phil Heath.
In a battle against
Ramy, let’s say the Gift
“gifts up” the first two
mandatory poses—front
double biceps and
front lat spread—to the
Egyptian juggernaut. An
A for side chest—Ramy
is huge but just doesn’t
have the groovy deep
separation Denver’s
most-muscular Nugget
possesses, but call it a
draw. Back shots are
Phil’s: His back double
biceps is up there as
possibly the best ever,
and while Ramy’s back
is much wider, it doesn’t
have the thickness and
separation of Heath’s.
BY PETER MCGOUGH
And in that pose, Heath
has a better flow
completeness head to
toe that’s in a class of
its own. More thickness
and detail also see the
reigning champ take
rear lat spread. Side
triceps is Phil’s. Abs and
thighs go to Big Ramy.
Phil’s roundness and
shape, augmented by
his unique muscle
configuration, take the
most-muscular. That
gives Phil four of the
eight mandatories, with
one tie—side chest—
with Ramy taking three
shots. Sounds close,
but the dramatic
preeminence of Heath’s
back double biceps
and most-muscular
slammed the door on
any thoughts of a new
king being crowned.
Having said all that,
Big Ramy is improving
year by year. So can
he continue that
improvement curve and
halt Phil’s reign in 2018?
Watch this space—in
this case Ramy’s
300-pound space.
One of the funniest
incidents I’ve ever
witnessed at a
bodybuilding contest
involves Egypt’s
El Shahat Mabrouk.
It was at the 1991
IFBB Amateur World
Championships in
Poland, where he
won the middleweight
title. In fact, Mabrouk
had nine World
Championships wins.
He never turned pro,
because at that time
Egyptian authorities
did not sanction
pro cards.
In charge of
officiating was IFBB
secretary general
Harris Kagan, who
always showed
class and demeanor
of a high order.
(Sadly, Kagan is no
longer with us.)
He had warned all
competitors that they
must adhere to the
one-minute-only
posing limit. Mabrouk
came on, and when
his minute was up he
just kept posing,
moving from side to
side along a very wide
stage. Frantically,
Kagan ran in front of
the press row, waving
with his arm and
shouting to Mabrouk,
“Leave the stage! Your
time is up!” As Kagan
ran toward Mabrouk,
the Egyptian would
ignore him, change
direction, and sweep
to the other side of
the stage, forcing the
crouching Kagan to
likewise turn around
and hurtle back. At
about his third time
of rushing by, Kagan
ducked toward me,
and from the mouth
of the usually urbane
Canadian came the
plaintive plea,
“How do you say
f--- off in Egyptian?”
LAST SET