by Christian Duque
Nothing makes me happier than to see my good buddy Hunter Labrada going to a bodybuilding competition and being the favorite to win it all. I was there at the 2018 Nationals when Hunter won everything and turned pro. I’ll never forget interviewing him within earshot of his superstar legend dad looking on proudly. Every outlet was ecstatic to see this coming of age. It was the next generation of great bodybuilders.
It fills my heart with joy to see him go into the IFBB Italy Pro as the favorite to win. And not only that but what a way to go to the big show in Las Vegas in just about 6 weeks time. The reality of the matter is that Hunter has worked very hard. His father Lee Labrada was able to pave the way for bodybuilders in the 1980s that did not want to play the size game, rather, wanted to stay true to the aesthetic value of classic bodybuilding. You look at guys like Lee Labrada and you are taking it back to the golden era of bodybuilding. Here was a guy, who along with Bob Paris and a few others, was able to keep alive the proportions of Frank Zane and people on that level.
The bottom line is the 1980s basically had the writing on the wall. It started with Lee Haney but it didn’t end there. There was Mike Christian and others. The guys with the size were starting to dominate and it was just a matter of time until the 1990s rolled in. Now it would be almost unheard of for a guy under 200 lb to win the open title but in those days Lee Labrada was pushing Lee Haney all the way to the wire. Now I will tell you that Hunter and Lee’s physique don’t look alike at all but the genes are there. Like father like son they both dominated the sport in different eras. But that being said I wish that Hunter would win a bigger show than Italy. The IFBB Italy Pro had the makings of being a very big competition but with the exception of Rubiel Mosquera, Hunter really doesn’t have any type of formidable competition there.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some great bodybuilders here but I would be an absolute liar if I told you that I had heard about most of them. There are 13 bodybuilders and I have heard of only two of them. Morgan Aste and Hunter Labrda. This is not to say that these are not world-class athletes. After all, you cannot get a pro card in bodybuilding without being one of the best in the world. And let me be honest with you, I don’t have the same opinion about men’s physique or bikini or other divisions. The reality of the matter is bodybuilding is the flagship division and it is not as easy to get a pro card in it as other divisions.
Now I understand that that is pretty contentious of me to say and I understand that I will probably ruffle a lot of feathers. But guess what? I’m The Iron Duque. I have been ruffling feathers since I first started writing articles and making videos nearly 15 years ago. I don’t do it to offend but I’m an outspoken individual and outspoken people generally say things that most people would rather think than express. The bottom line is you can get a pro card in just about any division with relative ease when compared to bodybuilding. Bodybuilding continues to hold the bar at the absolute highest. This is why I believe the 10 or so guys who I may not be familiar with, are probably worthy of accolades even though I have never heard of them in my life. Any one of these guys could win. But will they? I would be highly shocked if any of them even gave Hunter a run for his money, let alone upstage him, and won the contest.
The absence of Rubiel Moscara (aka Neckzilla) from the roster basically makes this competition a snoozefest. Hunter is basically going to show up and win and really not have to exert any kind of real effort. It’s very similar to when Samson won Texas. He basically showed up and got the win. Now granted Samson didn’t have to win because he’s automatically qualified by virtue of being Top 3 at last year’s Mr Olympia, but the elite guy still wants to feel like everyone else, so they throw their hat in the ring. Hunter competing in Italy really is more a necessity than anything else but I think that he is being short-changed because of the fact the promoters were not able to get top talent at their show. I don’t know what this particular competition pays but it does not seem like it’s going to be one that’s going to be even worth watching. I will tell you that it’s a sad day for bodybuilding because the rules have become so much harder to qualify for the Olympia now that the point system is gone but we still have shows like Italy and like Texas that honestly aren’t really anything to write home about. We know who’s going to win and pretty much everyone else there is just to pad the numbers. Again I’m very sorry to offend the fans of the 10 or 11 guys who I’m not familiar with but chances are they don’t have that many fans to begin with because if they did I would have heard of them.
Hearing about a pro is more than just about placings. A big part of buzz has more to do with the size of a fanbase.
I mean let me list some of the names just so that I give them some props for being able to compete but again I don’t know them from a hole in the wall. The athletes include Chris Ziller, Nathan Styles, Bruno Santos, Andrea Presti, Dario Paolozzi, Didgo Nunes, Josh Males, Lorenzo Leeuwe, Enrico Hoffman, Alie Edward, Morgan Aste (who I’ve heard of a bit), Ahmad Alrefael, and of course Hunter Labrada. If you ever heard of any of these bodybuilders by all means give your feedback in the comments but I really have not. And as I have said in previous articles for Iron Magazine I could do some research and turn around and pretend like I am a very worldly writer who knows the ins and outs of every other competitor from here till Timbuktu, but I just don’t get down that way. I don’t pretend to follow athletes who I don’t know from a hole in the wall. And again that’s no disrespect to them but it’s just not the caliber of competition that we should have for professional shows.
I have no idea why Neckzilla is not doing the show. I don’t know if it’s Visa-related or if he was not prepared – or what. Unless I’m missing something, he is not qualified for the 2024 Mr Olympia. And I don’t know how many more competitions there are after Italy. I mean we are under 6 weeks out and Italy is amongst the last shows to qualify. And look at the lineup? Again I’m not trying to throw shade at these unknown athletes but for a show this close to the Super Bowl of Bodybuilding to draw out this kind of talent is just not good. It’s not a good look for the sport. I also can’t imagine why on Earth people would buy tickets to go see Hunter battle it out with a bunch of guys no one has ever heard of. Now I understand there’s a couple of Italians there so maybe they have local support, but again it’s not a good look.
From where I’m sitting, I think if Hunter comes in at 80%, he should be able to win handily. I also don’t think that it’s necessary for him to peak any more than that. I think this will be very much like Samson’s outing in Texas where I don’t even think he had a peak week. It was that weak of a lineup where he could just go in and take first place easy peasy. I mean in Samson’s case 2024 was the third consecutive time he won the Texas Pro. Again no disrespect to the promoters of that show but if somebody can walk in and win that easily not once, not twice, but three consecutive years in a row, I would say that your show is not all that competitive. But hey that’s just me. I am of the belief that there shouldn’t be so many pro shows. I mean one look at Texas or Italy and I think that they should be sanctioning a lot less shows. Every show should be an all-out battle amongst top talent to get to the Olympia. To have a show where there’s no one there except for one frontrunner is pretty pathetic.
But what say you? Do you think there should be fewer shows? Would you pay for a ticket to go see Hunter battle it out with 11 guys no one has ever heard of? Again, you may have a different opinion than me. After all, variety is the spice of life. At the end of the day it’s just bodybuilding, right? As always, thanks for reading my article here at Iron Magazine. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments.