Ironman Pro 2008

[Steven Klippstein]

IRONMEN WEIGH IN
Written by: Allan Donnelly
February 15th, 2008

Some of the top bodybuilders in the world took stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the weigh-in for the Ironman Pro on Friday. Defending champion Toney Freeman, 2006 champion Gustavo Badell, Phil Heath and Silvio Samuel were just some of the 32 competitors on hand.

Freeman, the defending champ, appears to have regained the form he displayed in early 2007 and should be in contention once again. Freeman is the heaviest competitor in the contest at 290 pounds.

Heath's weigh-in weight of 240 pounds was evidence of the improvement the 28-year-old has made in the last year. A year ago, Heath stepped onstage at the prejudging for the Arnold Classic weighing between 216-218 pounds.

Below is a list of the competitors and the weight at which they weighed in at the expo.


Check back later for video interviews with some of the competitors, including Freeman, Badell and Samuel.

Eddie Abbew 273 pounds
Khalid Almohsinawi 203 pounds
Troy Alves 222 pounds
Gustavo Badell 255 pounds
Paul Baker 270 pounds
Ray Arde 220 pounds
Troy Brown 241 pounds
Jimmy Canyon 200 pounds
Rodney Davis 256 pounds
Omar Deckard 260 pounds
Alfonso Del Rio 276 pounds
Moe Elmoussawi 239 pounds
Toney Freeman 290 pounds
DeShaun Grimez 240 pounds
Will Harris N/A
Phil Heath 240 pounds
David Henry 203 pounds
Neset Icli 258 pounds
Johnnie Jackson 236 pounds
Rusty Jeffers 240 pounds
Kenny Jones 175 pounds
King Kamali 263 pounds
Vincent Liu 210 pounds
Desmond Miller 260 pounds
Jojo Nitiforo 240 pounds
Sergey Ogorodnikov 278 pounds
Gian Enrico Pica 250 pounds
Silvio Samuel 222 pounds
Armin Scholz 279 pounds
Nathan Wonsley 225 pounds
Mehmet Yildrim 248 pounds

MfG Steven

[klitschko99]

wie geil... ist nicht dein ernst, oder????????????????

der kann froh sein, wenn er unter die ersten 20 kommt

Das gleiche habe ich auch gedacht, King gefällt mir absolut nicht!

[Mr.Sonnenstrand]

Armin Scholz scheint gut in Form zu sein......allerdings hatte er meiner Ansicht nach zu wenig Publicity im Vorfeld der Ironman, was es nicht leichter machen dürfte eine gute Platzierung in einem sehr guten Profi-Feld zu erreichen.
Alfonso del Rio sah beim Wiegen für mich enttäuschend aus.

[Steven Klippstein]

ein paar Bilder vom Weigh-IN

MfG Steven

[Steven Klippstein]

...

MfG Steven

[Steven Klippstein]

....

MfG Steven

[Steven Klippstein]

MfG Steven

[Steven Klippstein]

Well, the show is less than 12 hours away, here are some final thoughts from the weigh-in before the prejudging:

Phil Heath weighed in at 240 with clothes. When I spoke to Phil after the weigh in I told him I thought the scale was 6-8 pounds heavy. He told me that when he weighed himself earlier in his hotel room, he was 236 without clothes. Judging by his face, Phil looks to be in his trademark excellent condition. Provided nothing goes wrong between the weigh in and the prejudging, we could be witnessing something special tomorrow.


Toney Freeman worked the Weider booth at the expo and we met up with him later for a video interview with Dennis James as the interviewer. The interview will be up soon. Toney weighed in at 290, and, like Phil, Toney said the clothes added about 4-5 pounds. Last year at this show, Toney weighed 274. He claims to be in the same condition. During his interview, Toney was VERY confident. Not cocky - that quiet confident that someone possesses when they know they're ready.

Gustavo did not peel off at the weigh in like he did at the Olympia. He jokingly asked me what happened, why I was putting him down in my Seven Storylines for the Ironman article when I questioned his hamstring development. Gus weighed in at 250, and will be in the top 4 in my opinion, maybe even as high as 2nd if Toney is off.

Silvio was the last - or second to last, Desmond Miller arrived late also - to arrive at the weigh-in. Sil was in his customary good spirits when he arrived and, as usual, had no problem showing that he was in excellent condition by taking off his shirt on stage. We caught up with Silvio for an interview with Dennis James as well, should be posted soon. Sil weighed in at 222, six pounds heavier than he was at last year's Ironman. In the video interview, Sil predicts he will finish second or third. Sil's top 3 prediction - Phil, Toney and him, not necessarily in that order - was the same as Toney's.

I am hearing Moe Elmoussawi is in phenomenal condition and is no longer all arms. He could be the darkhorse that everyone is overlooking at the show and could crack the top five.

The Will Harris Hour arrived today, as Harris held center court on stage with a host of one-liners. His best - when asked if he would be traveling to New Zealand for the NZ Pro - a contest Elmoussawi is promoting - Harris said no because "Southwest doesn't fly that far." Harris was the only competitor who didn't weigh in as he refused to get on the scale.

Troy Alves looks to be in good condition, but we only saw Troy's upper body. He looks dry though, and we will have to wait and see if Troy was able to dial it in in the hamstring area, always a trouble spot for Troy.

Johnnie Jackson said he feels great, and was another competitor who took off his shirt and hit a few poses for the crowd. I've seen Johnny look better - not as full or thick or as conditioned as he was in Atlantic City from where I was sitting. Could be one of the guys who falls out of the top five in favor of an up-and-comer - Desmond Miller, Elmoussawi or Kenny Jones (ok, not Jones). Alves or David Henry could also slip in here.

Henry weighed in at 202 pounds. He will have to be absolutely shredded and hope someone is a little off to crack the top 5 here.

That's all for today.

[Steven Klippstein]

Neset Icli lebt ein kleines Psoing bei der EXPO hin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8ozd...0,asc,225.html

MfG Steven

[Mr.Sonnenstrand]

Wenn man die Ergebnisse vom Wiegen sieht, muß man davon ausgehen
das "der alte Freeman" auf der Bühne stehen wird, nicht der vom Mr. Olympia 2007.....132 kg.....