About Ron Love (Big Ron)
Born: July 2, 1951
Birthplace: Detroin, Michigan, USA
Residence: Detroin, Michigan, USA
Nickname: Big Ron
Height: 6′ 0″ (183 cm)
Competition Weight: 225 to 255 lbs (103 kg)
Off Season Weight: 275 to 300 lbs (125 kg)
Ron Love (born July 2, 1951, in Detroit, Michigan, USA) is an American former professional bodybuilder.
Although discouraged from lifting weights during high school – coaches of the day were still entrenched in the Dark Ages as far as scientific training knowledge – Ron Love, one of only a few black students attending Denby High School at that time, was still a force to be reckoned with as an athlete. He competed on the baseball, football, basketball and track teams. As a pitcher, he never lost a game.
Love became a policeman in 1972, and he was shot in the leg in the line of duty in 1975. An unfortunate incident, certainly, but it did have an upside, as the subsequent rehabilitation led to his involvement in lifting weights and bodybuilding.
Within 18 months of the injury, he competed in his first bodybuilding contest, the Michigan Championships, placing ninth. At age 35, after finishing eighth in his first Mr. Olympia in 1986, he moved to Los Angeles, but stayed only one month – the lifestyle was too superficial for his preferences.
If you judged by only the handful of magazine feature articles written about him, you would tend to think that Love was not a major player in the muscle world.
His prodigious contest resumé, boasting 69 IFBB pro-contests in seven years, proves otherwise. He participated in every contest held in 1987, 13 of 15 in 1989, and 12 of 14 in 1991, and overall he finished in the top five in 17 contests. It’s obvious that his heart was on the posing dais.
Love’s eight consecutive entries into the Mr. Olympia, from 1986 through 1993 (when he was 42) ended the year before the Masters Olympia began. At the time he retired from competition in 1993, he had competed in more IFBB Grand Prix events than any other pro before him.
Ron Love lives in Detroit where is also still available as Personal Trainer at Powerhouse Gym.
Mr. & Masters Olympia Results
1986 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 8th
1987 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 9th
1988 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 9th
1989 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 10th
1990 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 12th
1991 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 11th
1992 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 9th
1993 – IFBB Mr. Olympia: 14th
The Titles Won
1982 – NPC Michigan Championships
1985 – NPC Junior USA
1985 – NPC Nationals (HeavyWeight)
1987 – IFBB World Pro Championships
1989 – IFBB Niagara Falls Pro Invitational
1991 – IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational
Ron Love Image Gallery
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