The future looks bright for William Bonac, who made a major comeback at the 2024 Empro Classic Pro show. In an Rx Muscle interview, coach Chris Aceto discussed the victory and weighed his chances against reigning champion Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan at the 2024 Mr. Olympia.
Over the weekend, fans welcomed a crop of the world’s best Open contenders to Alicante, Spain for the 2024 Empro Classic Pro. In the headlining act, the anticipation surrounding Michal Krizo was at an all-time high, considering the Slovakian native entered the event as the defending champion.
As soon as prejudging commenced, fans and athletes saw that Krizo was being pushed by former two-time Arnold Classic champion William Bonac and Behrooz Tabani. Despite entering the show as the favorite, Krizo had to settle for third place while ‘The Conqueror’ narrowly defeated Tabani to clinch a 2024 Mr. Olympia qualification. In light of Bonac’s victory, coach Chris Aceto assessed where he stands in October against Lunsford and Choopan.
Chris Aceto Discusses William Bonac’s Latest Win, Says He Will ‘Compare Well’ to Derek Lunsford/Hadi Choopan at 2024 Mr. Olympia
Although Aceto believes Bonac was ‘down in size,’ he argued that his phenomenal conditioning levels made up for it.
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“I’m sure he’s in person looks blasting gigantic,” shares Aceto. “I thought he looked phenomenal.”
“No. He’s down in size but he’s up in condition actually,” explains Aceto. “I’m not talking he’s down in size from when he was like eighth or ninth at the Olympia in 2022, I’m saying he’s like down in size maybe from his all-time biggest.”
Aceto thought Bonac’s conditioning accentuated the strengths of his side poses.
“I think that he played the condition and it worked out perfectly for him because he’s in tremendous condition. The side chest, the quad detail, the side triceps, you could see the quad detail, the hams, the back detail, the hamstring glute detail.”
While Bonac has struggled in the past to present impressive lower body density, that wasn’t an issue this time, says Aceto.
“He was second to Brandon [2019 Mr. Olympia],” shares Aceto. “This is a better version than when was second. When he was second, he was starting to lose his legs there for a while.”
When asked about Bonac’s chances against Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan, Aceto explained that he ‘compares well,’ especially in the most muscular, side chest, and back double biceps pose.
“Yeah, well, the answer is yes. It’s a great question because they are short and he is short. You’re going to be looking at Hadi and you’re going to be looking at Derek and you’re going to be looking at let’s say they are all staying in the lineup, they compare well, I mean he compares well.”
“He compares very well on shots like most muscular, side chest, back double,” shares Aceto.
Aceto believes when Bonac is in shape, he has an ‘element of sharpness’ that reminds him of the late Shawn Rhoden.
“When William is in shape, there is an element of sharpness that you will take another second and third look at. It’s kind of like when Rhoden was in shape. Just like a dryer more dense, more pulled-in sucked into the muscle look. That doesn’t necessarily show up in pics, you have to be there.”
Having sat out of the 2023 Olympia contest, William Bonac mentioned that the decision ‘haunts’ him. While he has considered retirement over the past few years, Bonac easily presented one of his all-time best physiques in Spain, which has paved the way for conversations about how high he could place on the Olympia stage this October.
Boasting more experience than most of his peers, William Bonac intends to make a statement at his next competition, which will likely be the 2024 Mr. Olympia show, scheduled to take place October 10-13 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Watch the full video from the Rx Muscle YouTube channel below:
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