Bodybuilders Lee Priest and King Kamali believe William Bonac should have won the 2022 Arnold Classic and not Brandon Curry. The prestigious bodybuilding competition took place in Columbus, Ohio on March 4th and 5th. It was a part of the 2022 Arnold Sports Festival. 2019 Mr. Olympia and Arnold Classic winner Brandon Curry took home first place in the IFBB Open Pro division at the meet.
The 2022 Arnold Classic had Brandon Curry and William Bonac as the obvious frontrunners. On the other hand, up and coming talent like Brett Wilkin, Regan Grimes and Steve Kucklo were vying for a spot in the top three. As expected, Curry and Bonac won the first and second spot respectively. However, it was not without controversy.
During the most recent episode of RxMuscle podcast, bodybuilders King Kamali and Lee Priest opined that William Bonac should have won the first place.
“What I saw on the video, even yesterday (William) Bonac looked like he could have won. I thought he came in… he didn’t lose anything. I thought he came in tighter and full today. And Brandon (Curry) looked about the same if not maybe a little softer. So, if they can say it was close, it was close. But looking at them side by side, pretty much every shot Bonac looked like he was a clear winner,” Lee Priest said.
Renowned bodybuilding coach and nutritionist Chad Nicholls had predicted that Brandon Curry would emerge victorious at the 2022 Arnold Classic despite a tough competition. However, King Kamali claimed that despite being Brandon Curry’s coach, Nicholls was disappointed with the results and the Physique Curry brought to the stage.
“Because he is still coaching and he is Chad (Nicholls) and he is a huge part of this industry, I would just say that he was disappointed number one and number two, he thought Brandon (Curry) was soft,” King Kamali said.
King Kamali’s assessment of Brandon Curry vs William Bonac
Those in favor of the 2022 Arnold Classic result have argued that William Bonac looked bigger on stage but it was Brandon Curry that had the aesthetically more pleasing Physique and proportions. King Kamali argued that the sport of bodybuilding is about muscularity and stated that the more muscular one should have won.
“There is a million different things that go into this equation. They could come back and say (Brandon Curry) has a prettier Physique. He has a better looking body and William Bonac is too compact. (Curry) might have a better symmetry. But that doesn’t explain the essence of the sport,” King Kamali said.
Kamali remembered the advice he got when he won the Collegiate National Championships and stated:
“This is a sport of muscularity. This is bodybuilding.”
King Kamali and Dave Palumbo then drew attention to the fact that William Bonac won the most muscular man award at the 2022 Arnold Classic. King Kamali further argued that being the most muscular man on stage should have warranted a win and said:
“When (Curry and Bonac) came out and they compared them… Just the two of them… It doesn’t take a f***ing rocket scientist man! You go pose for pose. Front double biceps, who wins? Front lat spread, who wins? And I, except for the side triceps and the abdominal shot, every pose I gave to Bonac. There’s your winner in my eyes. I can’t explain anything else.”
Who do you think really won the contest? Let us know in the comments.
Courtesy of RxMuscle – The Truth In Bodybuilding YouTube channel, you can watch the full podcast episode here:
Bonac was the clear winner
Bonac should have won hands down. I am a huge Curry fan. But it is a competition at the end of the day, and on any given day when you compete, you can lose. You cant judge a body of work during a competition. Its just who showed up and looks the best. Justin and William respectively looked bad during the Olympia. And then wowed everyone this weekend. Curry and Hadi imo beat out Ramy during the Olympia and we know how that turned out. But thats also bbing. Plagued with controversy and yet ill be glued to see the winner of every show! Lol
Bonac clearly should’ve won. I fully agree with these guys. I didn’t see it close, Bonac was able to be picked winning more poses. Curry won the abs shot & that’s about it because Bonac had the muscularity & the conditioning. Curry had the muscularity but lacked the conditioning.
The judges have really messed this up. This ain’t gonna go away. They’re gonna have deal with this huge mistake.