Head judge Tyler Manion cleared the air on Wesley Vissers’ shocking upset victory over Ramon Queiroz at the 2024 Arnold Classic. In a recent YouTube video, Manion comprehensively broke down the top two finalists and scored each of their five poses.
“We’re going to go through the comparison of Wesley and Ramon and we’ll do that pose by pose,” said Tyler Manion.
The annual Arnold Sports Festival wrapped up in Columbus, Ohio and perhaps the biggest shock of the night came in the Classic Physique division. Before the event, fans expected another two-man showdown between Germany’s Urs Kalecinski and the defending champ Ramon Queiroz.
However, as soon as the competitors hit the stage, it was evident that Wesley Vissers, who placed seventh in the 2023 Olympia contest, underwent significant improvements. Standing six feet three inches, the Dutch native used stature and striated conditioning to command the stage. Not only that, but Vissers’ posing abilities only helped him throughout the show, as he hit the shots with conviction without shaking.
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To recap one of the biggest storylines from the 2024 Arnold Classic, IFBB Pro League Vice President Tyler Manion provided detailed explanations of the outcome, offering context to the contest through pose-by-pose comparisons.
Tyler Manion Goes Pose-For-Pose Ramon Queiroz vs Wesley Vissers, 2024 Arnold Classic Physique Recap
Before diving into the posing analysis, Tyler Manion acknowledged that Vissers’ waist was wider than Kalecinski’s and Queiroz’s but his shoulder width compensated for that.
“As you know, Wesley’s waist is definitely a little bit wider than Ramon’s than Chris’ than even Urs’ and Breon’s, however, Wesley has now built up his shoulders and width so much to compensate for that where he has a very very crazy shape and taper as well. All shapes and sizes can come in and do very well in this Classic Physique division.”
Front Double Biceps Pose
According to Tyler Manion, Vissers nailed prejudging with crisp conditioning and deeply separated lines; this is what led to him winning the front double biceps pose over Queiroz.
“The front double biceps pose. Now, here in prejudging, which is where the judging takes place, now again, guys, Classic Physique judging it takes place in the morning. At night, is a confirmation round where we re-look at everything. But the real judging is done in the morning for Classic Physique. Now, in the morning, Wesley straight-up nailed it. Everything was crisp, every line was deep, and that front double biceps, he is taking up more space on the stage than Ramon.”
“His taper is just as good, his arms are even better, his chest is full, his quads are taking up the same amount of space as Ramon’s, and the cuts and lines are much much deeper,” adds Tyler Manion. “Overall top to bottom, he is balanced and he looks better than Ramon in this pose.”
Moreover, Manion mentioned that Queiroz looked like he downsized.
“Ramon, for me, looked a little bit downsized. He also didn’t have clear separation in his quads and he also hurts himself with his posing. He doesn’t bring his arms up to where he needs to bring them.”
Score: 1-0 for Vissers
Side chest
Thanks to Vissers’ full chest, bigger arms, and shoulders, Manion shared that he also won this pose.
“Side chest, you can see Wesley made big improvements in his side leg. His side leg, his hamstring is now more balanced to his quad. Upper body-wise, his chest was extremely full, his arms and shoulders were very very big. When you compare it to Ramon he has more width across the top from shoulder to shoulder.”
“So right now, I have it to 2-0 in poses for Wesley.”
Score 2-0 for Vissers
Back double biceps pose
In the back double biceps pose, Manion favored the depth, taper, and separation of Wesley Visser’s physique though suggested he bring up his hamstrings and glutes.
“The back double biceps pose in the morning, Wesley’s back had a lot of depth, the taper was great, his shoulder and arms were big, separated, and detailed. Now, going on to his lower body, yes. Does he need more hamstrings and glutes, yes, this is definitely the main critique for his physique.”
“It was enough for me to give him the nod in the back double biceps pose over Ramon. Why was it enough? It’s because Ramon, his back, the width of it, did not compare to Wesley’s, his depth was not great as well and pinching a lot of through his traps.”
Score: 3-0 for Vissers
Abs and thighs pose
Given the deeply separated abs of Queiroz, Manion believes he won this pose.
“Abs and thighs pose, this pose I gave to Ramon. Wesley’s abs are not separated and detailed like his. He kind of crunches down a little too much,” explains Manion.
Score: 3-1 for Vissers
Favorite Classic Pose
Concerning the favorite Classic pose, Manion contends that Queiroz does his body a disservice by not opening up all the way and points out some of his posing weaknesses.
“The favorite Classic pose, again Ramon hurts himself with this pose, he does not open up all the way. He doesn’t raise his arm where he’s making the bicep flex, he does not raise it up the way he should. He sinks down into the pose, he’s not getting his lats out all the way and his quads were not as separated as they needed to be there”
Considering Vissers’ full chest, arms, shoulders, width, and quad separation, Manion thought he was the rightful winner of this pose.
“Wesley is standing right next to him, his chest was full, his arms looked great, his shoulders looked great, and his width looks great and his quads are separated and taking up just as much room on stage as Ramon’s, 4-1 to me, Wesley took this from Ramon.”
Final Score: 4-1 for Vissers
This wasn’t Tyler Manion’s first breakdown of the bodybuilding action that concluded in Columbus, Ohio. He also examined Samson Dauda’s and Hadi Choopan’s respective performances. In light of Choopan’s dominant showing reflected by the scorecards, Manion said there was no need to analyze their posing strengths and weaknesses.
These breakdown videos from Tyler Manion are not only insightful for fans, but they provide competitive bodybuilding athletes with much-needed guidance on how to return to competition better than they were before.
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Watch the full video from the NPC News Online YouTube channel below:
Catch comprehensive coverage of the 2024 Arnold Classic, including pre-judging, event recaps, analyses, and complete Arnold Classic results at our Arnold Classic coverage hub: FitnessVolt.com/arnold-classic