Old Pictures

[Bigtex]

My wife and I were cleaning out a file cabinet that I have had since the mid 80's. Never touched it in 15 years. I found two pictures I had of the late Anthony Clark. As some of you guys know Anthony and I were very closed for many years and we also trained together. My wife and I were standing at his bed side when he died. Sure miss this guy.

 

[rawdeal]

Similar in a way to the Boxer Raul Marquez you knew, Bigtex, in that he did some f2f counseling with kids.

Lol, dissimilar in that he would have done badly as a Hwt Boxer at only 5' 6" or so.

Did manage to get an unofficial 800lb reverse grip Bench way back last century IIRC.

 

[Bigtex]

Similar in a way to the Boxer Raul Marquez you knew, Bigtex, in that he did some f2f counseling with kids.

Lol, dissimilar in that he would have done badly as a Hwt Boxer at only 5' 6" or so.

Did manage to get an unofficial 800lb reverse grip Bench way back last century IIRC.

Anthony had a heart of gold. He also served as a preacher. Yes, Anthony got 3 white lights at the Arnold Classic in 1997 for 800lbs. I guess his final act of kindness was to let his brother know that he want me to be one of the 6 to carry him to his final resting place. Anthony had quite a few personal problems that no one knew about. I was one of the few he ever discussed this with.

​

 

[Yohimbe]

I had the honor of meeting him way back. I was just a teenager back then, but I'll always remember meeting him. One of the nicest guys.

 

[ValeTudo8080]

Nice memories....i do remember him in the magazines

 

[rawdeal]

Nice memories....i do remember him in the magazines

PLUSA, or others? Damn, I miss Mike Lambert's contribution to strength lore. Had an Arkansas farm boy's photo of Cleve Dean once ... a naturally strong giant who at one time ruled Arm Wrestling who also appeared in an early WSM, courtesy CBS-TV.

Billed at 6' 8" and 462 lbs, Lambert wondered if Dean might simultaneously enter a PL contest @ both 242 + 220 in that photo's caption, .

Meanwhile, PLUSA gave ample coverage to Anthony Clark and the others who put the mythical 700lb Bench barrier in their rear view mirrors. Pretty sure ( @Bigtex ?) that Clark was the first to get 800?

 

[Bigtex]

PLUSA, or others? Damn, I miss Mike Lambert's contribution to strength lore. Had an Arkansas farm boy's photo of Cleve Dean once ... a naturally strong giant who at one time ruled Arm Wrestling who also appeared in an early WSM, courtesy CBS-TV.

Billed at 6' 8" and 462 lbs, Lambert wondered if Dean might simultaneously enter a PL contest @ both 242 + 220 in that photo's caption, .

Meanwhile, PLUSA gave ample coverage to Anthony Clark and the others who put the mythical 700lb Bench barrier in their rear view mirrors. Pretty sure ( @Bigtex ?) that Clark was the first to get 800?

Yes Clark was the 1st to get to 800. His purple belt even had "Straight to Eight" embroidered on it. Anthony hit 800 in 1997, As soon as that happened all the haters started saying his bench didn't count and making claims that they did it instead. Tim Isaac was the 1st in 1999. Then comes Gene Rychalk, Scot Mendelson, and Ryan Kennelle, I think even James Henderson put in his claim. The truth is Anthony was 1st and an old friend Tim Bruner was there as part of AC's lift off crew. At the same time powerlifters were arguing over raw vs equipped vs double/triple layer, drug free vs juiced just bullshit that given a black eye to the whole sport.

Lambert was a good guy, he actually owned a nice spread of land in California with lots of grape veins. John Inzer and Peter Thorn introduced me to him and I wrote quite a few articles for PLUSA. I knew Rychalk a little bit, Scot Mendelson was a very nice guy. Ryan Kennelle I met here in Houston. I worked with Inzer and put on a pro bench press meet in maybe 2007 at the Europa in Dallas and Mandelson lifted along with tiny Meeker.

 

[schultz1]

The reverse bench king!!! Thanks for sharing brother.