Dennis James share his thoughts about the rest of the top 10 placings at Mr. Olympia 2020.
Dennis James is certainly ecstatic about Big Ramy’s win. He broke down the entire process of bringing Big Ramy to the front of the fold in our previous interview segment. We followed up by asking him his thoughts and critique on the rest of the top 10 placings at the Mr. Olympia 2020. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Dennis James breaks down the top 10 Men’s Open placings at Olympia 2020.
Dennis James trained Big Ramy and worked with Chad Nicholls to help bring Ramy into the Olympia winning state we saw last month. But what did he think of the other placings in the top 10 at Mr. Olympia 2020? We asked him for his thoughts on the rest of the results in that division.
While Dennis James doesn’t go beat by beat through every single athlete, he mentions some highlights that he was most impressed by. This includes William Bonac, who James was surprised by his fifth place ranking. According to James, Bonac showed up exactly to his best strengths and showcased a fantastic physique.
Perhaps that simply speaks to how competitive the lineup was this year as the athletes ranking above Bonac were Hadi Choopan, Phil Heath, Brandon Curry, and Big Ramy. Much has been said about the amazing physique that Choopan showcased on Saturday night. While William Bonac did not particularly come in off or worse than previous years – the four athletes ahead of him all received much praise as well. There just might not have been enough room to inch Bonac any higher despite his impressive package.
Dennis James also highlights Akim Williams, who placed sixth at the Olympia 2020. This was a big improvement for Williams. Not only that, but James believes that Williams has been overlooked for far too long. James has always had faith in the ability and talent of Akim Williams. It was only a matter of time before his physique would build up enough to do some major damage. It seems 2020 was that year and we are excited to see what he can pull off in the years ahead.
In fact, Dennis James went into the Olympia 2020 believing that Hunter Labrada would be the athlete to earn sixth place. This was based off the physique he showed in previous competitions that year. Labrada ultimately placed 8th, but he is also young with a lot of time to build muscle maturity and gain more experience. Dennis James was impressed with what he saw in Labrada for so early in his career. It’s only a sign of improvements to come down the road.
Dennis James ends off his overall critique looking towards Phil Heath. He was surprised that Heath ultimately landed in third. Not because of his physique on stage but because of the information James received before the competition. He was notified from a reliable source that Heath was in incredible conditioning leading into the show.
Ultimately, Phil Heath fell slightly short in his conditioning – particularly around his midsection. This has been an area of concern or him since as early as 2017. Dennis James isn’t sure what happened over the Olympia 2020 weekend that caused Heath to fade – but it was a surprise to him.
You can watch Dennis James breakdown the Olympia 2020 results in full by watching our GI Exclusive interview segment above!
