Dennis Wolf discusses how he disagrees with criticism that Men’s Open has gotten worse… and points towards Flex Lewis and other upcoming competitors as proof.
While Dennis Wolf may be retired after his serious neck injury a few years ago, he still keeps a close eye on the sport of bodybuilding. During our conversation, we wanted to know if he agreed with other legends like Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates that Men’s Open bodybuilding was going down in quality. In a refreshing change of stance, Wolf disagreed. Not only that, he was excited about relative newcomers to the division – including Flex Lewis. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Dennis Wolf explains how he thinks Flex Lewis has the best conditioning on stage rivaled only by Phil Heath.
There’s been a lot of controversial and somewhat negative activity in bodybuilding as of late. Specifically in the conversations online regarding the future of Men’s Open. Ever since the 2019 Mr. Olympia, many fans have been vocal stating that the athletes are not as good as previous eras. A few top bodybuilders have chimed in, including Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates most notably.
Dennis Wolf couldn’t disagree more. In our recent video conversation with him, he stated confidently that bodybuilding is far from getting worse. In fact, he is extremely excited about the relative newcomers making early waves in the division. Athletes like Hunter Labrada and Hadi Choopan show incredible promise and will likely only improve over the years. Even the often criticized current Mr. Olympia champion, Brandon Curry, has shown consistent improvements with each show over the past few years. If he keeps on this trajectory, he could not only maintain his Olympia title but further prove the skeptics wrong.
But more than anyone else, Dennis Wolf was extremely excited for Flex Lewis. While Lewis is not a “newcomer” to bodybuilding, he is a newcomer to the Men’s Open division as of this year. He hasn’t competed yet and will debut at the Olympia 2020 later this year.
Dennis Wolf believes that Flex Lewis is the most crazy conditioned bodybuilder who appears on stage, second only to Phil Heath.
“Then of course we have Flex Lewis. I mean he’s the most crazy conditioned guy who we could see on stage, maybe next to Phil. Can you imagine him bringing like fifteen, twenty pounds extra mass on stage? You know, he has no limit right now. And you know, he’s always showing up with excellent condition. He’s peeled.”
– Dennis Wolf
While Dennis Wolf isn’t making any predictions for the Olympia by any means. It seems he thinks on a conditioning level, Flex Lewis has the best shot of challenging Phil Heath. The key factor to keep in mind is putting on the extra weight. Will Lewis’ additional mass throw off his conditioning? Lewis is a veteran competitor at this point having won seven Men’s 212 Olympia titles. Hopefully that experience will make him more capable of putting on extra mass without losing his signature conditioning.
Only time will tell – but Dennis Wolf’s excitement is a breath of fresh air during a bodybuilding season hit with hurdles due to a world crisis, delay, and cancellations of competitions.
You can watch Dennis Wolf’s full comments in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.
