Ht: 5’4” 5’5”
Wt: 199-210 202-205
Age: 36 33
Best body part: Arms, legs Back, arms Weak point: Back, chest Legs
Pro since: 1993 2002
Pro shows: 44 29
Pro wins: 5 3
Training style: High-volume DoggCrapp
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you could beat him if you two competed against each other next year?
LP: Just because I didn’t beat him doesn’t mean I never should have. This sport is all a matter of the judges’ opin- ions. I don’t worry about beating anyone because that’s up to the judges, not us. It would be fun to compete against Shawn again. There aren’t many of us dinosaurs from the ‘90’s still doing this shit.
RH: Dave, how does it feel knowing that you would go into the 2009 202 Showdown as the defending champion, as well as the first man to ever hold that title?
DH: Well, I’m not sure what it will be called next year…hopefully something with Olympia in the title like “202 Mr. Olympia.” It should carry the same prestige as the Mr. Olympia. The prize money should be tripled, and I would like to see prize money all the way down to 15th
place. These guys all work long and hard and deserve a lit- tle more than “thanks for coming.” Even $1,000 or $2,000 would show that their efforts were appreciated, because some of these guys will never carry the mass to compete successfully in the Open class the way Kevin English and I do. Let those guys go home with a good feeling so that they’ll get motivated to come back next year. I’ve spoken
with Robin Chang about all of this, and he is very receptive to my ideas.
RH: Does it seem fair to you that a rule was just instituted saying that you can only compete in the 202 or the Open Olympia, but not both? What was the reasoning behind that? Is it going to be that way for all shows with both an Open and a 202?
DH: It’s what needs to be done to make the 202 class as good as it can be. As the 202 gets more prestige, coverage and better prize money, there will be a lot more incentive for the guys who turn pro as middleweight and light- heavyweights to keep their shape, lines and condition rather than trying to bulk up so they can compete against the guys who are 240, 260 or whatever. Everybody I have talked to loves the 202 class. They feel it’s more realistic and attainable. Some guy out there who’s 170 pounds looks at the 202 class and thinks, yeah, if I work hard for a few years, maybe I could hang with those guys. That same guy looks at Cutler, Wolf, those huge guys who are 270 pounds and they are like aliens to him. I think the 202 class is going to go a long way toward getting more mainstream interest in pro bodybuilding.
RH: Lee, I know that a lot of fans can’t wait to see how you will do in the 202 class. If you have
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to choose at any given show between the 202 and the Open, would it be a rough decision?
LP: Yes, I think it would be. I would just go by how I felt on that day. Maybe I would try 202 at one show and open at another. It would bother me if I were never competing against the top guys in the Open when I’ve done it so many times before. No offense to the guys in the 202 now, but there just isn’t a lot of tough com- petition yet, at least not for me. That might come across as sounding arro- gant, but like I said I have competed against the best in the world over the years and always held my own.
RH: Dave, do you think it’s pre- sumptuous to assume that the biggest challenge to you next year would come from Priest, when there is no shortage of talent in the 202 class?
DH: I really don’t even focus on anybody else. I just do my best to make sure I have the best physique package I possibly can. If I am at my best, I know I am capable of standing next to anyone.
RH: If you return to defend the title, and Lee and Shawn are also
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MDPriest and Henry face off at the 2006 Iron Man.
onstage, do you think that would help to make the 202 Showdown more of a fan draw?
DH: Lee and Shawn being there would definitely up the ante and help draw a bigger crowd. Shawn’s been retired since 2000 and still has a huge fan base. Lee has been away a couple years and is also a fan favorite as well as a controversial figure. We all
have very different physiques, person- alities and fan bases. If we were all in shape I think it would be a heck of a show.
RH: Lee, you will probably never be Mr. Olympia. Would winning the 202 Showdown be the next best thing?
LP: No, I really don’t think so. To me it would be just like winning another pro show like the Iron Man or a Grand Prix event. Just because the 202 Showdown is at the Olympia doesn’t make it any more prestigious quite yet. It’s still all the same guys from the shows you did to get there.
RH: Dave, aside from the O, which other shows are on your agenda for next year?
DH: I did eight shows this year if you count all the ones I doubled up on with both the 202 and Open. For 2009, I want to do New York again. If they don’t have a 202 I’ll just do the Open. I want to defend my title in Tampa. Atlantic City is a possibility, and I am definitely defending my title at the Olympia. I’m skipping the Iron Man and the Arnold next year so I have time to make the improvements I want in order to really make a big impact the next time I hit the stage. We call it “Project FrankenHenry.”
RH: Lee, I will let you have the last word. Do you like the idea of
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Priest at the 2006 Arnold Classic.
Above and below: Henry at the 2008 Mr. Olympia where he won the first annual “under 202 class.”
Above and below: Priest at the 2006 Arnold Classic.
having the 202 Showdown as a separate event, or do you think it would make more sense to have an over and under 202 winner pose down for the Overall Mr. Olympia, the way they did it in the ‘70s for a little while?
LP: You have to keep them separate. I guess the posedown would be fun for the fans, but it wouldn’t mean anything. They almost always go for the heavier guy in the end. If you’re good enough to be Mr. Olympia, you should be competing in the Mr. Olympia. The only guys to ever win the Overall Mr. Olympia against the heavier class winners were Franco Columbu and Frank Zane, and the sport has changed a lot since then. The big guys back then were nothing like they are today, and a smaller guy could beat them with condition and symmetry. I think those days are long gone, for better or worse. ■
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MDBY JOHN ROMANO, PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL
For the last 16 years, the Olympia title has been held by three men who, while redefining what inspires awe, their descriptive terms precluded such applicable and expected adjectives as “aesthetic,” “natural,” “sweeping,” “pleasing” and “flowing.” Given the logical comparison of bodybuilding to sculpting, one would think the ideal would naturally have originated in an artist’s studio. Metaphorically however, for the last 16 years our champions have not found their genesis in a sculptor’s stu- dio at the hand of a great and revered master. They seem to have been built in a foundry or a shipyard, or someplace where they make tanks. To say this “evolution” is a drastic departure from our creator’s intent is as vast an understatement that could ever be construed.
However, now, with the crowning of Dexter Jackson— and with the likes of Victor Martinez, Kai Greene, Toney Freemen, Phil Heath and Dennis Wolf waiting in the wings— the classic descriptions of what constitutes the beauty of the male physique might just perhaps be becoming less abstract, and likely will be brought to
fruition…even though Jay Cutler might still be around.