by Christian Duque
William Bonac ought to have gained the 2025 NY Professional. Martin Fitzwater ought to have gained the 2024 NY Professional. Each athletes misplaced to Nick Walker. In each circumstances, the media all however ignored each runner-ups. Going into the 2024 NY Professional, Martin had solely gained the Detroit Professional and had by no means competed on the Olympia. In 2025, Bonac was ignored (as ordinary) regardless of being a Mr O runner-up, 2x ASC champion, and having had spectacular aggressive data in 2024 and 2025. Though many individuals challenged the 2024 choice, who’s to say the identical will occur as we speak with the 2025 NY Professional? In any occasion, I don’t write articles primarily based solely on what everybody else is saying, although I don’t ignore it, both. That is my perspective, peppered with some public opinion – right here and there.
So for starters, I’m not heartless to the truth that Nick had a really heartbreaking defeat to Derek final week in Pittsburgh. I understand how exhausting it’s for rivals to work in direction of a aim. Possibly I don’t know what it takes close to a weight loss program, complement routine, and hardcore coaching within the health club, however I do know what it’s like to speculate effort and time into reaching a aim. Whether or not it’s getting an LSAT rating or passing the bar examination. Everybody has objectives that they arrange for themselves and once they fall in need of reaching them, clearly it isn’t something desired or simply processed. And I perceive that for Nick, in contrast to for me taking the bar examination, he has hundreds – if not tens of hundreds, if not tons of of hundreds of followers all around the globe. They wish to him to perform greatness. That is a person who at one cut-off date was in discussions to be the most effective bodybuilder on the earth. He gained the second greatest title and he was knocking on the most important title’s door. Then he obtained injured. Then he missed two Olympias again to again. He broke the dormancy by successful in 2024 in a really controversial method in opposition to Martin Fitzwater on the 2024 NY Professional. Then he lastly competes in 2025 in opposition to Derek and falls brief.
New York wasn’t a theft. Pittsburgh wasn’t a theft, both, however lots of people wish to promote it as one due to the actual fact they’d such excessive hopes for Nick Walker. I get that. I perceive what being a viral sensation is. And lots of people wish to see this man get the win. I don’t know if it’s as a result of they like him as a person, or extra so, as a result of they like an underdog story. Right here’s a man who needed to face adversity because of accidents, doesn’t have the prettiest physique (some would possibly even say has the aesthetics of a fridge), however who’s battling to be the most effective bodybuilder on the earth. And naturally all the competition promotions put him in opposition to weak expertise. God forbid they’d give The Conqueror the love (and fanfare) he deserves. As a substitute, they made it appear to be Nick’s chief competitors in NY can be Sas Heirati and Regan Grimes.
Now after all, William Bonac was additionally doing this contest. And naturally William Bonac appeared very spectacular final week in Pittsburgh (and earlier in Columbus). So one would possibly suppose that as a result of he appeared so good in Pittsburgh, as a result of he took fifth place on the Arnold Basic, and since he took seventh place ultimately yr’s Mr O, that that may imply he can be Nick’s chief competitors, proper? RX Muscle included William because the smallest competitor on a promo poster that featured Sas and Regan flanking Nick. Different web sites didn’t even trouble together with William, in any respect. It’s as if he didn’t exist. He was ignored and ignored simply the identical manner he was once I wrote my article 5 years in the past for IronMag (click on right here: ). And for that article, it had simply been months since he took runner-up on the 2019 Olympia and days after he gained the Arnold Basic. Nonetheless, William was ignored and ignored then, and he’s ignored and ignored, as we speak.
And wouldn’t it? William would go on to position a commanding second to Nick Walker. He took Nick Walker right down to the wire in New York – simply as I knew he would. And what in regards to the large web sites? Do you suppose they remorse not having proven Bonac any love? In all probability not. It’s as a result of they don’t see William as a money-maker. The identical manner they didn’t see Martin as a money-maker. However absolutely the judges don’t care about such trivial issues as which competitor will the game extra money..
In any case, there are not any politics in bodybuilding.
Judges solely rating primarily based on what they see. They rating primarily based strictly on tried and true bodybuilding standards of muscle, symmetry, vascularity and posing. There’s no manner that they’d give a competitor that resembles the Michelin Man a win over a person that exemplifies the proportions of a traditional period bodybuilder. In fact, I’m speaking about Nick Walker versus William Bonac, respectively.
The judges don’t wish to make any daring statements about the place bodybuilding ought to go along with their scorecards. They’re completely nice giving this mass monster with a distended midsection, and extra mass than he is aware of what to do with, the win. As a result of in any case, that’s going to promote extra tickets to the Olympia, proper? And they should promote extra tickets to that present, particularly after Arnold raised the prize cash for the 2026 Arnold Basic to $750,000. I wager Jake Wooden was delighted to see Arnold’s announcement.
However what actually bothers me? It’s anytime individuals argue {that a} man that appears like Nick Walker deserves a win over a man that appears like William Bonac. What the hell occurred to bodybuilding? I imply some argue that it misplaced its manner with Dorian, others argue that Ronnie pushed the envelope too far. However that is only a full travesty. I imply Nick Walker doesn’t have a fairly physique, his proportions are all out of whack, and let’s face it, he’s obtained a midsection and waist that’s solely going to worsen. The truth that they’d give this man the win, given how nice William Bonac appeared, speaks volumes about the place bodybuilding is as we speak as a sport and the place it’s going sooner or later.
I’d love to finish this text congratulating Nick, however Nick is destroying all the pieces I really like about bodybuilding along with his cartoon character form. And consider you me, I’m not making an attempt to physique disgrace anybody, however my goodness what the hell occurred to bodybuilding? I imply I feel that’s the recurring theme of this text. Possibly that’s what I ought to title it. Solely no one’s going to click on on it as a result of theyr’e not going to comprehend it’s about Nick Walker successful the 2025 NY Professional. So let me go forward and put Nick Walker within the title and play this silly little recreation that everyone within the bodybuilding media performs. That stated, no I don’t consider Nick Walker beat William Bonac. That’s what the rating playing cards could say, however that’s not what my coronary heart and soul says. Sadly, my coronary heart and soul doesn’t give out prize cash or {qualifications} to the Mr. Olympia.
What say you? Do you suppose NIck Walker deserved the win over William Bonac on the 2025 NY Professional? Is that this the course you’d wish to see bodybuilding go? As all the time, thanks for studying my article, right here, at IronMag. As all the time, I sit up for studying your suggestions within the feedback. You’ll want to copy and paste a hyperlink to this text on all of your social media feeds. It would undoubtedly generate some full of life dialog.