by Christian Duque
In my opinion, William Bonac is one of the greatest bodybuilders on the scene today. He is somebody who should be considered a top contender for the Olympia; he is someone who could win another Arnold Classic in my opinion. William is by all means one of the very best bodybuilders in the sport today. He has battled some real giants in their prime and while he was also at his prime.
That speaks volumes. That is not to take away from Derek, Hadi, Samson or anyone for that matter. It is simply to state that William is cut from a different cloth. Do I think he has a superior physique to the top guys today? Well I don’t want to come out and say that necessarily but I think that from reading my articles and watching my videos and sort of analyzing my trend on social media that I’m going to leave it to you to figure out.
What I will say though is that here is a man who does not get any love from the media and who many fans regrettably overlook. And I will tell you that even going into this particular competition I didn’t see a lot of promotional effort put behind The Conqueror. I saw a lot behind Krizo because he was last year’s winner and while that makes sense it also doesn’t make sense because William is a two-time Arnold Classic champion and Mr Olympia Runner up. So the fact that William is doing the show should grab all the attention and all the headlines in my opinion regardless of who won the competition last year. But let me get off that point because that’s not what this article is about. This article is about William dominating a very strategic competition and qualifying for the 2024 Mr. Olympia.
Before anything I do want to commend Michael Krizo on a fantastic physique. Is he a future Mr. Olympia? That’s not really for me to say. I know that a lot of people like to talk about up and comers in that regard and I think that from a certain journalistic standpoint that may be what some might consider sensationalist. Others might simply write it off as clickbait. I don’t like to talk like that without having a strong resume before I make a categorization on that level. I think that doing so shows more inexperience and wishful thinking than anything else nonetheless he looked phenomenal. He’s a towering bodybuilder with tons of mass and unlike a lot of the big guys he knows how to bring it.
Because that’s another thing if you go even to national level NPC competition most of the super heavy weights are soft. Even at the national level where guys are battling for a pro card the super heavy weights are usually out of condition and tend to look a little sloppy and that is the problem that you see as well in international competition with a lot of these guys that would otherwise be known as mass monsters. Again I apologize if it appears as if I’m throwing shade at European pros or South American pros but if the shoe fits … you know what I mean?
But that’s not Michael. He’s a massive Slovakian bodybuilder with tremendous definition and condition. He brought a very impressive package to the Emperor Classic and he has a lot to be proud of. This was a respectable title defense and he battled hard on stage. He posed hard, he never relaxed, and he was always very polished throughout all the videos that I have seen and every last photo that I have seen. That needs to be said. Even though this article is not about him it’s still important for me to give kudos where deserved. Did Michael make William fight? I would say Michael made it interesting for William without a doubt. He most definitely deserved to be in the Top 3 and 3rd place was rightfully his. Could he have been 2nd? Sure. I could see an argument made for that. Could he have beat William? I say no.
In second place was Iranian sensation Behrooz Tabani. Now listen folks I’m not here to toot my own horn. I don’t do that with my articles and I don’t try to seem like I know everything about everyone because I simply don’t. I was not familiar with this bodybuilder. I didn’t know very much about him and if I saw his name in articles more than once or twice I would be lying. I have seen his name and I could point him out of a page of random people but I have never seen shots from him or workout videos or much less followed him on Instagram until his outing at the Empro Classic.
Behrooz hit the stage running and really was in contention to win this competition. I mean talk about a guy that really did his homework and really tied it all together on game day. That is the single biggest flaw in most professional physique-based athletes careers. They may look great on social media or they may look great coming into peak week or they may even look great 24 hours before the show. Something happens or they eat something they shouldn’t or who the hell knows what but they’re not able to bring that package to the stage firing on all cylinders. And there have been guys that have even competed at the Olympia level and that can win a pro show, but they just can’t consistently do what Behrooz was able to do at the Empro Classic.
Now again I don’t know if he’s able to do this at every show that he’s at or if you know he is somebody that has been knocking on the door for a long time. I honestly don’t know and I’m not going to go Google it and pretend as if I did. I think that’s disingenuous. Suffice it to say I know practically nothing about this bodybuilder and I’m embarrassed to say so but I definitely have him on my radar now. Did he make William fight? I will say the same thing that I said with Michael, he made it interesting for William.
So am I a William fanboy? I personally would not call myself a fanboy of anyone. I think that such a term is derogatory by its very nature and I am not in the habit of putting myself down. Now if you were to ask me if I am a William fanatic, I would have to say that I am. I would have to say that in 2019 I could have seen it go either way at the Olympia between William and Brandon. I was a fan of them both and I am a fan of them both till this day. I think both of those guys should have a Sandow on their mantle and I think William may still be able to do it in 2024. Again let us not forget that he took a year off, that he gave his body a much-needed rest, that he’s never had any major injuries, and that he’s now back – and just qualified for the Mr Olympia in top form. I know that was another very wordy sentence, but it was warranted.
So let’s talk about what William brought to the stage. He brought a level of muscularity that we haven’t really seen since he left the stage. The Conqueror has a certain signature that is very unique to him and that is what makes him so dangerous. Very much like Hadi and Derek, he is a former 212 bodybuilder although a lot of times people forget this detail. He is not going to be winning any height competitions but what he lacks in height he makes up for with slabs of muscle, excellent condition, and presentation that is second to none. When he’s posing on stage it’s not as if he’s battling, he is merely perfecting every pose because he’s not competing with anyone else – they are all competing with him.
Again let me stress to you that William could have easily been Mr Olympia in 2019. Let me also stress to you that he is a two-time Arnold Classic champion. Without any disrespect to the guys on the Empro Classic stage, none of them could hold a candle to Bonac in terms of their resumes and none of them could hold a candle to him in terms of their physique. I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry. And while the Empro Classic may be a smaller show, I think that William’s dominance could very easily translate to the Olympia stage.
Now why do I make such a bombshell statement?
I make this bombshell statement because William encompasses the muscle density of Hadi, with the aesthetics of past champions like Shawn Rhoden and even Phil Heath. Before Phil Heath had the bubble gut he was one of the most aesthetically pleasing bodybuilders on the planet. Him along with Dexter Jackson, Melvin Anthony, and others were flawless.
A lot of times we remember the greats when they weren’t so great but let me tell you when Phil was coming up he was a throwback to the Golden Era with a modern-day twist. And William comes from that school. Hadi, however, looks like a piece of shit, no offense. He may have tons of muscle but he has pointy shoulders. He also does not have good aesthetics. Samson looks like a giraffe and Derek … Honestly? Derek is a great champion but should not have beat Hadi last year and would have an incredibly difficult time defeating William at 100%. I don’t think that he can do it.
I will say that the fact William won this competition is really the equivalent to a blip on the radar. This by no means stacks up to winning the Arnold Classic or placing second at the Olympia, but it does have special significance simply because of the fact that so many people wrote The Conqueror off. They said he was finished, the media always ignored him, and nobody except for myself and maybe one or two other writers was giving him any kind of attention. So this win even though it was a small show, even though it wasn’t against people that he will likely battle for the Olympia Top 6, and even though the prize money was a mere $12,000, it was what was necessary for William to remind the bodybuilding world that he was back and in full effect. I guarantee you that every single man going to the Mr Olympia including Derek, Hadi, Samson and even Nick Walker who doesn’t deserve to be going, are all looking at William with great interest. And a good few are also looking at him with tremendous fear. You can count on that jack!
How excited are you that William Bonac will be back at the 2024 Mr Olympia? Where do you think you he will place? And do you, like myself, think that he could be Mr Olympia in just a matter of a few months? As always I hope you enjoyed reading my article here at Iron Magazine. Be sure to copy and paste the URL to this article on your social media feeds. It will generate considerable conversation.
