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by
Trevor Smith
 O.K. O.K…..we all know
that some of the biggest and freakiest men ever to compete
in the sport are names such as Nasser El Sonbaty, Dorian
Yates, Jean Pierre Fux, Marcus Ruhl and Greg Kovacs. In
fact, Muscle Mag International and in particular it's
supplement company Muscle-Tech, would have all believe
that Greg Kovacs is the largest bodybuilder ever to step
on a competitive stage. Now while that may be the case
going by sheer numbers—Gregg is around 6'3"
and competes between 320 and 330lbs—for my money,
the most insane mass freak I have ever laid eyes on in
my entire life is someone who never stepped foot on an
I.F.B.B. stage. That man is Victor Richards. I was fortunate
enough to have an opportunity to speak with this man who
is admittedly a bit of a recluse, to gain an insight into
how he got started in bodybuilding, what his beliefs are
and what he thinks of the current superstars.
TS:
Hello Vic, I have to tell you I didn't think I was going
to be able to track you down…after all you have been
all but absent in the sport since 1994. What have you
been up to lately?
VR:
Basically I just got tired of all the politics and bullshit
within the sport. My heart was not in it anymore, so I
decided to take some time away to focus on my education
and some business ventures.
TS:
Why don't we do this Vic, tell everyone how you got started
in bodybuilding.
VR:
It was actually a bit of an accident. Back in 1982 I was
playing football in high school and never touched a weight,
yet at 15 years of age I was already 215 pounds and strong
as an Ox. All my friends thought I was some sort of freak
of nature because while they were busy hitting the weights
to get stronger for football, I spent my time doing other
things. Yet whenever there was a strength challenge, I
always came out on top. One day a bunch of my friends
and I took a trip down to Venice beach, basically to catch
some waves and see the girls in bikinis. While we were
walking around the Venice beach walk, this bodybuilder
stopped me and asked me who I was and what I competed
in. When I told him I did not even work out, He couldn't
believe it. He asked me my age and was shocked when he
found out I was only 15. He said: "Kid, right now
in your shape you would whip every teenagers ass in any
competition, you got to come see Gold's Gym with me"
So off we went.
TS:
And what was that like
VR:
Well I remember going into the gym and seeing all this
bodybuilders flexing and staring at themselves in the
mirror, walking around without shirts on. The guy who
brought us there was pointing different people out saying
"That's Mr. America…..see over there, that's
Mr. Universe and over there that's Mr. World" and
so on
TS:
What did you say to him when he was pointing out all the
champions to you at that time
VR:
Actually I did not give a shit about any of those ego
filled guys and told him I did not care and was not impressed.
After he went through his litany of who's who, I just
wanted to know one thing.
TS:
And what was that?
VR:
Who in the hell the two animal twin brothers where in
the back corner bench pressing 500lbs. wearing overalls,
flannel shirts and work-boots. To me I never saw anything
like them in my whole life. At that moment I knew that
was what I wanted…Not to look in the mirror at myself,
but to train with the passion and intensity of those two
monsters.
TS:
I assume you are talking about David and Peter Paul……The
Barbarian Brothers.
VR:
Exactly, I was totally awe struck. But it gets better.
Right after I pointed them out, One of them yells over
in a mean growl: "Hey you!" I thought, rather
I hoped he was talking to one of my friends, but I soon
realized it was me he was pointing to. I said yes in a
very nervous manner and he barked back something about
me having what it takes to train with them and to come
over there. I could not believe it. And that is how I
got my start in bodybuilding. Back in 1982 at the age
of 15, I began training with the Barbarian brothers.
TS:
Damn, they were the shit back then, that must have been
really exciting, how did you like the training
VR:
It was exactly what I needed. To them training was about
the moment, a spiritual quest between you and yourself,
no mirrors, no crowds, no applause. Training was sacred
and training was hard and training was heavy. Within a
few years I had gotten so big and strong, that I actually
surpassed both David and Peter in terms of size and strength.
TS:
That is pretty amazing, what else was going on there at
that time
VR:
Well after I was training there for about a year, I remember
seeing this guy walk in and everyone was crowding around
him because he had just won the Mr. America. Now I had
seen a lot of the professionals throughout the year, but
this guy was different, I never had seen a bodybuilder
as freaky looking as him before. So, like a little kid,
I ran up to him to ask him some questions and that's when
I got my first sour taste of the sport…..The Bad
Attitudes. As soon as I opened my mouth, he turned to
me and screamed for me to get away from him and not to
disturb his training. Now I can understand if he would
have said "Son, I cannot be disturbed when I am training,
but I will be happy to answer your questions when I am
finished" But instead he humiliated me in front of
the whole gym, and I left very embarrassed and upset.
TS:
Who was that bodybuilder?
VR:
Tim Belknap
TS:
Did you ever see him after you made a name for yourself
and tell him about how he treated you?
VR:
Strangely enough about a year later, I had made such tremendous
progress and started making a big name for myself, so
one day in Gold's, he came up to me and was super nice
and said "Hey Vic, man you look amazing, what are
you doing to get so big" or something to that effect.
TS:
What did you say?
VR:
I said, you don't remember me do you? He was confused
and so I told him about what happened last year and he
was backpedaling saying that he didn't remember doing
that and that he was sorry. To me I could have embarrassed
him and evened the score, but that would have only brought
me to his level. He knew I had surpassed him in terms
of his physique and that was enough for me.
TS:
That's a pretty funny story. It amazes me how guys who
nobody knows who the fuck they are 5 miles out of Venice
Beach California, have the attitude of overpaid actors
and actresses or overpaid football players. It is a shame
that they don't realize in the greater scheme of things
they are as insignificant as a spec of flea shit on the
back of a fly feeding on the rotted carcass of a sewer
rat.
VR:
Right, that is one of the things I hate about the sport.
The backstabbing, the politics, the attitudes. It is just
not my thing. All I care about or ever cared about is
training. To me training is like meditation. I can focus
on my inner self and do not have to worry about judges
or anyone else for that matter.
TS:
Well Vic, I remember reading about you for the first time
in 1987….I think then you were like 280lbs. when
everyone else was 240-250…How come you didn't compete
then
VR:
Well you have to understand, I did two competitions as
a teenager (one of them against Rich Gaspari who was 2
years older than me) and after my second competition,
which I won, I remember walking into the parking lot carrying
my trophy and having it literally fall apart in my hand
because it was such a piece of shit. At that point I thought
to myself, "All this hard work for a trophy that
can't even stay in one piece" So I decided to just
get totally enveloped in my training and get as big as
I could
TS:
Well you certainly did that….There was talk in the
late 1980's and early 1990's that you were going to enter
the NPC USA CHAMPIONSHIPS. In fact I remember waiting
in anticipation to see you come out on stage and dwarf
everyone on stage. Why did that never happen. I mean,
you were doing a lot of guestposing for the MUSCLEMANIA
shows and I think you were hitting the stage at a pretty
hard 292lbs. Remember this is back when Haney was doing
his last Olympia at 243lbs. and Dorian was coming on at
240lbs. So to me I thought you would crush a hell of a
lot of people seeing how you were outweighing everyone
by 40 or 50 lbs.
VR:
This is pretty interesting. You see, bodybuilding is all
about power and control. The competitors are nothing but
pieces of meat to the powers that be. I was getting a
lot of guest posing work for NPC sanctioned shows, and
the powers that be felt it was unfair that I was not an
NPC athlete. Basically they were putting pressure on the
promoters not to allow me to guest pose. I felt they were
trying to get me to compete in the NPC for the sole purpose
of making me look like a fool on stage.
TS:
How would they do that if you came into a show in shredded
condition 50 pounds heavier than your nearest competitor?
VR:
Oh come on, do you really think that the best man wins?
I was not going to be made a fool even if for only one
show. Nobody was going to force me to compete
TS:
Then how come you competing in the Nigerian Championships
to get your Pro-Card in 1992?
VR:
That is a funny story. You see, after the heads of the
NPC and the IFBB were putting pressure on promoters to
not hire me for guest posings, I simply went over to Europe
and made a killing. Their power was not immediately felt
over there. However, it wasn't long before I started to
feel their wrath, and even the guest posings over there
began being cancelled due to fear of reparations from
the powers that be. It was around this time that I had
gotten a contract with Joe Weider—who is really a
great guy—and even Joe was getting a lot of pressure
for me to have to compete. Everyone thinks that Joe controls
the sport, but he really doesn't. There are a lot more
powerful people behind the wheel.
TS:
So Joe told you that you had to compete in the Nigerian
Championships to keep your contract?
VR:
No, Joe just said that I needed to compete and get my
pro card. Now obviously, the powers that be, thought I
would have to due the NPC Nationals, North American, or
the USA to get my pro card, and this would be their chance
to teach me a lesson. Except they forgot one small detail.
TS:
Which was?
VR:
I held duel citizenship in both the USA and in Nigeria.
So I simply flew down to Nigerian and did what essentially
was to me, a guest posing. Of course, I was so far ahead
of the other competitors that I easily won. I got my pro
card, and of course got to keep my contract….for
a while anyway.
TS:
That is a pretty funny story. Of course I have no way
of confirming if it is true, but it is pretty funny if
it is. Now I would like to jump ahead to 1994. During
this time I remember flipping through my copy of Flex
magazine and all of a sudden coming to the page reporting
on that years FIBO. Suffice is to say I nearly shit my
pants. To this day, I have never seen anything bigger
than you were at that show. You were 320-330lbs. and granted
you were holding a lot of water, but at 5'9'' that was
the most amount of muscle I ever saw on a human being.
You made Dorian look like a baby—now in all fairness,
Dorian may not have been fully loaded during that time,
but I still could not get over the size of you. I also
remember that there was a lot of controversy when you
hit the stage with the other athletes. Please tell us
about that time and what the hell you did to get that
freaking massive... |
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