Jose Raymond is considered by many fans and fellow bodybuilders as one of the greatest amateur and professional competitors of all-time. He was a mainstay on the Olympia stage from 2008 until he called it a career in 2018. He’s a former Arnold Classic 212 champion, and had it not been for the run of seven-time Olympia 212 champion Flex Lewis, Raymond could’ve won at least one Olympia in his career.
“The Boston Mass” joined Dennis James, Milos Sarcev, and Chris Cormier for a recent episode of “The Menace Podcast,” and Raymond shared his thoughts about the current crop of competitors in the 212 division. Aside from former champions Shaun Clarida and Kamal Elgargni, Raymond shared that he’s a fan of Ukraine’s Oleh Kryvyi.
“He’s unbelievable too. He was sadly overlooked last year,” he said emphatically. “Crazy conditioning, short, thick, and wide. He may need a little more leg sweep, but he’s very dangerous…I would put him in the top five.”
As James had with other guests, he put Raymond on the spot and asked him for a top five prediction for this year’s Olympia 212 contest, and Raymond was quick to oblige.
“Clarida, Kamal, Kerrith Baijo, Oleh, and Bryan Balzano.”
Cormier noted that Keone Pearson was noticeably absent from that list. Raymond shared a positive opinion about Pearson, but explained why he was off the list.
“That’s how tough this decision is. He’s the clear winner if he’s 100 percent, but I don’t see him being 100 percent. I’ve yet to see it. The versions that he’s brought so far will be beat by those guys I just said.”
The only way to see how Raymond’s predictions play out is to be in Las Vegas for the 2022 Olympia Weekend on December 16th through 18th or by watching the pay-per-view at www.OlympiaProductions.com .
You can see this full episode of TMP as well as all episodes of the show by subscribing to the Muscle & Fitness YouTube channel. New shows air every Sunday at 3 PM Eastern time.
