Anibal Lopez (born August 24, 1942) is an American

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

. He was born in

Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Río Piedras is a populous district of San Juan, and former town and municipality of Puerto Rico, which was merged with the municipality of San Juan in 1951. The district today is composed of various '' barrios'' (these are the primary legal div ...

to Francisco and Francisca Lopez. His family relocated to

Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...

in 1954 where he attended Public School 66, Herman Ridder Junior High School (Public School 98), and

Christopher Columbus High School (Bronx) Christopher Columbus High School is a public secondary school located in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx, New York City. It is within walking distance from the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden. It currently enrolls over 2000 st ...

Early life and interest in bodybuilding

As a boy, Anibal was fascinated with men of great muscular power who could perform amazing feats of strength. He read about

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

’s adventures in the comic books and watched former Olympic swimmer

Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller (born Johann Peter Weißmüller; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. H ...

play the hero in the popular movie series. The first sport young Lopez participated in was

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

. He continued, however to be drawn to the “Strongmen”. His first glimpse of a

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

icon was of

Steve Reeves Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagon ...

playing

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

on the silver screen. Lopez would later recall, “That was when the bodybuilding ‘bug’ really bit me.” Amazingly, decades later, Reeves himself would tell Lopez that he considered him to be one of his favorite bodybuilders. Another early motivation for Anibal was seeing a guest posing exhibition by IFBB Hall of Fame bodybuilder Leroy Colbert, yet another childhood hero that decades later would become a personal friend. Lopez served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

with the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

; He found that he loved the challenge of jumping out of an aircraft in flight. He later served with the

19th Special Forces Group The 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (19th SFG) (A) is one of two National Guard groups of the United States Army Special Forces. 19th Group—as it is sometimes called—is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: unconventio ...

(

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

) in the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

and was credited with over 100 jumps, including 10 night jumps all from different aircraft. The next sport that Lopez excelled at was

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. It wasn’t long, however, before his passion for both

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift Weight training#Equipment, weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various t ...

and bodybuilding began to overtake his other sporting activities. He began to train at home with a barbell, a pair of dumbbells that he ordered from a

Joe Weider Joseph Weider (; November 29, 1919 – March 23, 2013) was a Canadian bodybuilder and entrepreneur who co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) alongside his brother Ben Weider. He was also the creator of Mr. Olympia, Ms. O ...

magazine for $19.95 and a homemade wood bench. It was while living in the Throgsneck Projects in the Bronx that Lopez accelerated his weight training. He moved past using the meager equipment at home and started training at the sports center in the projects. It was at this time that he began to see impressive changes in his physique, both in size and strength. During this period of training at the Throgsneck center he won his first trophy in

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

Career

Lopez joined the AAU and entered his first novice bodybuilding contest, the “Mr. Wagner”, named so because it was held at the Wagner Youth Center in Manhattan. To his great surprise, he won the over-all title at the show. His singular goal after that first show was to win the Mr. New York City title. It was the beginning of a long and successful run as a professional in the sport. Now retired from competitive bodybuilding, Lopez continues to train and stay active in the sport. He resides in

Deltona, Florida Deltona is a city in central Florida and the most populous city in Volusia County. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Monroe along the St. Johns River in central Florida. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 93,692. The city ...

Contest history

;1969 *Junior Mr America - AAU, 7th *Junior Mr USA - AAU, Most Muscular, 3rd *Mr USA - AAU, 6th ;1970 *Mr America - AAU, 6th *Mr America - AAU, Most Muscular, 10th *Junior Mr America - AAU, 3rd *Mr World - AAU, Short, 2nd ;1971 *Mr America - AAU, 6th *Mr East Coast - AAU, Winner *Junior Mr America - AAU, 4th *Junior Mr USA - AAU, 3rd *Mr World - AAU, Short, 1st *Mr World - AAU, 4th ;1972 *Junior Mr America - AAU, 5th ;1973 *Mr America - AAU, 3rd *Junior Mr America - AAU, 3rd *Junior Mr America - AAU, Most Muscular, 5th *Junior Mr USA - AAU, 3rd *Junior Mr USA - AAU, Most Muscular, 5th *Mr USA - AAU, 3rd ;1974 *Mr America - AAU, 8th ;1975 *Mr America - AAU, 12th *Mr America - AAU, Short, 3rd *Mr USA - AAU, Most Muscular, 2nd *Mr USA - AAU, 2nd *Mr USA - IFBB, Short, 3rd ;1976 *Pro Mr America -

WBBG WBBG (106.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Youngstown, Ohio, market with a country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the ear ...

, 4th ;1977 *Pro Mr America - WBBG, Short, 1st *Pro Mr World - WBBG, Did not place ;1978 *Pro Mr America - WBBG, Overall Winner *Pro Mr America - WBBG, Short, 1st *Natural Mr America - NBA, Professional, 3rd *Mr Universe - NABBA, Short, 3rd *Pro Mr World - WBBG, Winner ;1979 *Night of Champions - IFBB, 10th ;1980 *Pro Mr America - WBBG, Winner *Grand Prix Miami - IFBB, 8th *Grand Prix Pennsylvania - IFBB, 11th *Night of Champions - IFBB, 14th *Pro Mr World - WBBG, Winner classicbodybuilders.com
/ref> ;1981 *Night of Champions - IFBB, 14th ;2013 *National Fitness Hall of Fame - Inductee

Notes and references

External links

Anibal Lopez Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Anibal 1942 births Living people Members of the United States Army Special Forces Puerto Rican Army personnel Puerto Rican bodybuilders Professional bodybuilders People from Deltona, Florida People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico United States Army soldiers

Early life and interest in bodybuilding

Career

Contest history

See also

Notes and references

External links