Dennis "Danny" Padilla (born April 3, 1951) 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 ...

, known as "The Giant Killer".

Early life

Padilla started training when he was seven years old in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. He had been watching his older brother and cousin lift weights together in order to become stronger for their wrestling competitions. He acquired a rusty York barbell, as a hand-me-down from his brother Ray, and quickly set about to become Mr. America. It wasn’t long before he was absolutely smitten with the iron game and training a full seven days a week.

Bodybuilding career

By the time Padilla was eighteen, he was ready to compete. He won the Mr. Rochester contest in 1970 while still in high school. It was his first show, and he took home the first place trophy. The only question in Padilla's mind after that was,”When is the next show?” He entered a lot of other smaller competitions in the upstate New York area - Mr. Buffalo and Mr. Syracuse. After establishing himself in the local arena, he progressed to participating in both the Junior Mr. America and the Mr. America contests. He finished in the top twenty of both competitions. Padilla then entered the Amateur Athletic Union ( AAU) World Championships in the lightweight division. He recalled, "I lost to a guy who didn’t even shave his legs!" This defeat was a turning point. After the show, the judges were “kind” enough to inform him that, in their studied opinion, he had a great physique but, at 5' 2" tall, was much too short to compete. After that AAU show, Padilla decided to compete in the International Federation of Bodybuilders ( IFBB) instead. His first contest was the 1975 IFBB Mr. USA. It was held at the old

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in New York City. It was the first time that the 23-year-old had ever seen bodybuilders from the West Coast. They included

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

Franco Columbu Francesco Maria Columbu (August 7, 1941 – August 30, 2019) was an Italian bodybuilder, powerlifter, actor, author, producer, and a licensed chiropractor. Originally a boxer, Columbu won the Mr. Olympia in 1976 and 1981, and competed in the i ...

, Robby Robinson and many others. To his great surprise, he not only won his lightweight division, but also took the overall title. It was during that impressive first outing with the IFBB that Padilla first met

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 ...

. Weider introduced himself to the "kid from Rochester" backstage at the contest, telling Padilla that he had a great physique and that he could do very well in the sport. Weider also invited him to train in California. Padilla arrived in Los Angeles just in time to take part in the filming of ''

Pumping Iron ''Pumping Iron'' is a 1977 American docudrama about the world of professional bodybuilding, with a focus on the 1975 IFBB Mr. Universe and 1975 Mr. Olympia competitions. Directed by George Butler and Robert Fiore and edited by Geof Bartz and Lar ...

''. He trained for three months to prepare to compete in the lightweight division in the upcoming Mr. Universe competition in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

for which he had qualified to compete based on his earlier Mr. USA win. Disaster struck in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. Just minutes before the Universe show was to begin, Padilla was told that he could not compete. The IFBB decided that they’d rather have two heavyweights represent the United States -

Ken Waller Kenny Waller (born March 20, 1942) is an American former bodybuilder featured in the 1977 movie ''Pumping Iron'', which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. Waller also won the 1975 International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB) Mr. Universe contest i ...

and

Mike Katz Michael Katz (born November 14, 1944) is a former American IFBB professional bodybuilder and former professional football player with the New York Jets, most famous for his appearance with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1977 bodybuilding docum ...

- and one middleweight, Robby Robinson. Their reasoning was that since Katz was retiring, they should let him try to win the Universe for the last time. Padilla quickly maneuvered to get a spot on Portugal’s team. He felt confident that he was in a position to win in the lightweight category and was determined to compete. After all of his pre-contest preparation, travel to South Africa and hours of participation in the filming of the movie, he would try to take home the title, even under Portugal’s flag. The IFBB would have none of this. Padilla was disqualified by them in order to avoid what they perceived as the “embarrassment” that his potential win for Portugal would cause the organization. Padilla now exists as a visual footnote in ''

''. The film makers were forced to cut the majority of his scenes from the film because the IFBB did not want the whole incident depicted in the movie. Bouncing back the following year, Padilla competed in the IFBB Universe, but was defeated by Mohamed Makkawy. In 1977, he again entered the IFBB fray and competed in the Mr. America. This time he walked off the stage with a trophy for both his weight class and the overall title. It was the first time a lightweight had beaten both a middle and heavyweight for the overall title. That same year, Padilla won the lightweight title at the IFBB Mr. Universe. He is one of only two men in the history of the sport to win both the America and the Universe in the same year, the other being

Frank Zane Frank Zane (born June 28, 1942) is a retired American professional bodybuilder and author. He is a three-time Mr. Olympia, and his physique is considered one of the greatest in the history of bodybuilding due to his meticulous focus on symmetry ...

. Padilla followed up with a great showing at the 1977

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation ...

. He was in the top five in both his weight class and in the overall standings. Danny was inducted into

's IFBB Bodybuilding Hall Of Fame in 2009.

Contest History

1972 Junior Mr America - AAU, 8th 1973 Mr America - AAU, 15th
Junior Mr America - AAU, 15th 1974 Mr America - AAU, 18th
Junior Mr America - AAU, Did not place
Mr World - AAU, Short, Did not place 1975 Mr USA - IFBB, Short, 1st
Mr USA - IFBB, Overall Winner 1976 Mr America - IFBB, Short, 1st
Universe - IFBB, Lightweight, 2nd 1977 Mr America - IFBB, Overall Winner
Mr America - IFBB, Lightweight, 1st
Universe - IFBB, Lightweight, 1st 1978 1978 Mr. Olympia - IFBB, Lightweight, 3rd
1978 Mr. Olympia - IFBB, Overall, 6th
Professional World Cup - IFBB, 2nd
USA vs the World - IFBB, Lightweight, 1st 1979 Best in the World - IFBB, Professional, 5th
Florida Pro Invitational - IFBB, 3rd
Grand Prix Pennsylvania - IFBB, 5th
Night of Champions - IFBB, 2nd

1979 Mr. Olympia The 1979 Mr. Olympia contest was an International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held October 6, 1979 at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio. Results The total prize money awarded was $50,000. Ov ...

- IFBB, Lightweight, 5th 1980 Grand Prix Miami - IFBB, 3rd

1980 Mr. Olympia The 1980 Mr. Olympia contest was an International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on October 4, 1980, at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The event was one of the most debated competitions ...

- IFBB, 10th 1981 1981 Mr. Olympia - IFBB, 5th 1982 Night of Champions - IFBB, 5th
1982 Mr. Olympia - IFBB, 12th 1983 Night of Champions - IFBB, 9th 1984 World Pro Championships - IFBB, 7th 1985 1985 Mr. Olympia - IFBB, 16th 1986 World Pro Championships - IFBB, 13th 1990 Grand Prix England - IFBB, 5th
Grand Prix Finland - IFBB, 4th
Grand Prix France - IFBB, 5th
Grand Prix Germany - IFBB, 7th
Grand Prix Holland - IFBB, 7th
Grand Prix Italy - IFBB, 4th
Niagara Falls Pro Invitational - IFBB, 2nd
Night of Champions - IFBB, 3rd 1991 WBF Grand Prix - WBF, 10th 1994 Olympia - Masters - IFBB, 7th 2000 Olympia - Masters - IFBB, 10th 2009 IFBB Hall Of Fame

External links

Danny Padilla Official Website

Giant Killers: The Best Short Bodybuilders Ever
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Danny 1951 births Living people Professional bodybuilders American male bodybuilders

Early life

Bodybuilding career

Contest History

See also

External links