{"id":24169,"date":"2026-07-07T16:14:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=24169"},"modified":"2026-07-07T16:14:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T16:14:55","slug":"bodybuilding-champ-and-ex-mr-universe-jocha-dies-at-57-legend-of-our-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=24169","title":{"rendered":"Bodybuilding champ and ex Mr. Universe ‘Jocha’ dies at 57: ‘Legend of our sport’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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A bodybuilding champion and former Mr. Universe has died at 57 \u2014 with his rivals describing him as a \u201clegend\u201d of the sport.<\/p>\n

Six-time Spanish bodybuilding champion Jos\u00e9 Antonio Hernandez Torres, who was known affectionately as \u201cJocha,\u201d died in Tenerife just a month before his 58th birthday, Spanish outlet Revista el Verdano reported<\/a>, without giving a cause of death.<\/p>\n

The hulking athlete won the Mr. Universe in 2004 during a career spanning more than four decades.<\/p>\n

A Spanish bodybuilder, affectionately known as \u2018Jocha,\u2019 has died. Instagram \/ @jocha1108<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He opened the Jocha fitness gym in Tenerife after retiring from competition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith over 40 years\u2019 experience in sport, as well as his entrepreneurial endeavours with his famous gym, we have lost the most internationally decorated sportsman in the history of La Verdellada-Barrio Nuevo,\u201d the local neighborhood association said online, without revealing a cause of death.<\/p>\n