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Mike Matarazzo was an American IFBB Pro who competed through the 1990s, and one of the few bodybuilders of that era remembered as much for how he carried himself on stage as for where he finished on it. He turned professional by winning the heavyweight class at the 1991 USA Championships, made seven Mr. Olympia appearances, and never won a professional show. He died of a heart attack in 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\nKnown for<\/h2>\n\n
His calves, and the nickname that came with the rest of him. “The Boston Mass” had lower legs thick enough to carry his reputation on their own, and he put them down to years of boxing rather than to anything he did in a gym. His best Olympia finish was ninth, in 1998.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\nEarly career<\/h2>\n\n
He came through the NPC and won the heavyweight class at the 1991 USA Championships, the result that made him a professional. He was on the Olympia stage the same year.<\/p>\n
What followed was eleven seasons in the middle of a deep open division. He took fifteenth at the 1992 Arnold Classic and sixth there in 1993, was runner-up at the Pittsburgh Pro that year, and spent 1996 and 1997 touring the European Grand Prix circuit without finishing higher than ninth at any of them. The results that stand up best came at home: second at the Canada Pro Cup and second at the Toronto Pro in 1997, then third at both the Night of Champions and the Toronto Pro in 1998.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\nTraining<\/h2>\n\n
He credited the calves to the ring. Matarazzo boxed before he competed, and put the development down to the hours spent up on his toes waiting on an opponent rather than to calf raises. It is the sort of claim that is easy to doubt and hard to argue with when you look at photographs of him from behind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n Championship record<\/span><\/p>\nChampionship appearances<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Counted from the same results table below: an appearance is one contest entered (in the years the Olympia also judged weight classes, one appearance can carry two placings), an Olympia title is the overall win in that division, and Top 3 counts first, second and third together. The last row is every professional contest on record for Mike Matarazzo.<\/p>\n
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Mr. Olympia<\/h3>\n\n
7<\/span>Appearances<\/span><\/p>\n0<\/span>Titles<\/span><\/p>\n0<\/span>Top 3<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Arnold Classic<\/h3>\n\n
3<\/span>Appearances<\/span><\/p>\n0<\/span>Titles<\/span><\/p>\n0<\/span>Top 3<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n
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Professional results<\/h2>\n
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