In the second edition of the 202 Showdown, which I personally feel should at least have the honor of including the title "Olympia" in it somewhere, defending champ David Henry seems to have a very solid lock on retaining his title. And in a case of déjà vu all over again, New York's Kevin English will wind up a very deserving second place.

Henry isn't quite as sharp as the very best I have ever seen him, but he's just a smidgen away from that. His condition is still stellar, and more importantly he appears to be so much bigger and heavier than anyone else here - though of course he isn't. His upper body is so round, thick, and full that it literally seems to be bursting. And the famous Henry back is sicker than ever - rugged lumps of granite-hard muscle sprouting around his shoulder blades and spine. The one shot he totally dominates in is the most muscular. When he clasps his hands together in front of his wait, the crazy round fullness of his shoulders, traps, and chest is reminiscent of Kevin Levrone in his prime. If you can pinpoint one weak point on Dave, it's that his legs aren't quite as freaky - particularly the sweep of his quads. But that's just a small complaint about an otherwise awesome physique.

Kevin English has the best structure and balance of the 202's, and packs tons of dense muscle mass. His arms and legs are truly amazing. But Kevin lacks the deep, clear muscle separations of Henry and even others like James "Flex" Lewis.

Speaking of Flex, the young man from Wales now living in Tennessee, of all places, looked ever more shredded here than he was in Atlantic City two weeks ago. I'm not sure he'll be able to repeat his third place spot from last year though, because former Open competitor Mark Dugdale brought even crazier condition. Neither one is totally complete. Flex still needs more chest and back thickness, and would probably also be wise to start blasting his legs hard again. Dugdale could stand a bit more arm size and back thickness, and his legs have definitely lost some size and fullness in the process of coming down from his normal 215 to 202. But nobody today is in better condition than Dugdale.  Striated glutes are not a rarity today in this group, but Mark's literally look sliced deep with a carving knife.

The judges seemed to be having a tough time trying to sort out third through sixth places. Brazil's Eduardo Correa is thick and balanced and in great shape, and so is rookie pro Jose Raymond. Jose could use more pec thickness, but aside from that he's a mass monster who reminds me a lot of Lee Priest.

There were a few guys who looked great by themselves but suffered from a relative lack of size once you saw them lined up with the aforementioned men. These included Jason Arntz, Tricky Jackson, Stan McQuay (who does having beautifuln shape and symmetry, but lacked size and the crisp cuts he needed in this group of athletes) and England's john Hogdson. Then there were a couple men that had everything they needed except condition, like Charles Dixon and France's Clarence Devis (who is going to be really good in this class very soon, mark my words.)

I left once they started the posing routines, and tonight at the Mr. O finals we will see the top five brought back for the final awards. But for anyone who watched the judging, it won't be much of a surprise if Henry wins his second 202 Showdown title with ease, and probably

Callout 1:

Eduardo Correa, Mark Dugdale, Kevin English, David Henry, Flex Lewis, Jose Raymond

Callout 2:

Jason Arntz, Charles Dixon, John Hodgson, Tricky Jackson, Lee Powell

Callout 3:

Clarence Devis, Kris dim, Daryl Gee, stan McQuay

Callout 4:

Jason Arntz, Eduardo Correa. Mark Dugdale, Tricky Jackson, Flex Lewis, Jose Raymond