Written by Peter McGough
01 September 2015

15joseraymondstory

The Jose Raymond Story Part 1

His Incredible Rags to Salvation Journey

 

FROM HELLISH CHILDHOOD TO A HELLUVA BODYBUILDER

How Jose Raymond survived a nightmare upbringing, made the big decision at age 34 to join the BIG boys, and with his 2015 Arnold 212 victory carved himself out as number one contender for Flex Lewis’ title.

In 40 years I’ve done countless interviews, many of them following a pattern. For instance, with people you’ve never interviewed before, you start out with warm, soft questions while throwing in a few obscure facts about your quarry to give him confidence that you know who they are, you’ve done your research, and give he or she a sense of importance. So settling down to my first-ever interview with 2015 Arnold Classic 212 champ Jose Raymond, I prepared for a similar pattern.

So we began with two functional openers:

PM: I have your birth date as December 29, 1974— is that correct?

JS: Yes, sir.

PM: Where were you born?

JS: Boston – I’m a Boston man, through and through … always will be.

I threw in a third softball, and what I got back was a sensationally jarring home run out of the park and into another world. In that moment, I got a searing insight into the heart, soul and psyche of man I admired immensely before our interview, but revere even more now. I was taken into a place I had never visited, into an inferno of misery that no one should endure, but too many do.

The third softball was, “Describe your early childhood.”

In matter-of-fact style, Jose replied, “Have you ever read the book Angela’s Ashes?” I concurred. Angela’s Ashes was the autobiography of teacher Frank McCourt published in 1996, eventually made into a movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle. Set in the 1930s and ‘40s, the book and film chronicle McCourt’s impoverished and heartbreaking childhood in Brooklyn before the family had to move back to its roots in Limerick, Ireland.

This month’s cover man continued, “My life was like that book. I was born into very bad circumstances. We lived in a ghetto in absolute squalor. My birth parents couldn’t always provide for us so me and my brother Tito, who is five years older than me, were shuttled back and forth from foster homes to our birth home because our parents did not want to give us up. But the authorities believed we could not stay with them because they couldn’t cope on account of having so many kids. I was the youngest of eight. I’m now 40 years old. My oldest brother is 60, I have another one who is 55, a 52-year-old sister, twins that are 50, Tito is 45, then came a sister who is 42.

“All sorts of tragedy and turmoil were happening. Many times, there was no food in the house, or electricity or heating in a Boston winter. Violence and alcohol addiction surrounded us. There was another set of twins that died at birth. Before I was born, my eldest brother Juan was holding his 1-year-old sister at a party, when a fight broke out and somebody got out a gun and fired it and killed the 1-year-old. That’s the type of situation that we were commonly in. And that is why we were ultimately taken away. I was lucky enough to have been taken from that at an early enough age. We were eventually adopted when I was 5 and Tito was 10. We were very lucky to get to be raised together. I have seen my birth parents a few times through the years, but it’s not a regular thing or anything like that. But I’ve stayed in contact with my siblings. They’re scattered all over the country: Boston, LA, Chicago, Las Vegas, Florida. I see them when I visit those places.”

What follows now is a step-by-step account of how Jose Raymond, in his own words, rose from such wretched circumstances to become one of the most respected bodybuilders on the planet and a major contender for this year’s 212 Showdown title at September’s Olympia Weekend.

jose1

STEP ONE: TITO IS THE MAN

Obviously, Tito and I are the closest because we grew up together. And you know he got me into bodybuilding. I certainly wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for him. You know he actively took on the role of father figure at a very young age. He didn’t really get the chance to be a child, because he was always worried about me. As soon as I was born, he was carrying me around like a football and he was only 5 years old. And he immediately thought I was his, and he did everything he could to take care of me; so he was my only true caretaker that I ever remember.

When I was 4, they sent me and Tito to separate foster homes for 18 months. I think they believed back then that the kids shouldn’t see each other because they felt we wouldn’t be adopted by the same family. Being separated from my brother was the worst time of my life. Being apart from him was terrible— everything else I could deal with, but not that. And when we were finally adopted when I was 5½, even though we had many rough moments, we were together so it was all manageable. Tito and I developed a resistance and a work ethic. From then on, we used to tell each other that we’ll never live like this as adults and we’ll never— if we’re lucky enough to have children— we will never have them experience what we experienced. I don’t say this because he’s my brother, but Tito is one of the greatest human beings I’ve ever met in my life. Most people who have met him say he’s made a huge impact on their life. He really is as genuine as you can be.

We were eventually adopted when I was 5 and Tito was 10. We were very lucky to get to be raised together. He has worked as a personal trainer at Gold’ Gym Venice since 1999, and I visit him regularly and we speak on the phone most days. We’re brothers but we’re best friends as well. He’s been married for 12 years to fitness model pioneer Amy Fadhli, and they have two lovely kids.

jose2

STEP TWO: ADOPTION

My birth parents were Puerto Rican and my birth name was Sotomayer. I’m very proud of my Puerto Rican heritage and I have a huge Puerto Rican fan base, and so I’m very Puerto Rican. But most people that meet me think I’m Italian, because of my coloring and I grew up in Boston, which is very Italian. When Tito and I were adopted, our names were changed to Raymond, which is my adopted father’s name. He is French Canadian and my mother is Polish. I appreciate everything our adoptive parents gave to us. I knew they loved us and they’re very proud of both my brother and me. They did the best they could, and that’s all that matters to me. We definitely had a good relationship with them. I feel very blessed that they adopted us.

At 5, I didn’t realize I had such a hard upbringing because that is all I’d known. Upon being adopted we lived in Wakefield, which is about 12 miles north of downtown Boston. It’s a very affluent town, although the Raymond family was not. I got to see how other kids dressed, the nice houses they lived in, how they sat down with the family for dinner every night. For me, most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from Tito. Because of our heritage, we stood out from the other kids and in the summer we were really tan with brown, curly hair and we didn’t really fit in. And so a lot of the derogatory terms were coming out.

jose3

STEP THREE: FIRST WORKING OUT

Because of being called names at the age of 7, I had anger management issues and was getting into fights. A social worker at the time thought it would be a good idea for both of us to find an outlet, so she bought us a punching bag and some weights and that’s how that all started. By the age of 7, I was already doing pull-ups, bench presses and dumbbell curls and stuff like that. In sports I was good at baseball, and went on to play college football as a fullback and I wrestled as well. My physique looked very different than everyone growing up in high school. By the time I was 14 years old, I was the biggest kid in school. I was already 165 pounds and really muscular. I wasn’t comparatively short back then, I was just over 5’3” at 12 years of age, and then I stopped growing. Tito took up training for bodybuilding and I followed him, having my first real workout with him when I was 11 at the Olympia Gym, Wakefield, which was a hardcore gym. There were a lot of bodybuilders and powerlifters in there, and Tito used to take me in there with him and show me what to do, watched over me, making sure I did everything properly.

jose4

STEP FOUR: GOING ONSTAGE, THE FIRST TIME

Tito had begun competing 1988 when I was 14. And he was dieting for the 1993 New England Championships. So I followed him around, doing everything he did. When he did cardio, I’d do cardio. Then a few weeks out he said, “You got to do this show with me” and I’m like, “Oh man.” I thought it was a little weird, but I entered the teen division, aged 18 weighing 140 pounds. Going onstage in those little trunks, I was kind of nervous. I didn’t really know how to pose but I had big arms and legs. I showed them off as much as possible, and the place went nuts and that’s when I realized this is what I want to do. I enjoyed getting a response from people. I enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment of, “Wow, people really appreciate what I’m doing here.” And you know for the first time, I thought this isn’t a team sport; it wasn’t like I had to rely on a quarterback to throw me the ball or anything like that. It was just me, and I couldn’t blame anyone and I didn’t have to give credit to anyone. I won the lightweight teen and the overall teen, while Tito was fourth in the full-blown middleweights.

jose5

STEP FIVE: GOING PRO, THE BIG DECISION

I won eligibility for an IFBB pro card on four occasions: 2001 NPC Nationals, lightweight (first); 2005 Nationals, welterweight (first); 2005 Team Universe, welterweight (first) and overall; 2007 NPC Nationals, middleweight (first).

At the 2001 Nationals, Branch Warren and Johnnie Jackson won the heavyweight and light heavy titles, respectively. They were huge, and I was tiny at 154 pounds. The top pros were massive, averaging like 260 pounds, and I felt that in the open class I would be blown away. I was still 26, still natural and figured I could grow and develop in the amateurs. There was no lighter pro division in those days like the 212s.

When I won my final pro card in 2007 as a middleweight, they had introduced the 210-pound pro class [which went to 202 and then 212] and I thought that’s more reasonable, I’ll turn pro and give it a shot. But I had to wait until 2009 because I broke my left leg in 2007, two weeks after becoming a pro, by falling down the stairs. Two thousand and eight was out for me, so I set my sights on the 2009 New York Pro. At the 2007 Nationals, I weighed in at 176 pounds and for the New York Pro debut I was 184 pounds, still natural and finished eighth. I looked good but everybody dwarfed me. It just really opened my eyes to the thought that if I’m going to play this game, then I have to play by the rules that everyone else is following. I struggled with it for a while, thinking should I or shouldn’t I? And then I just knew, I felt in my heart that if I did a little bit of gear, I could make improvements and be one of the best.

I was 34, had been competing for 16 years and experienced a full bodybuilding education. I had won every show there was to win, completely natural— now imagine if I add a little something? I just rationalized, “Why not give it a shot and see what happens.” And so after placing eighth at the New York Pro, less than three months later I was 14 pounds heavier at 198 pounds and second at the Atlanta Pro— which qualified me to compete in the Olympia showdown, which then had a 202-pound limit and I finished sixth.

STEP SIX: DON’T MAKE THE BIG DECISION FAST

As far as going to the next level, I think you should be a man before you make “real man” decisions, as when you’re dealing with your health it’s a very important decision. I had learned how to train, how to eat properly and rest properly and recover, and do all the important meat-and-potato things in bodybuilding before I tried the stuff. I also think staying off until 34 played a role in enabling me to make improvements right up until now. By staying off the stuff for 16 years, I had maxed-out on my potential in the gym, so I was ready to take growing advantage of going to the next level.

But it was very difficult because I actually was a very proud natural bodybuilder. But the funny— maybe expected— thing was as I went on and grew as an amateur, more people began to think I couldn’t make that progress and still be natural. They didn’t believe me anyway, so part of me wanted to be like, “OK, you don’t believe me? Watch what I look like when I do do it.”

But I was concerned, because my brother never touched a thing, ever. I didn’t know how he would feel about it. I didn’t know if he’d be disappointed in me and I didn’t want to make him look bad, because you know how people would say, “See … told you they were both doing it all along.” But it got to the point where I decided, “You know what, I am 34 years old and I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions, and I’m done caring what everyone else thinks.”

When I told Tito all he said to me was, “Just keep me in the loop because I don’t want to worry about you. I want to know what’s going on with your health. You’re my brother; I’m not going to judge you.”

Part 2 of Jose’s story will be posted next Tuesday, September 8. In it, he will reflect on his Arnold Classic victory last March, and why he thinks Flex Lewis is beatable.

 

DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE ON THE MD FORUM

READ & WATCH MORE JOSE RAYMOND CONTENT

READ MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS IN THE MCGOUGH REPORT