As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. William is by far one of my favorite bodybuilders of all time. He exemplified the role of a professional athlete, and he always took the stage seriously. I have a lot more to say on this tremendous competitor and his very impressive resume, but I think it’s most important to start this article out by giving the man kudos for something that a lot of other professional athletes just don’t. For Bonac the stage meant something. It wasn’t just somewhere to put your feet on. Everything about competing was sacred to this man. It didn’t matter if he was competing at the most prestigious show or one of the $10,000 shows. It was all about the fact that the fans paid their hard-earned money to see the best bodybuilders on the planet and he was not going to let them down. The respect for the stage is far more than meets the eye. Some people think it’s about the money prize. Other people think it’s about the title. In reality, it’s a combination of a lot of different factors. I don’t want to downplay the prize money or the title. They are important and they are also factors. But there’s something very wholesome about the whole experience that a lot of new school guys just don’t have. I feel in a very real way that William was a bridge from the old school to the newer generations of the sport. He is a champion that brought it. We’re not talking in past tense. He could continue competing, but it’s that respect of the stage that I think has contributed to him making the decision to retire. I also think it’s respect for his legacy. That’s another thing that doesn’t get talked about very much these days. Competitors keep competing until the wheels fall off, but when you have a resume like William’s, you have to think about what you’ve accomplished and how that’s going to translate to the future generations.
I can sit here and tell you that he took runner-up at the Olympia, or that he won multiple Arnold Classic titles, but you know that. You could put his name right now on to a Google Search and Wikipedia will tell you all of those fun facts. I’m not going to write an article about one of the competitors who I look up to most by simply regurgitating his contest record. Did he win a lot of shows? Absolutely! could he have won the biggest show on Earth? Absolutely. I have said it so many times and I’ll say it once again, and I’ll probably end up sending it more times in the future, but 2019 was either William’s or Brandon’s. It was honestly a dead heat. Both men brought it and both men could have won. I’m happy that Brandon won, but I would have been just as happy if William had. That was both of their years. If there was a way to give out two Olympia titles in 2019 both of those guys would have been deserving of it. But that’s just not how bodybuilding works. It’s not like soccer. There are no ties. You either win or you lose. But I don’t think either man lost that night. I think bodybuilding won. And we can’t forget the New York Pro, which is also a Big 3 show. And why can’t we forget it? Because William nearly beat Nick Walker at last year’s New York Pro. That’s how good William was. That’s how good he is. We have to talk about him in the present tense because we’re not looking at a shell of what he once was. What we’re looking at is a man that has done everything, pretty much save for winning an Olympia, and now has found the time to retire.
One thing that I think is important to note is that retirement today doesn’t mean what it used to mean in yesteryear. We have Shawn Ray, Bob Chick, Milos and others to show us the way. I don’t for a second think that because William has decided to hang up the trunks and that he’s going to leave the sport for good. There’s simply no reason for him to do that. He is part of a big company, he has a lion’s share of fans, he can really do whatever his heart desires. If he wants to get into the media side of the sport, he’s going to have any number of websites and channels to pick from. If he wants to continue doing the supplement game, there’s not going to be any shortage of customers. You’re going to want to buy his protein powders and his branch chain amino acids. If he wants to promote a contest which I think he’s done in the past, he could do that moving forward. Like I said, he could do so many different things. Imagine if he decided to start personal training or doing contest prep for elite level athletes. Competitors would be tripping over themselves to get on his book of business. Everybody would want William to prep them. Again, we’re talking about a living legend here, folks. We’re talking about a man who instilled fear amongst the competition in whatever contest that he did. And that wasn’t smoke. That was as real as it got. Because you had an individual that brought muscle mass, muscle density, muscle maturity and condition unlike anything anyone has ever seen. and he was able to bring it all together on contest day. That last part’s very important because we have a lot of Instagram and social media competitors that look their best weeks out from a contest. Some of them even look good days out from the contest. but they just can’t put it all together for the judges on game day. William could. William did. William could do it again.
I really want to make that point as strongly as I possibly can. This is not a competitor that is in agony or so badly injured that he’s falling apart, this is a guy who in a very real way is retiring while he’s still on top. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that if William threw his hat into Columbus, or into New York, or even into the Olympia next year that he couldn’t conceivably be Top 6. And that’s saying a lot. This isn’t Dexter Jackson retiring after placing 9th. And no disrespect to Dexter, but William still has plenty more gas left in the tank. So why isn’t he using it up? Why isn’t he competing two or three more years and placing in the top 10 at the big three shows? He would still be making money, he would still be getting exposure, and he would still be getting consideration from the judges. So why not keep going? Well I think it’s because he realizes that his legacy is very important and that there really is nothing left to prove. Will Bonac win an Olympia in 2027? I would say he would have his work cut off for him, and I would dare say that part of it has to do with politics. Maybe the powers that be don’t want a guy up in age being Mr Olympia again. But could he? I think he could even do that. Now, would he want to put his body through the rigmarole? What do he want to put himself and his circle through that? I don’t think so, either. I think that he has achieved everything he wants to achieve and then some. I think he has decided that he’s going to retire on his own terms.
Could he come back in a few years and do a Master’s Olympia? Could he potentially do the next Master’s Olympia? Absolutely, but then again you have to wonder if that’s something that he would really want to do to come out of retirement. I don’t think so. I think that his contest record is so impressive that it really doesn’t need any more additions. I think the fact that he’s retiring now speaks a lot about him and his respect for the stage. It also speaks to his respect for his legacy.
I am genuinely happy for William. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I’m not bummed out because I definitely am. He is by far one of my favorite professional bodybuilders, and it saddens me to see him go. But it makes me happy that he’s going out on his own terms and that he’s doing so in the classiest possible way. He didn’t skip a show he committed to do, he didn’t leave in a dramatic way, he didn’t leave because of injuries, he left because he decided it was time. I think every professional should have that opportunity, though many do not.
What’s your take on the great William Bonac retiring? As always, I hope you enjoyed reading my article, here at IronMag. Please be sure to copy and paste a link to this article on all your social media feeds. it will definitely generate lively conversation.
Author Bio:
Christian I. Duque is the owner of StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for IronMag Blog, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.
COMMENTS