Home Boy Martinez Coasts to NOC Victory

Reported June 1, 2003

Home Boy Martinez Coasts to NOC Victory

There must be something about Victor Martinez and hometown fans. Martinez, who won his pro card with an Overall victory at the 2000 Nationals in front of family and friends in New York, returned to his home base at the Night of Champions on May 31 and responded with a dominating victory.

The 5’9″ Martinez, somewhat of a disappointment as a professional to this point, carried 238 pounds of ripped, symmetrical muscle in coasting to a unanimous victory in the 41-man field to earn his first pro victory. “I was really ready for this one,” the 29-year-old Martinez said. “I knew I was going to win as soon as I got my number.”

The only battle at the NOC, as it turned out, was for second. Craig Titus held an eight point advantage over Pavol Jablonicky after the pre-judging, but the 40-year-old Jablonicky bounced back big time at the finals, out pointing Titus by 10 in the last two rounds to squeak past Titus by two points at the conclusion of the show.

Shari “King” Kamali finished a distant fourth behind Titus, with Johnnie O. Jackson, the 2001 Nationals champ, landing in fifth to secure the final Mr. Olympia qualifying berth.

Nasser El Sonbaty, one of the pre-contest favorites, had to drop out of the contest due to health issues. Tom Prince, also scheduled to compete, also pulled out of the event weeks earlier due to medical reasons.

For a more in-depth look at the NOC, read the News and Views in the September issue of IRONMAN.

2003 NOC Men’s Bodybuilding

1) Victor Martinez*
2) Pavol Jablonicky*
3) Craig Titus*
4) Shari “King” Kamali*
5) Johnnie Jackson*
6) Bob Cicherillo
7) Art Atwood
8) George Farah
9) Milos Sarcev
10) Rodney St. Cloud
11) Toney Freeman
12) Heiko Kallbach
13) Jeffrey Long
14) Mike Morris
15) Ronnie Rockel
16) Craig Richardson
17) Idrise Ward-El
18) Bruce Patterson
19) Tommie Thorvildsen
20) Milton Holloway

*Qualifies for the Mr. Olympia