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This article is on the 1970 AAU Mr. World bodybuilding contest which is not to be confused with the 1970 IFBB Mr. World which was won by Dave Draper. This AAU contest took place before Weider prohibited his bodybuilders from competing in certain contests outside the IFBB, which was founded by Joe Weider and his brother Ben in 1946. It is apparent that, in 1970, the AAU contest had stiffer competition and was more prestigious due to the fact that Dave Draper’s IFBB Mr. World tall class competition was Vic Downs and Franklyn Greene and his tall class competition in the AAU version was three time Mr. Olympia Sergio Oliva and future seven time Mr. Olympia winner Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The 1970 AAU Mr. World Amateur Tall Class and overall was won by Ken Waller who started competing in 1968 and had been in eight bodybuilding competitions by the end of 1970, this title being his third win.
Second place in the amateur tall division was Gene Massey. Massey, born May 26, 1949, was 5’10”, 205 pounds, from Florida, and died November 1, 1975 in a plane crash. Between 1968 and 1975 he entered twelve bodybuilding contests and won the overall in the 1969 AAU Mr. Florida, the 1969 AAU Mr. Southern USA, and the 1972 AAU Mr.Southern States. Massey appeared on three bodybuilding magazine covers, two issues of Muscular Development and one Strength and Health, both published by Bob Hoffman of York Barbell.
Third place amateur tall was Kent Kuehn, a Gold’s Gym Venice regular who competed in over 15 bodybuilding contests and won the 1975 IFBB North American Championships. Kuehn has appeared on the covers of Strength and Health and Muscle Builder and Power.
The Amateur Short Class was won by Curtis Haywood, from Pataskala, Ohio, who appeared with his wife on the covers of Strength and Health and Muscular Development.
Anibal Lopez was 2nd in the Short Class. Lopez was an New York bodybuilder originally from Puerto Rico who was initially inspired by Tarzan and Steve Reeves and served in
The United States Armed Forces. According to Wikipedia:
He was in the Army with the 101st Airborne Division; He found that he loved the challenge of jumping out of an aircraft in flight. He later served with the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in the reserve and was credited with over 100 jumps, including 10 night jumps all from different aircraft.
3rd in the short class was James Handley. Handley was in over two dozen bodybuilding contests from 1964 to 1977 and was in eight contests in 1970 alone.
The professional short division was won by Franco Columbu, followed by Boyer Coe and Ladislav Szalay of Hungary.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sergio Oliva, and Dave Draper were first, second, and third in the professional tall class.
1970 was the second time the AAU held a Mr. World contest, the first being in 1952 and won by Jim Park. The contest took place at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Columbus, Ohio, and was, by one account, packed to capacity with about 5,000 people(an exaggerated figure according to another account), and was covered by ABC TV Wide World of Sports.
1970 AAU Mr. World Contest Results
Amateur Overall Winner Ken Waller
Tall
1 Ken Waller
2 Gene Massey
3 Kent Kuehn
Short
1 Curtis Haywood
2 Anibal Lopez
3 James Handley
Professional Overall Winner Arnold Schwarzenegger
Pro Short
1 Franco Columbu
2 Boyer Coe
3 Ladislav Szalay
Pro Tall
1 Arnold Schwarzenegger
2 Sergio Oliva
3 Dave Draper
My dad owned a gym in Downtown Columbus Ohio at that time and took me to that competition at Vet’s Memorial.Oliva should’ve won.The crowd reaction for him was much stronger than for Arnold.If that event would’ve been nowadays Oliva would’ve been the winner.And saying that it was a packed arena is a bit of a stretch.
I was at the 1970 IFB be Mr. world. I’ll never forget when the curtains parted in there was Dave Draper. I’ll never forget it he had royal blue posing trunks . I had seen Dave a few years earlier and he was actually in his prime back then he looked excellent but the man of the night with Rick Wayne. When the results were announced that Dave won the contest been weeded was on stage in Rick Wayne was very loudly complaining and then waiter was shrugging your shoulders saying what can I do. Franco Colombo looked excellent but Rick Wayne looked out of this world. After the contest I’ll never forget which Dave was wearing he had on a plaid shirt rolled up to his sleeves and those forms were unbelievable a pair of jeans and brown cowboy boots. When I was a kid and I saw Dave’s picture in the weeder magazines it burned an image in my head which I still have for this day and I’ve been training 59 years