by Christian Duque
Well it seems the news has gone viral that Patrick may be Ramy’s new coach but the reality of the matter is Patrick does not want to confirm or disconfirm. And I have to say it is a little bit lame. After all Ramy is a two-time Mr Olympia and one of the most popular bodybuilders in the world? What’s up with all of the silent treatment? Why does Patrick have to tiptoe around the fact that he is in fact Ramy’s new coach? Where’s the big mystery?
In reality we’re not talking about a guy who holds the top title in the sport. We are also not talking about a guy who just recently lost the top title in the sport. We are talking about a guy who lost the title 2 years ago and was unsuccessful in trying to redeem himself at the Arnold Classic.
Now a lot of people are very excited that Ramy’s going to be guest posing in Pittsburgh and that the president invited him to his show. It would be fantastic if he made a comeback to the stage and competed once again but is there somebody who can realistically say he’s going to win the title? I would have to say no. I would have to say that a message was sent when he lost the title given the way that he lost it. And that’s really not up for debate in my estimation. Now granted, I’m the one writing the article so you might think I’m totally wrong, but I’m the one writing the article.
Look here’s the thing, Ramy has a tendency to need to have his hand held for everything. He has worked with Chris, he has worked with the camel crew, and he most recently worked with chad. Now Chad is the guy that was the catalyst for Ronnie winning his first Olympia and every Olympia then on. He is somebody that Ronnie credits as being the coach that turned it around for him. He is also the coach that got Ramy to win both Olympia titles but unfortunately he’s also the coach that Ramy lost the Olympia with. So I can understand if in his estimation he was the factor that had to go.
That being said, I don’t know that I necessarily agree with Ramy because of the fact that blaming the coach is not always the answer to the problem. Who knows if Chad was the reason that Ramy lost the biggest title in bodybuilding or if it was maybe a result of Ramy getting injured or maybe Ramy not following the plan or maybe Ramy’s body just giving up. There’s a variety of factors that could be attributed to why he was not able to successfully defend the top title for a second time. Moving on from that point it’s pretty clear that Ramy and Chad are no longer working together. So what about Patrick? Why can’t Patrick admit that he’s the coach – if he is in fact the coach?
If Dennis James and Milos Sarcev have Patrick on for their Muscle & Fitness podcast and they’re basically telling the public that this partnership is cemented, why is Patrick so tightlipped? Well obviously that’s not Patrick it’s Ramy that is having this coach follow his directives. I have no doubt that if Patrick conceded that he was the coach and it went viral that Ramy would suddenly say he didn’t want to work with him. The problem is Patrick didn’t deny it and here you are reading my article at Iron Magazine. So the reality of the matter is Ramy’s thinking is skewed and Patrick even though he’s trying to do right by his client can’t because the cat’s out of the bag. Now assuming that this is in fact the case, why would Ramy try to keep it a secret?
Sadly for Ramy he is very much yesterday’s news. I know that sounds incredibly cold-hearted and just downright petty but he is not the champion anymore, he didn’t recently lose the title, and really nobody is talking about him. He hasn’t been gone long enough to warrant any real interest in him making a comeback and most people think that if he competed in 2024 or even 2025 that he would be hard-pressed to cracking the top five at the Olympia. I mean good lord he barely cracked the top five at the Arnold Classic in 2023 and that’s the second biggest show in bodybuilding. It is not the first. And given that the Arnold Classic will be offering half a million dollars in prize money in 2025 that would be just as bad for him to make a comeback in as it would be at the Olympia.
And let’s talk about the Olympia. Does anybody think that Ramy could beat the likes of Samson, Derek, or Hadi, today? Because I don’t think he can. I think he would have a hard time beating Akim, Hunter, and maybe even a couple of other guys. This is not because Ramy is not a good bodybuilder but it’s because the sport of bodybuilding has evolved – even in these two short years. And let’s not forget Nick Walker. Nick Walker is another guy that wants to make a comeback and we have no idea what he looks like. If Nick Walker comes back at 100%, can we definitively say that Ramy would beat him? Moreover, Ramy is also no spring chicken and age may have caught up to him.
I’m not writing this article to dogpile on Ramy or to say he has no chance of coming back as a successful bodybuilder, but what’s up with the suspense act? I mean it’s not making me more curious or more anxious to learn more about the Egyptian Legend rather it’s actually antagonizing me. It’s insulting that as this article goes to press I can’t definitively say that Patrick Tuor is Ramy’s coach. I can say that it’s 99% certain but I can’t assert it as fact because it isn’t a fact. It’s just a very, very likely reality.
I just don’t understand the mindset and I don’t understand what the marketing edge is exactly. and I’m a marketing guy. So if I am a marketing guy and I don’t understand what the hell they’re trying to do then what about the average fan? Does this look like a bluff card, does it look like a shameless attempt at getting attention, or does it make people more anxious to read more about Ramy? Does his guest posing appearance get people amped up about a possible comeback? Again it doesn’t do anything for me except piss me off that I can’t write about something factually but that I have to write about a rumor and the coach is walking on eggshells.
At the end of the day I don’t just write about what I want to write about, I write about what is trending and this is trending but maybe for all the wrong reasons. It would be something if Ramy came out publicly and said he was going to do a particular contest and then did a whole road to that particular contest. Where he would eat his meals on camera, do his cardio on camera, maybe put up a daily update photo, that sort of thing. That would make a lot of marketing sense and that would rally the fans behind him. That would also get the media on board and maybe even land him a few sponsors in the process. This other scenario however makes no sense to me and really doesn’t give us in the media or the fans any concrete expectations of what’s to come. Now because of the fact that he is a past Mr Olympia we know that he doesn’t have to qualify so that removes that from the table and we also know that the president invited him to the show so he is more than likely going to be there, but that’s all we know.
Also from a historical standpoint we remember what happened to the late great Shawn Rhoden when he guest posed slightly out of shape at the president’s show. Now mind you guest posing and competing are two totally different things. And the reigning champion gets a little bit of deference with regards to condition because of the fact that he’s the reigning champ. Ramy is not going in there as the reigning champ and in fact is going in there after more than a year of sitting on the sidelines. It’s anyone’s guess how conditioned he’s going to come.
We have to keep in mind Ramy is not going to walk away from this appearance with any money in his pocket. He’s not going to walk away with an Olympia qualification. All I’m trying to say is he may look like absolute dogshit, but he may still take the stage and that would be fine because the fans will be happy to see him. Once again though, I don’t understand the whole secrecy factor of whether or not he’s working with Patrick or not. If we were weeks or even days away from a show he was going to be competing in then possibly but certainly not for a show where he will only be guest posing.
Assuming that he is working with this coach, this is a guy who is very hot right now. He’s had tremendous success with a variety of athletes who have a variety of different physiques. He’s no stranger to working with bigger bodybuilders that have commanding amounts of mass and that makes him attractive to working with Ramy. That being said to expect him to be able to accomplish the same thing that Chad was able to accomplish may be overly ambitious. When you look at all of the coaches that Ramy has worked with, only one was able to get him to the Olympia successfully. All others were able to get him very, very good placings but not the top title in the sport.
As I said I think it’s very ambitious to think that Patrick is going to be able to make history as Ramy being only the second Mr Olympia to reclaim his title after having lost it and to have been able to do it after somewhat of a lengthy hiatus. When Jay won the Olympia back it was the very next year after he lost it. With Ramy it would be a far greater achievement because honestly he would have been out of the game for considerably longer and he would have to be better than what he was when he won the title. When Jay won the title in 2009 back from Dexter I would argue that he looked better than he did in 2006 when he won his first Olympia against Ronnie. I would also argue that in 2009 Jay looked better than in 2001 when he won the prejudging. So basically it’s not just a question of whether or not Patrick can bring Ramy back to winning – Patrick would have to get Ramy to present the best version of himself of his whole career. Again I think even for a coach as accomplished as Patrick that would be incredibly difficult. but not impossible.
At the end of the day I would just like to know whether or not Patrick is coaching Ramy. Can you guys just come out with it? The suspense act might get you an article out of me and a couple of mentions on the YouTube channels but that suspense will wear off by the weekend. If you guys are serious about working together and Ramy is serious about a comeback, come out with it because otherwise people are just going to write you off. The suspense act might work with Derek or Hadi but those guys are today’s news. Ramy is yesterday’s news. I’m just warning you not to play this game very long because people’s patience will wear thin and it’ll be a repeat of the boy that cried wolf.
