The first IFBB Pro show of 2010 is in the books, as the inaugural Phoenix Pro set a strong precedent for a great year of competition. Stryker Solomon and his crew put together a smooth running and enjoyable contest that featured 79 competitors spread out among Men's Open Bodybuilding, Men's Under-202 Bodybuilding, Women's Bodybuilding, Fitness, and Figure. Leading up to the show, we all had questions as to who was going to show up and if the big names would take the stage in Phoenix, As it turned out, no class was a disappointment.
Click here for the VIDEO WRAP UP with Dave and Sean after the show!
The favorite going into the figure competition was last year's IFBB Border States Champ (and Phoenix 
native) Felicia Romero (CHECK OUT HER PRE-SHOW INTERVIEW) who many thought would have an easy time of this hometown contest. However, when 2009 NPC National Champion Mindi Smith hit the stage for her pro-debut, everyone in the building stopped cold. Mindi brought the perfect combination of balanced muscle, conditioning, proportion, and presentation. She's also stunningly gorgeous, which never hurts. In two weeks when she takes the stage at the Ms Figure International, don't be surprised to see her in the first callout - Mindi is that good. For now she can take one night to enjoy her first pro victory. In second was a very deserving Amy O'Neil. Amy has a perfectly balanced physique and nothing is missing. Third place went to Australian Rosa Maria Romero, who barely edged out Felicia Romero who slid to fourth. Jodie Minear rounded out the top 5 with a physique packed with potential that was not fully realized on this day.
The surprise call of the day came in the fitness competition, where Julie Palmer edged out Tanji Johnson for
the victory. Julie dominated the physique round with perfect conditioning and while Tanji was in shape, she was not quite as crisp as Julie. We knew Tanji would be atop the class in the two-minute routine round and her Michael Jackson themed performance did not disappoint. It was up to Julie to be good enough to support her first place physique and she was able to pull it off. With a surprising second in the routine round, Julie took the overall victory (POST SHOW INTERVIEW WITH DAVE). Third place went to rookie Camala Rodriguez, who made an impressive pro-debut and earned an Olympia qualification in the process. Rounding out the top 5 was Oksana Grishina in fourth, whose routine was a crowd favorite and fifth went Bridgette Murray-Ward.
PHOENIX PRO FITNESS AND FIGURE RESULTS AND PHOTOS
For a full report on the women's bodybuilding, check out the show wrap-up by Steve Wennerstrom.
