The muscle magazine wars were well underway. Weider had his stars and promoted them heavily in both his magazines and the advertisements within them. Hoffman (Muscular Development), Redar (Iron Man) and Lurie (Muscle Training Illustrated) were the competition and promoted the stars that Weider couldn’t entice or overlooked. Casey Viator was the next big thing and wasn’t in the Weider stable so he needed to be knocked down a step or too. Who better to do so than Franco Columbu.
Source: Muscle Builder / Power (Issue Feb 1972)
