Tom Platz was one of the rising bodybuilders in the 1970s. During his second Mr. Olympia contest in 1980, Platz became the eyewitness of the infamous feud between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mike Mentzer. To date, it is one of the biggest and most controversial off-stage rivalries in the bodybuilding world.

During one of his seminars, Tom Platz once revealed what went down between the two that day. Platz believed that the squabble had a lasting effect on Mentzer. While it is known that Mentzer parted ways from the competitive bodybuilding world after the controversy, Platz thinks Mentzer never got over it, even though the two ultimately became friends. He also believes that the grudge Mentzer carried in his heart, somewhere poisoned his mind and body and eventually led to his demise in 2001.

The Schwarzenegger-Mentzer feud from the eyes of Tom Platz

In September 2018, Tom Platz conducted a seminar in collaboration with the David Gym in Zurich, Switzerland. During this seminar, Platz was asked about the famous 1980 Mr. Olympia controversy. Recalling his experience, Platz said, “I remember Arnold said something about Mike’s stomach. Arnold said, ‘Hey you have a fat stomach anyhow.'” This infuriated Mentzer, who then rushed toward Schwarzenegger.

Furthermore, Platz added that Mentzer had a lot of potential. He could’ve been the next Mr. Olympia, had he let go of the matter. Platz called Mentzer the golden child and an intellectual bodybuilder. However, Mentzer’s bitterness became the reason for his downfall.

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“I think that’s one of the reasons it caused him to die. When you carry bitterness, it’s bad. It’s like cancer. You know probably causes cancer. Your attitude, your negative energy, probably makes your whole body do weird stuff, you know. Because if you think bad and expect bad and feel bad- you die. Your body is like poison inside, at least your mind is. And if your mind is poisoned, your body’s got to be this follow. So I think that’s what killed Mike, if I may say so,” said the Quadfather.

Mike Mentzer carried the bitterness with him for a long time

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mike Mentzer are believed to have settled their feud before Mentzer passed away. However, it didn’t happen until much later, after the 1980 incident. For several years following the controversy, Mentzer held onto his anger, which, though, did reflect in many of his interviews.

In an interview in 1993, Mentzer described how the scene went down. Mentzer admitted that he let Schwarzenegger’s condescending tone get the best of him. However, he claimed that by charging at Schwarzenegger; he had successfully scared the latter. Mentzer has also gone on record to accept that the feud was the final push that made him part ways from the bodybuilding world.

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It probably supports Tom Platz’s belief that Mentzer let his anger and negativity consume him. What do you think about the feud between the bodybuilders?