{"id":12432,"date":"2025-10-12T14:04:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T14:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/10\/12\/lunsford-defends-mr-olympia-choopan-rivalry\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T14:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T14:04:02","slug":"lunsford-defends-mr-olympia-choopan-rivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/10\/12\/lunsford-defends-mr-olympia-choopan-rivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunsford Defends Mr Olympia as Choopan Rivalry Heats Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Derek Lunsford<\/strong> held onto the Sandow trophy in a closely fought Las Vegas finale, as the 2025 Mr Olympia contest delivered one of the most hotly debated outcomes of recent years. Lunsford\u2019s routine drew loud cheers and chants from the crowd and the judges ultimately gave him the edge over a determined Hadi Choopan in a decision that has reignited discussion across the bodybuilding world.<\/p>\n<p>The atmosphere at the show was electric when Choopan stepped on stage, visibly sharper and more aggressive in his posing, prompting fans and analysts from Karachi gyms to California podcasts to question the scoring. Nigerian standout <strong>Andrew Jacked<\/strong> surprised many by taking third, while <strong>Samson Dauda<\/strong> and <strong>Martin Fitzwater<\/strong> completed the top five in what locals streamed late into the night.<\/p>\n<p>Across divisions the evening brought notable shifts. In the 212 class <strong>Keone Pearson<\/strong> beat former two-time champion Shaun Clarida, and in Classic Physique Brazil\u2019s <strong>Ramon Rocha Queiroz<\/strong> produced a crowd-winning routine that finally ended Chris Bumstead\u2019s long run at the top. Fans and commentators called the Classic Physique result a turning point for the category.<\/p>\n<p>Women\u2019s competition remained fiercely contested with <strong>Andrea Shaw<\/strong> reclaiming the Ms Olympia crown, her balance and stage control highlighted by judges as near perfect. Britain\u2019s <strong>Ryan Terry<\/strong> won Men\u2019s Physique while Brazil\u2019s <strong>Eduarda Bezerra<\/strong> took the Wellness title, underscoring the global spread of elite talent at this year\u2019s Mr Olympia show.<\/p>\n<p>For Pakistani fans the event was both inspiration and frustration. Late-night streams in Gujrat and Karachi gyms filled timelines as viewers tracked each comparison round. &#8220;These guys are machines,&#8221; a trainer at a Gujrat gym said. &#8220;They live for the sport. We have talent here, but no system, no sponsors. That\u2019s why we can\u2019t reach there.&#8221; At Railway Road gym one fan smiled and replayed the final pose-down video, saying, &#8220;Ab agli dafa dekho, Choopan wapas aayega.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 edition was also notable for tighter judging and heated social media exchanges between rival camps. Supporters of Hadi Choopan suggested scoring bias, arguing his conditioning deserved higher marks, while Lunsford told reporters backstage that he had &#8220;more to prove and even more to defend,&#8221; a comment that only added fuel to the debate. Analysts say the sport is changing fast, with more countries challenging traditional powerhouses and a broader field of contenders pushing standards higher each year.<\/p>\n<p>As the lights went down in Las Vegas and new champions posed for final photographs, many in Pakistan and around the world were already talking about the next Mr Olympia. For now, Derek Lunsford remains at the summit, but with Hadi Choopan so close and several rising stars on the scene, the throne looks far from secure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Derek Lunsford retains Mr Olympia as rivalry with Hadi Choopan intensifies in Las Vegas; full results and Pakistani reactions from gyms to social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":12431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}