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| I started training when I was seven years old. I had been watching my older brother and cousin lift weights together in order to become stronger for their wrestling competitions. I acquired my very own rusty York barbell, as a hand-me-down from my brother Ray, and quickly set about to become Mr. America. It wasn’t long before I was absolutely smitten with the iron game and training a full seven days a week. By the time I was seventeen I was ready to compete. I won the Mr. Rochester in 1970 at age 18. It was my first show and I took home the first place trophy. The only question in my mind after that was,” When is the next show?” I entered a lot of other smaller competitions in the upstate New York area - Mr. Buffalo, Mr. Syracuse, etc. After establishing myself in the local arena, I progressed to participating in both the Junior Mr. America and the Mr. America contests. I finished in the top-twenty of both competitions. I then entered the AAU World Championships in the lightweight division. I lost to a guy who didn’t even shave his legs! This defeat was a turning point for me. After the show, the judges were “kind” enough to inform me that, in their studied opinion, I had a great physique but was much too short to compete. After that AAU show I decided to compete in the IFBB instead. My first contest was the 1975 IFBB Mr. USA. It was held at the old Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the first time that I had even seen bodybuilders from the West Coast. They included the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Robby Robinson and many others. To my surprise, I not only won my lightweight division but also took the overall title. It was during my impressive first outing with the IFBB that I fist met a man named Joe Wieder. He introduced himself to me at the contest. He told me that I had a great physique and that I could do very well in the sport. He also invited me to train in California. I was both shocked and excited to be embarking on my dream of going “Out West” to train with the best guys in the sport. Once back in Rochester, I was greeted with general disbelief that I had actually won the Mr. USA. All of the sudden I was the guy appearing in the very same muscle magazines that I used to read and “study” only a year before. A few months passed and I was off to California. I arrived in Los Angeles just in time to take part in the filming of “Pumping Iron” I trained for three months to prepare to compete in the lightweight division in the upcoming Mr. Universe Competition in South Africa. I had qualified to compete based on my Mr. USA win. Disaster struck in Pretoria. Just minutes before the Universe show was to begin, I was told I could not compete. The IFBB decided that they’d rather have two heavyweights represent the United States - Ken Waller and Mike Katz - and one middleweight, Robby Robinson. Their reasoning was that since Mike was retiring, they should let him try to win the Universe for the last time. I quickly maneuvered to get a spot on Portugal’s team. I knew I was in a position to win in the lightweight category and I was determined to compete. After all of my pre-contest preparation, travel to South Africa and hours of participation in the filming of the movie, I would try and take home the title, even under Portugal’s flag. The IFBB would have none of this. I was disqualified by them in order to avoid what they perceived as the “embarrassment” that my potential win for Portugal would cause the organization. I now exist as a visual footnote in “Pumping Iron” The film makers were forced to cut the majority of my scenes from the film because the IFBB did not want the whole incident depicted in the movie. Bouncing back, the following year I competed in the IFBB Universe but was defeated by Mohamed Makkawy. In 1977, I again entered the IFBB fray and competed in the Mr. America. This time I walked off the stage with a trophy for both my weight class and the overall title. It was a great victory. Here I was, an “East Coast man” and I won on the West Coast. It was also the first time a lightweight had beaten a middle and heavyweight for the overall title. That same year, I won the lightweight title at the IFBB Mr. Universe. I am one of only two men in the history of the sport who has won both the America and the Universe in the same year. The other guy who holds this distinction is Frank Zane . . . not bad company! I followed up with a great showing at that year’s Olympia. I was in the top five in both my weight class and in the overall standings. |
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| Danny talks about his early years with the AAU and the IFBB, his Mr. USA & Mr. America wins and the 1975 Universe. | ||||||||||
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with Boyer Coe at the
1975 Universe |
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