The Danny Padilla Story: Part 1

One of the greatest bodybuilders from the Golden Age of Bodybuilding was also one of the smallest athletes competing during that time. 

Danny Padilla burst onto the bodybuilding scene as unexpectedly and impactful as a meteor. His perfect symmetry, muscle mass and proportions catapulted him to overall victories in the biggest amateur competitions in the country with ease. 

Despite his short stature, the judges and his fellow competitors agreed that Danny was a gifted bodybuilder who was destined for greatness.

Let’s look back at how Danny got started in bodybuilding and made his mark on the Golden Era. You’ll also begin to see how he earned his nickname “The Giant Killer.”

A Genetic Gift in a Small Package

Danny Padilla was born on April 3rd, 1951, in Rochester, New York. His parents were from Puerto Rico, and his father owned a small grocery store that Danny worked at during the day. 

Despite his height of 5’2”, Danny began to add muscle to his frame very quickly when he started weight training as a teen. 

Danny had the genetic advantage of perfect shape and proportion to his physique. When he started weight training, all his muscle groups developed evenly. 

His perfect shape and proportions made him appear much larger on stage than he actually was.

Padilla began competing in the AAU competitions that were popular on the east coast in the 1970s. Unfortunately, his smaller stature was not favored by the judges in these competitions.

This meant Danny was often overlooked in his initial bodybuilding contests. 

The Beginning of his Bodybuilding Career

Padilla competed in the 1972 AAU Junior Mr. America contest when he was 21 years old, but he only placed 8th. 

The following year, he didn’t do much better. He only placed 15th in both the 1973 Junior Mr. America and the Mr. America contests that year. 

Undeterred, Danny continued to train and add more muscle to his short but genetically perfect physique. 

In 1974, he gave the AAU national competitions another shot but was again disappointed. 

He placed 18th in the 1974 AAU Mr. America. Even worse, he failed to even place in both the Junior Mr. America and the Mr. World contests that year. 

Padilla was about to give up competing in bodybuilding when he decided to make a change. He switched organizations to compete in the IFBB instead of the AAU. 

The Results of Switching Bodybuilding Organizations

The IFBB contests were featured in Joe Weider’s magazine Muscle Builder, a magazine that Danny read faithfully every month. 

He knew all about the Weider Superstars, including: 

• Arnold Schwarzenegger 
• Franco Columbu
• Serge Nubret
• Frank Zane 
• Ken Waller

In the spring of 1975, Danny entered the IFBB Mr. USA contest. The contest was packed with some of the top amateur bodybuilders from the IFBB, including: 

• Roger Callard
• Denny Gable
• Joe Nazario
• Mike Mentzer
• Anibal Lopez
• Carlos Rodriguez

However, despite all the obvious talent onstage, the judges were blown away by the magnificent physique of Danny Padilla. At only 5’3”, Danny displayed 18 1/2” arms, 17” calves and a 28” waist. 

In their report of the contest, Muscle Builder Magazine wondered how the hell Danny wasn’t winning contests in the AAU for years. No matter, the IFBB judges were not about to overlook the great physique of Danny Padilla. 

Danny won the competitive short class over the great Carlos Rodriguez as well as: 

• Anibal Lopez
• Eddie Bates
• Dave Mastorakis 

In the overall posedown, Danny was judged superior to Medium Class winner Roger Callard and Tall Class winner Denny Gable as well. 

A new Weider Superstar was introduced that night, and his name was Danny Padilla!

A Rough IFBB Start for the new Superstar

As the current Mr. USA winner, Danny was selected to compete in the IFBB World Championships that year. The Mr. Universe would be held in Pretoria, South Africa for the first time ever. 

Robby Robinson would also be part of the American Team to compete in the Mr. Universe. He had won both the Mr. International and Mr. World titles that year. 

Unfortunately, bodybuilding politics reared its ugly head and Danny felt the brunt of it when he arrived in Pretoria, South Africa. 

Director George Butler was filming his bodybuilding documentary “Pumping Iron” at that year’s competition. One of the storylines he was developing for his movie was the rivalry between American bodybuilders Ken Waller and Mike Katz.

In order to develop this story for his film, Butler needed both Waller and Katz to compete against each other in the 1975 Mr. Universe contest. 

The U.S.A. Team is Selected

Each country was allowed to send three athletes to compete in the Mr. Universe, one in each weight class:

• Lightweight
• Middleweight
• Heavyweight

Padilla was the lightweight entry with Robby being chosen for the middleweight class. Waller, even though he didn’t win any titles that year, was the obvious choice as the heavyweight entry.

He had placed second in the IFBB Mr. Universe the previous two years, as well as winning the IFBB Mr. World in 1973.

Danny was the heavy favorite in the lightweight class of the 1975 Mr. Universe. After the first round, he was in the lead and it looked like he would win the class easily. 

However, he was pulled aside by an IFBB official and told he was not eligible to compete in the contest. 

Because the U.S.A had decided to enter Mike Katz into the Mr. Universe, they had too many athletes entered. That meant one person had to drop out, and the IFBB decided it would be Danny. 

Danny was obviously very disappointed. He was positive he would have won his class that year in the Mr. Universe and earned his pro card. 

Instead, he was forced to watch the contest from the sidelines. Robby Robinson won the middleweight class, and Ken Waller won the heavyweight class and the overall. 

If Danny had been allowed to compete, the U.S.A Team would have won all the Mr. Universe classes.

A New Year with a Fresh Start

One year later, Danny competed in the IFBB Mr. America. His impressive thickness and proportions allowed him to easily win the short class.

Unfortunately, he was beaten out for the overall title by the incredible physique of Mike Mentzer. Mentzer had been a top contender for many years, but he made great progress in 1976. It allowed him to win the overall IFBB Mr. America by a wide margin. 

For Danny, not winning the overall didn’t matter. He was again chosen to be on the American Team to compete in the Mr. Universe that year. He’d be competing alongside Mike Mentzer and Robby Robinson. 

Danny competed in the 1976 Mr. Universe in Montreal looking big and thick, but he was a little off condition. He came up against the phenomenal physique of Mohamed Makkawy from Egypt. 

Makkawy was diamond hard and polished for the Mr. Universe that year. He shocked the judges and the audience with his amazing condition. 

Makkawy beat Danny handily in the lightweight class and actually scored the highest points ever in IFBB history with his victory. 

Danny was extremely disappointed after his shocking loss to Makkawy. He took the competition too lightly and was beaten badly as a result. He wanted revenge on Makkawy and immediately made up his mind to compete the following year and win it all. 

Danny Padilla was determined to make 1977 his year!

Stay tuned for Part Two of the Danny Padilla story to see if he was able to go all the way in 1977.

Read The Danny Padilla Story, Part 2, here.