Mahmout caused an uproar when he entered the ring barefoot as was the custom in his native Bulgaria. The Gotch camp protested, believing it was a ploy to avoid Gotch’s vicious toe hold. The referee ruled in Mahmout’s favor and the match commenced as originally intended… it turned out to be a moot point with the American champion throwing the Bulgarian twice inside of seventeen minutes.
As you might guess by the image above, Grafl possessed immense pressing power. In Vienna, circa 1912, Grafl pressed 220.5 lbs overhead for 18 repetitions. This was not “military” style popular today but an even more strict performance: with his heels together. It was later estimated by strength historian David P. Willoughby that this performance was equivalent to a maximum single of 344 lbs.
