Dexter "The Blade" Jackson easily vanquished a competitive field in the 15th annual Ironman Pro Invitational on Saturday, February 21, in Pasadena, California. Making a determined comeback was Lee Priest, who finished a strong runner-up to the incomparable shapes and separation of The Blade. The big surprise of the evening was Puerto Rican powerhouse Gustavo Badell, who was mired in seventh place after the first round, then stormed his way to an Olympia-qualifying third place, besting some of the big names in the sport. Finishing only four points behind Badell was Ahmad Haidar, in excellent shape but not as hard as the Puerto Rican prince. Finishing fifth was Craig Titus, who was clearly disappointed to finish out of the Olympia-qualifying spots.   Other highlights of the show included a Peary and Mabel Rader Lifetime Achievement Award given to none other than IFBB co-founder and President Ben Weider. In addition, incomparable FLEX photographer Chris Lund was given the Art Zeller Award for Artistic Excellence.   Earlier, FLEXonline reported that Tom Prince, scheduled to compete in the show, had been taken to a hospital after suffering health problems. While Prince did have to bow out of the contest due to illness, he did not require hospitalisation and is doing well.   2004 Ironman Pro Invitational: Final Results 1) Dexter Jackson* 2) Lee Priest* 3) Gustavo Badell* 4) Ahmad Haidar 5) Craig Titus 6) David Henry 7) Johnnie Jackson 8) Bob Cicherillo 9) Idrise Ward-El 10) Ronnie Rockel 11) Jason Arntz 12) Lee Powell 13) Paul Baker 14) Mohamed Amouti 15) Rod Ketchens 16) George Turmon 17) Ntuk Ntuk 18) Dragoan Paunovic 19) Kenny Jones 20) Clifton Torres * Qualifies for the 2004 Mr. Olympia

Dexter "The Blade" Jackson   Photo: Kevin Horton