John Abdo Interviews Dr. James Stoxen DC
Moscow, USSR 1989
At that time John Abdo was the host of ‘The Weight Room Show’, which was seen around the country on ESPN.
Dr. Stoxen was the team doctor for the WAF (World Armwrestling Federation) and AAA (American Armwrestling Association). He organized the first official arm wrestling competition and exhibition between the United States, Canada and the former Soviet Union through the help of the AISEP (Association International Cultural Exchange Programs) and Dr Edmund (ED) Enos who was a Founding Chairman of the Department of Exercise and Associate Professor at Concordia University.
Two noted famous athletes who attended and competed in this competition were Sultan Rakhmanov and David Rigert
Sultan Rakhmanov was a winner of 2 gold and one silver medal in the Summer Olympics and World Olympic Weightlifting Championships. He broke 2 world records in the summer olympic games.
David Rigert was one of the leading athletes in a legendary Soviet team that dominated the world in weightlifting in the 1970’s.
This was a historic first between the Soviets, Canadians and Americans. Dr. Stoxen knew this would be a historic event so he invited John Abdo to film the event. Many of the competitions and interviews were seen on his TV show on ESPN.
Be sure to check back for more footage as Dr. Stoxen will be putting it up on youtube and other video sites.
Dr. Stoxen was a competitive arm wrestler winning the Nevada State Championships in his weight class in 1982.
He learned how to arm wrestle at age 17. His neighbor employed him to work all day in a hot foundry shoveling sand and other hard manual labor jobs. After work he would take young Stoxen to the bars not to drink as he was underage but to bet on him as he would beat the adults.