His name is Tony Doherty and like Arnold, he is a rags-to-riches story. Like us Arnold Fans, SCHWARZENEGGER was his idol growing up but now he is business partners with Arnold! This is Tony Doherty: Bodybuilder, IFBB Pro Promoter, Host of Muscle TV and father of four. This is his Story.
When it comes to Bodybuilding and Fitness Promotion in Australia, there is only one man behind the biggest and the best: TONY DOHERTY. Here is the story of a man who had a dream to move to Melbourne from country Victoria, opened a gym, nearly went broke and 20 years later, through blood, sweat & tears, has become the most successful sports promoter in Australian history. Next year his Australian IFBB Pro Bodybuilding Competition and previously titled 3 day "Fit X" Expo becomes THE FIRST ARNOLD CLASSIC AUSTRALIA held on March 13, 14th & 15th.
Part ONE: THE BEGINNING
Tony is like Arnold Schwarzenegger in many ways; Family man from a small quiet town who had big dreams, big ambitions and went from bodybuilder to entertainer and successful business man. Tony started out in the gym business in 1985, the year Commando blasted onto the big screen. "Let off some steam Bennett". He remembers in the early '80s watching TV with his dad and seeing a man come onto the screen with these big muscles & popping veins and asked his father, 'who is that? How did he get like that?' His father said that is Arnold Schwarzenegger and it takes many years in the gym and dedication to get like that. Tony decided then...that's what he wanted to be!
Arnold was out in Australia promoting his book "The Education of Bodybuilding" and Tony wanted it. In fact, that was all he wanted and that's what he got for Christmas. Tony read that book back to front until it fell apart. Arnold had changed the direction of Tony's life. He wanted to be like Arnold.
Flash forward a few years: He had been working at a fitness centre in my home town of Bendigo and an opportunity arose to buy it, so he did. It was a good business but in the next few years Tony went from having 1 competing gym in the area to 9! If this was a big city, it wouldn't have hurt so much, but in a small rural town of 100,000 it was nearly fatal.
By 1994 things had become really bad. The town was over saturated by gyms and two more had opened up in his street. Things were looking bleek. But Tony was becoming well established as a bodybuilding promoter in Melbourne and knew that he needed to move quickly on this other passion or lose the lot...so he sold up the gym in his little home town and moved to the city.
Tony got into a small warehouse in Brunswick in Melbourne with lots of worn-out equipment, zero members and a dream. All he needed was somewhere to train, somewhere to live and a Harley Davison motorcycle ...when he could afford it.
The first year he lost everything to keep the doors of Doherty's Brunswick open...he lost his house, car, furniture, you name it. The phone and power got cut off regularly so he slept on the couch at the gym most nights.
Over time the gym was starting to get better. Members slowly built up and he was doing personal training. He had paid back most of the bills that he had bought with him. He would buy a piece of equipment every time that he had some money in the bank and after 6 years he started to pay himself a regular wage. 
PART TWO: THE COMEBACK
It was 1996 and Eraser was in cinemas. What a champion; still in great shape and what a great movie "Your Luggage". By now, Tony had met Amanda (his wife to be) and life was looking up, food was on the table, but still no car or flashy living.
By 1998 he had out-grown the small building and the landlord wanted to turn it into apartments... So after FINALLY getting ahead...and getting the "Dohertys Gym" name out there, they had to move. He found the current building. It was three times the size and the rent was also three times the size. "However, I have always thought that you have to risk something that matters". Like Arnold, he took a risk to make it big. So with that he moved into Weston Street and it was like starting all over again.
They immediately went 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's all the rage now in 2014, but he did it back when it was unheard of. It was a good gym but with the overheads going up so much, it was impossible to make a buck. For the next three years he fought every day, worked twelve hour days and did everything myself, cleaning, maintenance, graphics, mail-outs, contests and day to day management. Things slowly started to turn around.
"I kept my policy of buying equipment every time I could, I would scour the internet and auction sites to find the best stuff I could at the right price. I kept pushing myself and by the time my first child was born in 2002, I was earning wages every week and business was looking better than before," says Tony.
In 2001, Tony held his first pro bodybuilding show and the brand started to get known worldwide. He started to attract all types of athletes from Olympians to AFL footballers and power athletes from everywhere. In 2004 he launched Muscle TV and over the next 5 years kept buying equipment and expanding the gym.
"To this day, I own every piece in every gym and don't lease any equipment at all. It keeps your overheads down and takes away most of the stress," he says.
In 2007 & 2009 he had the opportunity to buy a couple of old hardcore gyms that were rundown and going broke. Great locations and just needed some love and attention. They are both now very busy day and night. The city Doherty's has in recent years seen Tiger Woods train there for two weeks during a Golf Tournament, WWE Wrestler John Cena and many other celebrities, world class athletes & movie stars have trained at a Doherty's Gym. Tony now has close to 100 staff across his FIVE gyms, so these days his focus is on what was formally "Fit X" and next year will be "The Arnold Classic Australia".
PART 3: AUSTRALIAN BODYBUILDING PRO AND FIT X BECOMES THE ARNOLD CLASSIC
Tony started the First Australian Pro Bodybuilding Pro in 2000, which is now the third longest running pro show in the world and he always had this vision of turning Fit X into an Expo like the Arnold Classic. He makes no apologies that he had been to many Arnold Classics in Columbus, Ohio and modelled as such, hoping that one day he wants to bring this to Australia. "This year's Expo saw close to 30,000 people through the doors over 3 days". When it got announced in early 2013 that Arnold had grand plans to take "The Arnold Classic" Global – Brazil, Asia and Australia... The call came from Arnold's partners that they wanted to meet Tony in Las Vegas. He had no idea what it was about, but when Arnold calls you, you go...and when he arrived he thought 'maybe they want to open The Classic in Sydney or on the Gold Coast?' Nope, they heard great things about Tony's Fit X Expo and wanted Tony to join them and make it even bigger by making it the Arnold Classic. While Tony was hesitant as Fit X was "his baby", the more Arnold & his partner talked, the more it made sense.
So March 2015 becomes "THE ARNOLD CLASSIC AUSTRALIA" and the Austrian Oak himself will be here for it. It is anticipated that over 50,000 fans will come from all over Australia and the world to be a part of this historic event.
The 2015 Arnold Fitness EXPO will feature more booths than Australia has seen before. The latest in supplements, fitness equipment, apparel and more. Entertainment areas that host unique, non-stop competitions and entertainment that combine to make the Arnold Fitness EXPO the heart of the Arnold Sports Classic multi-sport festival weekend. The Arnold Classic EXPO at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, has joined with Fit X to become the nation's largest sport and fitness expo. It not only entertains but also showcases leading businesses and organisations showcasing the latest trends in the associated industries.
Tony has never forgotten where he came from and loves to see others reach their potential.
"I still spend every day in the gym and wouldn't change it for the world. I am still working on the gym to make it better and will never stop trying to improve the product and the brand."
Before finishing the interview, I asked Tony, what's your favorite Arnold film?
"I love them all," he says. "As a bodybuilder, I love Pumping Iron. I know every line back to front. Honestly, I cant think of a Schwarzenegger film I didn't enjoy. But nothing beats T2. Yeah, he was great in the Conan's and Terminator 1, but it was Terminator 2 where he looked like a movie star, became a global success and had arrived."
So not only do we get to see Arnold return in 2015's Terminator, we get him back on Australian shores and i'll be there to report it all for the Arnold Fans Worldwide! Thanks to Tony Doherty for the great interview and make sure if you are in Australia get to the Arnold Classic in Melbourne in March!
Now check out these links!
http://www.arnoldclassic.com.au
http://www.arnoldclassic.com.au/buy-tickets
https://www.facebook.com/arnoldclassicaustralia
https://www.facebook.com/dandeltoid