Badlands Booker Leaves Little Doubt After Matzo Victory

Adds to donut, hash, burrito titles with quality win to establish himself as the nation's top Gurgitator

If there were any questions about Eric Badlands Booker being the finest competitive eater in America he answered them decisively on Tuesday, January 27th when he downed 21 oversized matzo balls in five minutes and 25 seconds to establish a new world record.

The contest was held at Ben's Deli in Manhattan as part of the restaurant's annual fundraiser for charity. Booker faced off against six other IFOCE eaters including Oleg "The Great Z" Zhornitskiy, Joe Menchetti, Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, Don Lerman, Crazy Legs Conti and Scott Soifer. Zhornitskiy won the event in 2002 by downing 17 matzo balls.

"Badlands has done far more than secure the first title of the New Year," said Robert Gilman, IFOCE's chief counsel. "He faced off against a Who's Who in competitive eating and blew each and every one of them away."

With this victory, Booker adds matzo balls to his stable of impressive eating titles, which includes donuts, corned beef hash, burritos and hard-boiled eggs. He also holds the American hot dog title with 28 in 12 minutes.

Honorable mention goes to IFOCE member Ed Cookie Jarvis for his generous donation of children's dolls, crayons, trucks and other toys.