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Rider Poll: SweetPro’s Bruiser vs. Pearl Harbor

By: Justin Felisko
September 18, 2017

SweetPro’s Bruiser is now tied with Pearl Harbor in the World Champion Bull race. Photo: Andy Watson / BullStockMedia.com

AUSTIN, Texas – The World Champion Bull race is officially a dead heat with only five regular-season events remaining until the 2017 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals.

2016 World Champion Bull SweetPro’s Bruiser and Pearl Harbor have been the perennial favorites all season long, so it is only fitting that they are statistically tied with so little time left before the World Finals.

Bruiser’s 45.75-point bull score on Saturday night in the 15/15 Bucking Battle raised his World Champion Bull average to 46.28 points, tying him with Pearl Harbor for the No. 1 bull ranking.

With the bulls tied in the standings, PBR.com decided to ask the 36 riders competing Sunday at the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic, presented by Frontier Communications, who they would give the World Championship to if they had to break the tie.

It was a landslide victory for Bruiser.

Stetson LawrenceRubens Barbosa and Robson Aragao were the only three riders to vote for Pearl Harbor.

“Pearl Harbor has been more consistent this year,” Lawrence said. “Bruiser has been a little weak beginning of the year. Everybody has a short-term memory.”

The 2017 World Champion Bull is determined based on the Top 8 outs during the BFTS regular season plus two outs at the World Finals. The bull with the highest average bull score across those 10 outs will be crowned the World Champion and earn the $100,000 bonus.

If the bulls are tied at the end of the Finals, the first tiebreaker will be combined bull scores at the World Finals. If the bulls are still tied, they will be named co-champions.

Both 6-year-old bulls have competed at more than eight events this year.

Bruiser is 9-3 with an average bull score of 45.94 points in 12 events, while Pearl Harbor is 9-1 with a 46.08 average bull score in 10 events.

Bulls drop their lowest bull scores if they have more than eight outs on their record.

Bruiser made a monumental statement with a season-high 47.25-point bull score against Jess Lockwood two weeks ago in Springfield, Missouri, but he was only marked 45.75 points for bucking off Marco Eguchi in Austin.

 
“Pearl Harbor is definitely harder to ride, but Bruiser is the one everyone wants to get on,” Lockwood said. “You can be 95 points and win a boat load of money. That sounds like a World Champion to me.”

Bruiser has been ridden eight times by five riders (J.B. MauneyJoao Ricardo VieiraMason LoweDerek Kolbaba and Stormy Wing) in 42 BFTS outs over the course of his four-year career.

Those five riders have won over $1.366 million on the back of Bruiser, which includes Mauney’s $1 million World Champion bonus for his world title-clinching 92.75-point ride on Bruiser at the 2015 Built Ford Tough World Finals.

Against Lockwood, Bruiser was once again his outstanding self. Bruised turned left out of the bucking chute before exploding backwards in the air to dismantle the No. 2 rider in the world standings at the 6.06-second mark.

Bruiser’s honesty as a bucking bull combined with a showy and explosive bucking style was a major reason riders gave their nod to Bruiser.

2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi said that dynamite explosion is what separates Bruiser from Pearl Harbor, who Marchi described as a “really good bull too.”

“I think it is because Bruiser has more explosion,” Marchi explained. “Every time he bucks hard. He blows up. He has already proved he is a really good bull. He is a World Champion already. He has a good chance to be a World Champion again.”

World leader Kaique Pacheco then chimed in, “He is more consistent. Pearl Harbor is more hard to ride, but Bruiser is more showy because he blows up. He impresses the judges when he bucks.”

Bruiser has been ridden 13 times in 77 outs at all levels of competition, whereas Pearl Harbor has only been covered in five of his 45 outs.

Gage Gay said riders know they can’t stub their toe against Bruiser, but they know if they do their job it can result in a home run score.

“I like the way Bruiser bucks,” Gay said. “He stands good in the bucking chutes and he pretty much does the same thing every time. You know what you are going up against. It is just your decision whether you do your job or not. If you ride him, you are going to be 94-95 points. That is the better part.

“Pearl Harbor has gotten a lot better over the last six months. Chad (Berger) and Joey (Hales) have done a lot of work with him in the bucking chutes, but there for a while he was pretty bad. I think that is why guys kind of shy away from him, but he has gotten a lot better recently.”

 
Riders used to vote for PBR World Champion until 2007.

2009 PBR Ring of Honor inductee J.W. Hart found the vote tally interesting Sunday in Austin.

“See when I voted for Bucking Bull of the Year, I didn’t look at as which bull I would rather get on,” Hart said. “I looked at which bull was the rankest and hardest to ride in the pen. It confuses me a bit a way the way they vote. They are voting they rather get on this one or be more points. I voted for Dillinger because he was the hardest to ride and kind of had a scare factor.”

Pearl Harbor has been out of competition because of a horn infection, but Chad Berger said the bull is doing well.

There is still no timetable on when Pearl Harbor will next compete.

The reigning Stock Contractor of the Year smiled when informed of the riders voting for Bruiser.

“They have watched Bruiser the last couple of weeks,” Berger said. “I still like Pearl Harbor. Everybody has their opinion. If that is what they think, that is fine with me. We will find out at the Finals.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko

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