Campbell Knows it May Take a 2013 J.B. Mauney Kind of Run to Chase Down Leme in World Title Race
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – Boudreaux Campbell was rounding the corner backstage at the BOK Center on Sunday afternoon when reigning World Champion Jose Vitor Leme was making his way toward the exit.
Leme quickly put down his bag and stopped to congratulate Campbell on his victory at the PBR Express Ranches Classic, presented by Pit Boss.
It was déjà vu from five days earlier, when Campbell was the man making his way to congratulate Leme backstage at Last Cowboy Standing after Leme edged Campbell for the PBR Major victory at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
The two best bull riders in the PBR in the past week have been Leme and Campbell.
Leme has been dominant all season long outside of a series of injuries (broken ankle/broken ribs), while Campbell has flipped the script from his horrible start to 2021 – 7-for-28 (25%).
Campbell has ridden six of his last nine bulls, finishing second in Cheyenne before picking up the victory this past weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a 2-for-3 performance, highlighted by a walk-off, 90.5-point ride on Homegrown.
“The bull was really good,” Campbell said. “Joao (Ricardo Vieira) told me he wanted me on his head, so I really had to bow my chest and throw my hips to my rope. Then the whistle rang, and I was slammed on my head. It hurt so bad, but I am good now.”
Campbell has risen to No. 6 in the world standings after beginning the second half ranked 17th.
“At an event where there hadn’t been a lot of qualified rides, Boudreaux, with the first pick, picked a really good one and finished the job,” two-time World Champion Justin McBride told Craig Hummer on CBS Sports Network.
However, Campbell has actually lost ground to Leme in the world title race in the past week.
Campbell earned 349 points toward the world standings in those two events, while Leme has earned 352 points.
It is just the latest example of how tough it will be for Campbell to make a comeback and catch Leme in the world title race.
It may take a J.B. Mauney kind of push for Campbell to catch Leme in the 2021 world title race. Of course, Leme is a different animal compared to three-time World Champion Silvano Alves in 2013, but Mauney knew eight years ago that he had to win continuously to run down the reigning World Champion.
That historical comeback for Mauney began with a victory in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that year, which included a sensational 95.25-point ride to end three-time World Champion Bull Bushwacker’s streak of 42 consecutive premier series buckoffs.
“Leme is the total package,” Campbell said. “You’ve seen him slip and buck off two this weekend, and that will never happen to Leme. Any time you nod your head riding against Leme, you better have your hammer cocked because he is not going to slip very much. That guy don’t lose. It is real important. You just can’t let opportunities like that slip, riding against Jose and half of these guys because they are not going to fall off.”
Campbell was 15 years old in 2013 when Mauney pulled off the monumental comeback by overcoming a second-half deficit of 3,065 points in an older points system.
Mauney won five of the last nine regular-season premier series events to pull within 538.5 points of Alves at the beginning of the 2013 World Finals, and his comeback did not stop at the front doorstep of the Thomas & Mack Center. Instead, he stormed to his first world title by winning four of the six rounds to usurp Alves for the $1 million championship.
“I remember watching it as a kid, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” Campbell said.
Campbell never thought his career would overlap with Mauney’s as it has this year. Campbell has been attempting to qualify for both the PBR World Finals and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He has competed at multiple rodeos alongside Mauney, ranked No. 3 in the PRCA bull riding standings.
Campbell is ranked 10th in the PRCA standings as of Tuesday afternoon. He is set to compete at multiple rodeos this week before heading to Sacramento, California, for the Wrangler Long Live Cowboys Classic.
“I never thought in my career rodeoing that J.B. would come to the PRCA and go to the NFR with me, and it looks like that is going to happen this year,” Campbell said. “I am so excited. We have had a lot of fun on the road out there rodeoing.”
Campbell, Mauney and Leme shared a special moment last year after the 2020 PBR World Finals.
Mauney offered to drink a beer with the newly minted PBR World Champion, Leme, and the 2020 World Finals event winner, Campbell.
Mauney made sure to wait for both Leme and Campbell as the two riders fulfilled various media requests. By the time they got back to the locker room, the only rider left was a smiling Mauney with two cans of Coors in his hands.
“It was awesome to be able to have that moment with J.B. Mauney and Jose, just us three in the locker room sitting there,” Campbell said. “I don’t even like beer, but I think I drank every sip of that beer. It is an honor to just be there and live in that moment. I am younger than both of them. Jose is just a little bit older than me, but not by much. I watched both of them on TV before I came over here. To be in the locker room with just them was a nice moment for sure.”
Sacramento is another crucial event for Campbell, and any rider attempting to catch Leme.
Campbell has drawn Drago (16-2, UTB/METC) for the 15/15 Bucking Battle, which airs Sunday on CBS national television at 12:30 p.m. ET.
“Now I need to work harder and keep the foot on the gas pedal,” Campbell concluded. “I can’t let up because I am riding good. I need to keep the momentum going and not fall back into that slump.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media
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