Lockwood Still Young Enough to Break Moraes and Alves’s PBR Record
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – World leader Jose Vitor Leme may be dominating the competition for the time being, but that does not necessarily mean he is taking over as king of the mountain in the PBR just yet.
There is a general belief that reigning and two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood will return from his reconstructive left hamstring surgery in the middle of the September and eventually get back to battling it out for gold buckles with Leme and the other top riders on the planet.
Lockwood’s 2017 season-opening victory in New York was the beginning of his push towards winning his first gold buckle, and the beginning of his evolution from 18-year-old bull riding prodigy into generational superstar.
Since winning his first PBR Major, which was broadcast on the PBR’s Facebook account Wednesday afternoon courtesy of RidePass, Lockwood has gone on to become the sixth rider in PBR history to win two or more World Championships.
Lockwood was a favorite to win the 2020 world title before his season was thrown upside down in a freak accident in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 1. The 2016 PBR Rookie of the Year caught his right spur in his bull rope during his dismount from I’m Legit Too following a 91.5-point ride. The bovine athlete then yanked Lockwood into a split, ripping his hamstring muscles from his hip.
The No. 2 rider in the world standings is by no means out of this year’s world title race, especially with the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak altering the PBR schedule. Regardless, Lockwood is in for a challenge with Leme healthy and himself stuck on the sidelines. Lockwood trails Leme by 235 points after the world leader’s victory last weekend at the PBR Cooper Tires Invitational, presented by Ariat.
Even if Lockwood does not win the 2020 World Championship, he is still only 22 years old and should be a threat to break Adriano Moraes and Silvano Alves’s current PBR record of three World Championships for years to come.
Moraes won his third title at 36 years old, while Alves was 26 when he won his third in 2014. Of course, Alves is still active and he could add to his number of gold buckles, but he has not been in title contention since breaking his hip in 2015.
Moraes believes Alves may be able to turn things around in the next few years, and he still wouldn’t count out two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney, but the best bet may just be Lockwood.
“J.B. – even though he is all beat-up physically – that guy is tough as nails,” Moraes said. “J.B. can do it. I believe he can, but definitely, Jess Lockwood will do it. He has the age. He is so young. He is fresh. I know he has that injury on his hamstring.
“I believe Jess will win a third title for sure. If he wants to, he can win the fourth. And if he still wants to, he can win five. That kid is just amazing.”
Lockwood is the youngest two-time World Champion in PBR history. He is 136-for-271 (50.18%) with 30 90-point rides and 12 event wins since turning pro in 2016. Lockwood has a World Finals event title on his resume (2019) and has five 15/15 Bucking Battle victories.
RIDERS WITH MULTIPLE PBR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Adriano Moraes (3)
Silvano Alves (3)
Chris Shivers (2)
Justin McBride (2)
J.B. Mauney (2)
“He amazes me every time I watch him riding,” Moraes said. “It is not a specialist on bulls that go into his hand. He can ride them into his hand and away from them. Today, I don’t think titles will be decided by bulls that spin into a hand or bulls away from hand because it is not a draft 100%. If it was a draft 100%, I could say a specialist could win. But now because it is not 100% draft, you need to be able to ride bulls that go away from your hand or both ways, and I believe nobody does any better than Jess Lockwood, and, of course, it shows in those two titles.”
Two-time World Champion Justin McBride agreed with Moraes.
The sky is the limit for Lockwood as long as he continues to have the hunger to win later in his career.
“Lockwood. No question,” McBride responded when asked who could break the record. “The key, and we will all just have to find out with time, is how long does it hold his interest? How long is he willing to give what it takes to win a gold buckle? Jess is the kind of guy that can stay competitive until he was 40 years old. He can be one of the guys that hang around from that No. 20 to 40 range (in the standings) until he is probably 60, but I don’t see that happening, though.
“I feel like when Jess loses his interest and his focus, that this is the most important thing in the world to me, I think you will see him probably step away. How long will he be willing to pay the price? I don’t know. But I think no question he can get four.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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