Moorman is Vicious in Vegas
Texan tames Bull of the Year Sid Vicious to win Las Vegas Championship
LAS VEGAS – Manuel Costa’s Sid Vicious is the three-time Bullfighters Only Fighting Bull of the Year for a reason: He’s dominant.
On Saturday afternoon, 19-year-old Chance Moorman of Lytle, Texas, mastered the beast for 89 points and walked away as the 2019 Las Vegas Champion.
“That was the most challenging fight I’ve had in my life,” said Moorman, who earned $20,000 for the title and pushed his 2019 BFO earnings to $55,750 to finish as the reserve world champion behind Canadian Aaron Mercer. “I knew that bull, so I knew what was coming. I knew I was fixing to win.
“This is a great feeling, and I’m on top of the world right now.”
He should be. He earned the right to compete in Championship Saturday through the rigors of the 10-day BFO finale. He was one of four men who advanced out of the long round by winning his three-man bullfight, scoring 86.5 points. He was joined by Andres Gonzelez of Woodland, California; Beau Schueth of O’Neill, Nebraska; and Dylan Idleman of Madill, Oklahoma.
All were strong in their opening-round bouts, but Moorman put on the most thrilling show. He started the fight by jumping Sid Vicious, but the brilliant Spanish fighting bull threw a few haymakers of his own. When he was knocked down, Moorman got back up and continued a strong bullfight, selling the bout with another jump that the crowd and judges loved.
To master the bull of the year is one thing; to make two clean jumps over the infamous red bull is another.
“I’ve been waiting on that match-up forever,” he said. “For it to be in Vegas for 89 points and to win the finals … this is a feeling I’ve never had before. To be 19 and be the reserve world champion is special. I’m only a year and a half into my career. I knew it was going to be hard for me to catch Mercer, so my mind was on winning Vegas. I accomplished what I set out to do.”
Mercer actually clinched the world championship nine days before when he won the BFO Roughy Cup. With that, the bullfighter from Calgary, Alberta, earned a $50,000 bonus, which takes his 2019 earnings to $121,350 – he is just the second person to have ever earned more than $100,000 a year fighting bulls, following in the footsteps of Weston Rutkowski, who had done it the two previous years.
“Mercer exploded onto the scene this year and put an unbelievable fight time after time all year,” Moorman said “He’s one of my best buddies, and I was so happy for him to win the world title.”
Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com