Campbell Rewrites PBR World Title Narrative

Boudreaux Campbell used the opening weekend of the PBR World Finals to remind everyone that he came to Fort Worth, Texas, with the intention of winning a world title.

He was ranked sixth in the world, and yet the 24-year-old was not part of the narrative in the arena when it came to the title contenders.

The Texas cowboy got his name, at least, mentioned in the opening round Friday night with 84.75 points on Buster Brown and then damn sure changed the narrative Sunday afternoon with an impressive 90.25 points on I’m Legit Too.

After the first three of eight rounds, Campbell is second in the event average.

He is one of only four riders with a pair of qualified rides and, perhaps, more importantly, none of the riders ahead of him in the world standings — Kaique Pacheco, Jose Vitor Leme, Dalton Kasel, and Cooper Davis — have more than one score on the leader board. He now heads into the final weekend fifth in the world and in control of his own destiny at an event he won in 2020.

Following his match up with I’m Legit Too, two-time World Champion Justin McBride remarked, “That’s a big-time ride from Boudreaux” moments after predicting the battle would be the “marquee matchup” of Round 3.

Fellow Monster Energy rider Derek Kolbaba is splitting sixth and seventh in the event average after winning Round 1 with 89.75 points.

Surprisingly, Leme is 0-for-3 following the first weekend — it is the first time in his career he has bucked off three in a row at the World Finals — while longtime Monster Energy rider Chase Outlaw is also searching for his first qualified ride in Fort Worth.

Pacheco, the world No. 1, is out, but still holds the lead atop the world standings by a mere 74 points. Also, out of competition are last year’s World Champion Daylon Swearingen and two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood.

The Finals will continue Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights before concluding with two rounds on Sunday afternoon.

A lot could happen between now and Sunday’s crowning of the 2023 World Champion, but McBride said, “(Campbell) needs to keep knocking them down one at a time with big rides” like the one on I’m Legit Too to “give himself a chance to win it all on the final Sunday of the season.”