If and when the Championship Tour starts up again, one of the match ups we are most excited to see is Italo Ferreira vs Gabriel Medina. The last we saw CT surfing in the water, Italo beat, 2x World Champ, Gabriel, in the Finals of the Billabong Pipe Masters to earn himself the title of 2019 World Champ.
Watching WSL Rewind this week, this match up stands out. At the time, Italo was coming off being 2015 Rookie Of The Year and Medina had finished 3rd for the second straight year after becoming the 2014 World Champ. Before this Margaret River heat, the boys clashed in Portugal, where Medina ran up against a red hot Italo at the Moche Rip Curl Pro Portugal. Italo put up a 9.67 to clinch the victory and eventually went on his way to a 2nd place finish.
Seeking revenge and still hungry from not fulfilling his mission in the years prior, Medina came up against a passionate underdog in the Italo.
Italo Ferreira shined and came up victorious against Medina at Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. This win became an exclamation mark on the multiple statement performances Italo had against Medina. Italo had now cemented to the world that he was a true giant slayer with ridiculous speed, power and innovation, needed to take down world champs and top dogs.