LOS ANGELES – A slew of cowboy hats littered the corner of Chick Hearn Court outside STAPLES Center in downtown Los Angeles.

The Top 40 bull riders in the world, as well as legendary three-time World Champion Bushwacker, were being welcomed to the first, marquee PBR event in Hollywood with a special grand entrance.

The cowboys and most famous bull in PBR history were set to walk down the PBR’s Dirt Carpet prior to the finale of Iron Cowboy, presented by Ariat, on Saturday night.

Amidst the crowd outside of STAPLES Center was one cowboy in particular that looked on at this moment with tremendous pride.

Edwin Villalvazo of EVP Bucking Bulls grew up in South Gate, California, which is about 10 miles from the STAPLES Center, after his family moved there from Mexico when he was 10 years old.

He never would have expected the world’s largest bull riding organization to host an event in downtown Los Angeles.

Villalvazo can still remember getting into fistfights at South Gate High School after some “dumb kids” would make fun of him and his cowboy hat.

“For me, the hat is a crown and you have to respect it,” Villalvazo said. “For me, it is a cowboy’s crown.”

Now Villalvazo was standing outside the STAPLES Center knowing he would be bucking his bulls – Hitman, Southern Style, Anthrax and Skitso – in front of a sellout crowd later that evening.

“I love it,” Villalvazo said. “I love it. No. I didn’t think it was possible as a kid. The environment in Los Angeles is way different (from traditional markets). This is a dream for me to be here, especially in downtown LA. This is where I grew up.

“It is like a kid’s dream.”

The Los Angeles market loved Iron Cowboy, and the sellout crowd on Saturday night created a raucous environment as Joao Ricardo Vieira went on to win his third Iron Cowboy title.

Jose Vitor Leme rode Hitman for 85.5 points, and Alan de Souza picked up 84 points on Anthrax to reach Round 3 inside STAPLES Center.

Villalvazo and his brother, Edgar, would watch the PBR on television and root for the likes of three-time World Champion Adriano Moraes and Paulo Crimber.

“My dad had animals back in Mexico,” Edwin said. “Bucking bulls and horses. We moved to the States, and we met someone around here that had a bull and we started watching the PBR.”

The two brothers would make the 30-mile drive southeast for the annual premier series event in Anaheim, California.

Edwin would look at his brother and say, “We are going to be here one day.”

The two aspiring bull riders eventually shifted their focus toward bucking bulls and livestock in 2007.

They moved two hours northeast of South Gate to Victorville, California, and began raising bucking bulls.

Nine years later, EVP Bucking Bulls brought their operation to Shepherd, Texas, and eventually purchased their Touring Pro Division stock contractor card in 2017. A year later, Villalvazo purchased a premier series card.

It was around then that Wes Ibrahimi offered to buy EVP Bucking Bull Hit Man.

The problem was Hitman was not for sale.

“He was trying to buy him and I told him I didn’t want to sell him,” Villalvazo recalled. “He said, ‘Why don’t you call (PBR Director of Livestock Cody) Lambert and see if you can take him to the cup?’”

Hit Man made his premier series debut in Austin, Texas, in 2017 and he would later buck inside the Honda Center five months later with Silvano Alves picking up an 85.25-point score.

Villalvazo and EVP Bucking Bulls have come full circle.

“I was expecting it as a bull rider, but not as a stock contractor,” Villalvazo said with a smile about bringing bulls to Anaheim. “It kind of works the same.”

EVP Bucking Bulls has about 100-head of cattle in Texas, 50 of which are bucking bulls.

Villalvazo currently has seven bulls registered with the PBR.

He says that he will go wherever his bulls are invited.

“Wherever Lambert takes me, I will go,” Villalvazo concluded. “I am just blessed.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko