Alvarez proud to represent Mexico at World Finals
Alvaro Aguilar Alvarez is the first Mexico native to make it to the World Finals since Juan Carlos Contreras (2018).
LAS VEGAS – There was a slight bruise underneath Alvaro Aguilar Alvarez’s left eye as he glanced around the hallway at the South Point Hotel featuring 46 other bull riders prior to the 2021 Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals.
Alvarez’s black eye was compliments of a buckoff he had a week earlier at the ZipRecruiter Rumble a week earlier.
The 29-year-old may have been the only Mexico native competing at the Velocity Tour Finals, but Alvarez said his journey to the United States and passion to become a bull rider started very similarly to the men he was standing alongside in Las Vegas.
“Everybody has kind of the same story,” Alvarez said with the help of Luis Blanco translating. “We lived in a ranch and animals at the house, so I think that’s how I started. I do not remember how old I was, but I was very little. I watched a lot of movies about bull riding.
“The movie 8 Seconds, I saw it a lot and it motivated me to be a bull rider.”
Alvarez humbly knows he has an opportunity to help encourage future generations of Mexican bull riders to one day chase their dreams and compete in the United States this week when he competes at the 2021 PBR World Finals.
The Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, native earned the international wild card berth to the World Finals, and the No. 56 ranked bull rider in the world will now be competing for the first time at the World Finals. Alvarez is the first Mexican native to make it to the World Finals since Juan Carlos Contreras in 2018.
Alvarez has drawn Hundred Bad Days (7-3, UTB) for Round 1 on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena (10 p.m. ET CBS Sports Network).
“When I started this career, my dream was to come to Las Vegas,” Alvarez said. “But it’s hard for us from Mexico to be here, but you have to step by step to win your space. I feel happy to have done everything that I did and to qualify to this World Finals.”
This is the first year Alvarez has competed full time in the PBR after riding in a handful of events from 2016-2020. However, during those four years the three-time Cuernos Chuecos bull riding champion won back-to-back titles in Mexico (2018/2019).
Alvarez also has ridden for Team Mexico at three PBR Global Cups.
Alvarez is 12-for-35 this year at all levels of competition, and he won his first two PBR events this fall – Touring Pro Division events in Belton, Texas (Sept. 4), and Llano, Texas (Oct. 16).
Now Alvarez will attempt to step up his game against the toughest competition in the world this week at T-Mobile Arena.
“I know with a little bit more time, I can be among the best and in the Top 30,” Alvarez concluded. “This is a great opportunity.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media