After Leo Fioravanti seized the Championship Tour lead with a runner-up finish at the Rio Pro, Italo Ferreira snatched it back during round two of the Tahiti Pro yesterday. As Ferreira defeated rookie Luke Thompson, Fioravanti fell in a tube shootout with his best friend Ramzi Boukhiam.
For Fioravanti, leading the CT ranking didn’t do him any favors. The reward for his first time atop the tour: an opening heat against the Teahupo’o tube savant Boukhiam.
While Boukhiam has had a rough season, sitting nearly dead last in the rankings, he’s known as a threat at Teahupo’o. He showed his prowess at the End of the Road in 2024 when he knocked Kelly Slater out of the Tahiti Pro with a 9.8-point barrel. He backed it up with a 9.7 tube ride at the 2024 Olympics during the peak of the swell.
Boukhiam’s 15.67 round-two heat total improved his Tahiti Pro heat-win percentage to an impressive 67 percent, besting Fioravanti’s 13.50. It was an early exit for the Italian, who won in El Salvador and placed second in Rio.
Ferreira, who was leading the rankings before Rio, has climbed back to the top — just a one-event hiatus from the lead. Mathematically speaking, no matter how he performs in round three, he’ll retain the lead heading into the next tour stop in Fiji, since Yago Dora and Gabriel Medina, third and fifth, respectively, have already been eliminated in Tahiti. If Miguel Pupo — still in the event and fourth overall — makes the final, he’ll tie Fioravanti for second in the rankings. If he wins, he’ll take sole possession of second place.
Since winning his maiden title in 2019, Ferreira has come close to a second title on several occasions. He finished runner-up in 2022 and 2024. In round three, Ferreira is matched up against Connor O’Leary, while Pupo will take on Griffin Colapinto.
Ferreira revealed on social media that he’s surfing through pain during this event due to a rib injury he suffered last week.
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