Gabriel Medina Weighs In On The Pipe Pro Stalemate Controversy

Three days ago, Barron Mamiya clinched the Lexus Pipe Pro title, beating Leo Fioravanti in a way that felt almost fated. A tie-breaker decision tipped in Barron’s favour, thanks to a 9.80 Backdoor tube — the highest-scoring wave of the heat. Here’s how it went down:

Barron found a Pipe cave within minutes — a gift, really, setting the tone with an 8.17. Then, like he owned the place, he locked into a 9.80 Backdoor barrel. 17.97 in the bag, and it felt like the heat was done before it even started. 

But Leo wasn’t done. In 90 seconds, he threw a defibrillator at a dead heat, shocking it back to life with a long, hollow Backdoor pit (8.87), then another so deep Ross called it the best of the heat. But the judges handed him a 9.10, tying the score at 17.97 — much to Leo’s frustration. Replays didn’t lie — Leo’s wave was deeper, longer. But the pulse of Barron’s rides had the judges on edge. 

Three days later, the debate rages on. Some argue Barron’s waves had more fire, more fury. Others believe time spent in the barrel should be the real measure. In short, some say the judges got it right; others claim Leo was outright robbed.

How do you fix a debate that’s split the surf world wide open? Enter Gabriel Medina — 3x World Champ, former Pipe Master, and now, social commentator — ready to drop the verdict and settle the score once and for all. 

*Note: The following has been AI-translated from Portuguese to English. Since Elon Musk is busy throwing gang signs instead of fine-tuning AI, expect a few… quirks in the translation.

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“Hello everyone. Since I can’t surf today, I’m here to talk about the Pipe Masters final that just happened,” he begins. “In my opinion, Barron’s first wave, an 8.17, was a solid score, but I thought it was a short wave for Pipeline. There was a good drop, but not much difficulty. Given it was the first wave, it set the standard for the rest. You have to compare each wave to the others.

“Leo’s first wave, an 8.87, I thought was at least a point better than Barron’s first, simply because he walked twice on the foamball. That’s a more technical tube. Leo’s wave was also longer than Barron’s, so I would’ve given at least a point of difference. Instead, it ended up as 8.87, less than a point higher.

“Barron’s second wave, the 9.80, was a great wave. He did everything right — it was a fast, running tube where he hit the foamball, which added difficulty. I thought the 9.80 was fair, especially in comparison to his first wave.

“Leo’s second wave, a 9.10, I also thought should have been higher. It wasn’t the best wave of the heat, but I’d put it just below the 9.80 — around 9.50 for its difficulty. Leo hit the foamball twice, used a lot of technique, delayed the tube, and waited for the foamball to hit again before releasing. It was just as long as Barron’s 9.80.

“So, for both of Léo’s waves, considering the distance and difficulty, I thought his scores could’ve been a little higher. And of course, that would have changed the result.”

There you have it. Gabby’s got a mouth like a rusty blade, and he says Leo got screwed.

While he rests his torn pec, he’ll be joining the live commentary team on Globo TV, Latin America’s biggest network, to call the Abu Dhabi event. Is he setting up for a post-tour career as the media world’s next bruiser?