Battle of Bells Beach
What did we do to deserve 11x World Champion Kelly Slater and 3x World Champion Mick Fanning face off in Round Three here at the Rip Curl Pro? Whatever we did must’ve been amazing because this by far, was the heat of the day.
What’s truly amazing is the numbers and statistics going into this battle. In this fight Slater and Fanning were both currently tied at 9-9 for heat face-offs.
Need more numbers? Slater and Fanning each have four titles at Bells Beach- tied for the most wins ever at this historic event. Slater has surfed this event 22 times, while Mick has surfed it 18. Mick, however, has 66 heat wins at Bells, while Slater has 59.
During the first half of the heat both competitors were feeling each other out. There was posturing, checking their reach and a few soft jabs- but no haymakers.
In fact, most of the heat was fairly reactive, both legends making a few unusual mistakes, both looking moderately pensive, both surfing Winkipop at Level-6.
By the second half, Slater remained a little too picky waiting for a special set wave while Fanning started to heat up. And then, just like that it was over.
Mick had sealed the deal 15 minutes prior to the final horn sounding without much push-back from Slater. An underwhelming affair if anything. There was one thing: Mick having 67 heat wins at Bells and 10-9 against Slater.
What else is in store? Tune in for Day 7 happening tomorrow!
