The Contenders: Alan Munoz.
The inaugural run of the IBC world tour will come to a head on the 15th of October at the Gran Canaria Fronton comp. In the hunt to become world champ, there are only three remaining contenders in the Men’s race, Alan Munoz, Tanner McDaniel and Tristan Roberts. In a series of articles we’ll give our opinion on each riders strengths and weakness and examine their chances of victory.
(For a full breakdown of all of the world title scenarios, check out https://ibcworldtour.com/2022-world-tour/2022/men-and-junior-men-2022-title-race-is-on/)
First up, Alan Munoz.
Alan Munoz: Okay, in the interest of honesty, I’ll admit I didn’t even realise that Alan was in the running for the WT until the IBC dropped their promotional clip for the comp on Insta. He needs everything to fall perfectly his way in order to walk away at the top.
In an article on Alan on the Movement mag website in 2018 Ben Player proclaimed “Alan is one of the most underrated talents in the sport… I’d even go as far to say that he will win a WC in the next 5 years”. Could BP’s words prove poetic?
With a first place at the Itacoatiara Pro, a second at Sintra and two fifths at Antofagasta and Arica, Alan has had a successful 2022 by any measure and placed him as a long, although still possible, shot to become WC.
After bursting onto the scene in the early ’Tens, he is now Chile’s great hope for securing the boogin’ mad nations first world championship. With all of the energy coming out of South America currently, a Munoz win would almost be a dream scenario for the burgeoning IBC officials, and a huge shot in the arm going forward for the sport in the current most boogie mad region on earth.
Now, to Alan’s chances. There’s no doubt that he’s fearless, that classic Latin America, win at any cost, consequences be damned kinda fearless. Who can forget the way he threw his body at an 8 foot close out and gut slammed into the flats during the Arica contest in 2016? At the raging bull that is Fronton, this flagrant disregard for personal safety can only be an advantage.
Alan is technically adept, able to execute the full spectrum of moves one would expect of a potential world champion. The only knock on Munoz is perhaps he lacks a little of the polish that the other two contenders exhibit, however, if Fronton is plus size and pumping this won’t be much of a factor.
Needing to take out the event to stand any chance of a world title win, Alan’s best chance would seem to be to just go as hard as possible and see where the chips land.
Alan’s Odds: 13/1
