Irons’ three world titles and Triple Crown achievements have made him the most celebrated surfer of his generation. Powerful, smooth, fearless and progressive, he possesses the full package of today’s state of the art. A fiercely competitive presence, Irons has proven to be the foil Slater lacked through much of his career, and as a result, their clashes have come to invoke the hysteria of the Occhilupo/Curren era. After winning his first world title in 2002, Irons legitimized the achievement with another title win the following year during an extremely tight points race with Kelly Slater. The deciding factor came when the two met during the finals at Pipe, where Irons won both the heat and the 2003 championship.