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Vernon Forrest was always the type of fighter that nobody wanted to fight. At six-feet and possessing a seventy-three inch reach, he could concoct a game plan to master any fighter. He was a fighter forever overlooked when it came to big paydays and glory. After turning professional in 1992, he sifted along for the better part of a decade before getting a title shot. For a fighter with an Olympic background and a beating of one “Sugar” Shane Mosley in the Olympic trials, Forrest ended up left behind along the road to superstardom. In August of 2000, he got his first title shot with Raul Frank which ended in a no-contest but came back the following May and shut out Frank over twelve rounds to finally pick up the IBF world welterweight title he worked so hard for. After a successful defense against a limited Edgar Ruiz, it was finally time to unify the belts. This time nobody could duck him anymore and on the grand stage, his star shone the brightest. In January of 2002, Forrest matched up against the new face of boxing, Shane Mosley.
Many gave Forrest just a puncher’s chance against Mosley, and seeing that the media and the fans thought “Sugar” Shane was this generation’s “Sugar” Ray Leonard and Robinson all in one it was almost a cartoon-like depiction of Mosley as an unbeatable force. Forrest just smiled like the gentleman he is and walked into the ring and just destroyed Mosley. Mosley’s beating was so bad that one judge only gave Mosley two rounds. Forrest’s chopping right hand tamed Mosley and almost stopped him; he floored Shane twice in the first and had Shane fighting against the knockout all night.
It was truly an electric performance and one of the greatest upset dominations of all time. Still, Vernon received criticism from all around saying that a head-butt during the fight allowed him to capitalize on Mosley. What would be better than to silence the critics with a rematch, would that shut them up? Mosley gave a better performance the second time around but was gun-shy of Forrest’s right hand and in the end, Mosley lost by a unanimous decision
Forrest was now the king of the welterweights; a truly humble champion who finally got his due. It was a story that all of the media ate up, and they loved him as their new poster boy. All of that came to a halt in January of 2003, when he took on WBA champion Ricardo Mayorga. He was anxious to get Mayorga out of their early and got very careless, Forrest hit the deck in the first round and was finally finished in the third. Forrest engaged a slugger in a slugfest, instead of boxing him; he let his hands go and he got caught. He was hall-bent on winning his hard-earned crown back and fought Mayorga again in July of 2003. In a nip and tuck battle, Forrest patiently boxed, moved and hit Mayorga with blistering combinations, but lost a close majority decision in a fight he deserved to win.
Injuries have plagued Forrest throughout the past two years, but now, he wants to come back and prove himself once again. So here he is after people have asked all of the “What ever happened to” and “Where is he” questions. All I can tell you is that he is back and will be a force again at welterweight. Forrest is a fighter blessed with great skills and a towering height advantage. On July 16 on the Taylor-Hopkins under-card, he takes on Sergio Rios in a tune-up. With his comeback, one thing is for sure; would you bet against him again?
David Shipman can be reached at davidshipman1@yahoo.com
