Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Vernon Forrest, who is out indefinitely with a rib injury and long overdue on a mandatory junior middleweight title defense against interim titlist Sergio Martinez, was stripped of his belt on Thursday.
In making the announcement, the WBC officially elevated Spain's Martinez to its full titleholder.
"Vernon Forrest is a three-time WBC world champion and a champion outside the ring, as well, known for his efforts in support of the children and underprivileged persons in the world," WBC president Jose Sulaiman said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Forrest has sustained an injury which is forcing him to stay away from the ring for some time."
In its ruling, the WBC said that Forrest "will be eligible to compete for the WBC championship as soon as he recovers from his injury with a 55-45 purse split against Martinez."
Who would get the 55 percent was unclear in the WBC's announcement, but the WBC's Mauricio Sulaiman told ESPN.com via e-mail that the split would be in Forrest's favor.
Forrest promoter Gary Shaw told ESPN.com, "I think it's a good decision because Vernon is hurt. When he gets ready to fight again and assuming Sergio is still the champion, and he may not be, then Vernon would get a 55-45 split."
Forrest, 38, and Martinez, 34, were scheduled to fight Aug. 1 on Showtime. However, Forrest, who hasn't fought since regaining the belt from Sergio Mora in a September rematch, suffered the rib injury training for an April tune-up fight against Jason LeHoullier. Forrest (41-3, 29 KOs) withdrew from that fight and still hadn't recovered enough to go through with the fight against Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs).
Lou DiBella, Martinez's promoter, has been vocal for months about Forrest not wanting to fight Martinez. He was pleased with the WBC's decision.
"Enough's enough," he said. "I think Vernon is legitimately hurt this second, but I also think he doesn't want to fight Sergio and never has wanted to fight Sergio. Vernon deserves the kind of concessions they made to him, which is when he wants the fight with Sergio he can have it. We've never had a problem fighting Vernon Forrest. That's a fight Sergio has wanted for a long time."
Now, Martinez is free to pursue another fight and DiBella said he has already received feelers. He said one came from the handlers of French contender Christophe Canclaux (39-2, 24 KOs) and one came from Cayman Islands officials, who would like to host Martinez against Cayman native Charles Whittaker (33-12-2).
DiBella added that HBO, which has televised Martinez's past two fights, is interested in Martinez against Paul Williams, who is regarded by many as the No. 1 154-pound fighter in the world.
"We'll weigh all of our options," DiBella said. "But right now I am just very happy for Sergio. He's been the de facto champion for seven months [since winning the interim belt] and now he is officially."
Martinez's mandatory challenger will be determined on May 30, when the Shaw-promoted Alfredo Angulo faces DiBella-promoted Kermit Cintron on HBO.
Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt; Sergio Martinez now holds title - ESPN
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Serves him right. Forrest was being a giant pussy in expending such great efforts to duck Martinez.
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Hmmm no Emeritus for Forrest eh?
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Its about time. I can't believe they stripped Bradley but pissed about with this for so long. The WBC has to stop cherry picking how they treat different champions and keep to the same laws for everyone.
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
killersheep
Hmmm no Emeritus for Forrest eh?
The WBC has name Forrest a “WBC Ambassador of Peace and Good Will in the World Through Sports.”
I wish I was joking.
According to Jose Suliman, as an Ambassador, Forrest will be eligible to compete for the WBC championship as soon as he recovers from his injury with a 55-45 purse split in his favor.
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Does anyone know where Jamie Moore is ranked in the WBC rankings?
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Yeah, I have long thought that Forrest is protecting himself and not just from Martinez. And its about time Martinez gets some credit and maybe some looks. The boy can flat out box. I like to see him get a notable guy in there.
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Does anyone know where Jamie Moore is ranked in the WBC rankings?
He's ranked 6th. If there was any justice in this world he'll be ranked 600
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Violent Demise
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Does anyone know where Jamie Moore is ranked in the WBC rankings?
He's ranked 6th. If there was any justice in this world he'll be ranked 600
Your a cunt you ;D
Funny though!!
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Violent Demise
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Does anyone know where Jamie Moore is ranked in the WBC rankings?
He's ranked 6th. If there was any justice in this world he'll be ranked 600
Your a cunt you ;D
Funny though!!
Doesn't mean I'm wrong. Moore is crap
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Violent Demise
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Violent Demise
He's ranked 6th. If there was any justice in this world he'll be ranked 600
Your a cunt you ;D
Funny though!!
Doesn't mean I'm wrong. Moore is crap
Before I get usual clowns jumping in the fact that Moore is from the UK means nothing. I say he's crap cuz in reality he's crap.
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Violent Demise
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Violent Demise
He's ranked 6th. If there was any justice in this world he'll be ranked 600
Your a cunt you ;D
Funny though!!
Doesn't mean I'm wrong. Moore is crap
He hasnt had any sort of world challange yet but come on VD, the guy is european champion defintly deserves a place in the top 10, maybe he will be exposed at world level but he deserves a shot, hes going in the rite direction.
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Violent Demise
Quote:
Originally Posted by
skel1983
Your a cunt you ;D
Funny though!!
Doesn't mean I'm wrong. Moore is crap
He hasnt had any sort of world challange yet but come on VD, the guy is european champion defintly deserves a place in the top 10, maybe he will be exposed at world level but he deserves a shot, hes going in the rite direction.
Thank you. 600 was obviously a joke. But so is a 6th ranking. When a 39 year old Piccirillo (who was shot 4 years ago) is your biggest win it's says something.
Re: Vernon Forrest stripped of WBC junior middleweight belt
forrest can only blame hiself hopefully he can get some fights
