How good was Vernon Forrest?

I do think Forrest maybe kryptonite stylistically to Hopkins (P4P if Hops was a 5'11 WW). If you outspeed him and have the jab to take away his counter punching and command the action, you give him all kinds of problems. Who are the fastest Hops faced? Jones, Calzaghe, Taylor and he had all kinds of problems each time albeit removed from his prime. Hopkins may well pull it out, but it'd have to be 1 of the younger pre-Tito versions before he slowed imo

 

Yup. This is it, GP: http://www.FightBeat.com/garfields/viper.htm

 

Alot of his comp at middleweight just plain sucked.

 

I was around Forrest alot when he came out of the olympics. I was in the Main Events gym up in Palm Beach quite a bit with a lot of guys from that 96 class. Forrest was very impressive to me. Him and Fernando Vargas sparred alot. Forrest for the most part, always got the best of him. Vargas got all the big fights quick because noone wanted any part of Forrest, he was too good. He blew it with Mayorga getting tied up in his mind games, and that left a black eye on his career. Forrest was a calm laid back guy, but Mayorga did a number on him mentally.

 

All of the guys who troubled Hopkins (barring Jones who was just a freak) did it by throwing combinations to upset his defensive rhythm. Hopkins never had that much trouble with jabs and straight right hands, really - he destroys fighters who rely overly on that. I think it's more likely he would have a field day exposing Forrest's one-dimensionalness and would certainly make him his ***** on the inside.

 

Technically the guy was amazing and I loved watching him fight.

However, he was starched by a very crude club fighter and then beaten again in the rematch. This is the question mark over his career.

It will be interesting to read what people here have to say about the Mayorga losses.

 

Good analysis, this explains alot! I always wondered why that blotch on his career happened. A truly exceptionally gifted fighter that was great to watch.

 

He impressed me, although i thought he lost to Quartey clearly.

One of his last performances, his rematch with Mora, showed everything that was good about Forrest. Boxing 101 as he called, he schooled Mora.

 

Was this in person or phone John?

 

In person at the Wild Card Gym, pp

 

What happened against Taylor then, or are we calling that past prime? Outside of Jones, Hopkins never faced anyone as remotely good as Forrest at MW.

 

Good little insight lefty, funny how both fared with Quartey, although Forrest was past prime then, either that or hot/cold in nature

 

Whats your background in journalism John? Did you know Vernon particularly well? His passing came as a shock to myself, I'm sure it must hit harder if you knew the man

 

Trained at Stillman's Gym in New York in the late 1940s and '50s, PP. Fought at the University of Miami, Angelo Dundee's 5th St. Gym and in the U.S. Army. In the '70s and '80s, I sponsored an amateur team with trainer Tommy Gallagher that won New York Golden Gloves championships. Was a 2005 CJ Award winner for the best in boxing journalism, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and have an essay in the book "Shadow Boxers "and stories in "Bouncers." I've written for FightNews, Eastside Boxing, Irish Boxing, The Sweet Science and CyberBoxingZone. In '03, became the Executive Editor of FightBeat.com.

 

As I said also, the shoulder injury Forrest suffered really hampered his career and he never fully recovered from it after multiple surgeries and down time.