How Vernon Forrest is ranked here in the Classic ?

Forrest was a very good fighter, that
exposed who I initially thought would
be an ATG, Shane Mosely .
Forrest showed me Mosely couldn't
adopt and change tactics during the
heat of a fight.
And he did it to him twice.
Forrest is usually well respected for
his accomplishments on this site.
When he was killed it was very
late in his career, doubtful he
wouldv'e gotten better than he
was.

 

I recently reflected on Forrest's career & concluded that there are two fundamental ways of looking at it:

The first is that he was a good, solid fighter whose performance in the 1st Mosley fight was an aberration that made him look like more of a powerhouse than he really was.

The second is that he really was a genuinely great fighter, but a series of unfortunate circumstances (a recurring shoulder injury, the onset of age, his untimely & tragic death) prevented him from reaching his full potential.

 

I feel it more that he is a highly underrated fighter, one of the best fighters of his time, and sadly does not get the credit he has earn, the guy has been dead for about 15 years and has not been in the HOF yet??? I was shocked when he was murder, we lost a great that day.

 

Man he was good. A smart fighter that made the most of his physical gifts that had a very unfortunate shoulder injury. Had a rep for being an outstanding person. RIP champ!

 

I most poignantly remember Larry merchant saying "just because you beat tiger woods it doesn't make you tiger woods'' on the onset of beating Shane Mosley twice. Sugar was p4p if not the best at the time. Vernon was a scarey fighter: tall, range, strong left jab, GOOD lead right; a nightmare matchup for many a welterweight. I give Mayorga the upmost credit for not out boxing the Viper but by out brawling him twice. These were the two nicest wins of Ricardo Mayorgas career. R.i.p. champ for doing what you do best, being a stand-up human being, what an early demise. He still had the upmost potential going forward.

 

I liked Forrest alot but I do think the Mosley fight flattered him a little bit, Forrest just had Mosley's number ever since they were Amateurs and he always had the perfect style to beat Mosley.

Don't get me wrong I'm not taking away from Forrest performance vs Mosley it was awesome and one of the most dominant wins ever over a top P4P fighter. But I think that fight gave the impression Forrest was great when infact he actually wasn't.

The Mayorga losses do hurt him and he did infact get a total gift vs Quartey aswell no way he won that fight.

But all in all I'd rate Forrest as very good he had a good jab a potent right hand and the size to be a troubling opponent for plenty of Welterweights past/present.

Forrest will be sorely missed seemed like a nice guy too RIP.

 

Forrest was a solid, world class pro and he did a professional job of tempering the noise around Mosley.

Mayorga was a different prospect at that point, though. El Matador was on a mission and was pretty much a fire-eating street fighter with gloves on. Difficult to control, unpredictable, raw aggression, Forrest and his team didn't seem to have a tactical pattern that avoided a brawl against a guy that thrived on just that kind of fight.

The second fight demanded a lot from Forrest physically to avoid a rumble and he looked to have found a winning formula. But, ultimately, Mayorga's engine and sheer determination to make it a scrap beat Forrest in the rematch.

I think, despite his relatively short stay in the sun, Forrest is well thought of, and the tragic nature of his passing highlighted his out of the ring charity work, and the regard he garnered in this respect.

 

Conventional wisdom says that when a textbook boxer meets someone who throws the book out the window, the boxer should have a distinct advantage, but sometimes the reverse is true - sometimes the boxer is at a loss for how to cope with someone who defies everything they've been taught to think & do.

 

He could well have been. Mayorga was a bit of a case and he certainly surprised and then shocked Forrest in their first round. Forrest had shown assured footwork in that round until the KD. Beyond that, and Shields effectively telling Forrest to stand his ground, he was well and truly in Mayorga's wheelhouse.

Some of that shock and awe might have carried over into their rematch. Forrest seemed unable to keep his legs under him during the early stanzas. I lost count of the times Forrest just fell over. But, to be fair, he did appear to gather himself and looked like he'd found enough of a measure to perhaps tip the balance.

But Mayorga just wouldn't be denied.