allot of question marks will surround forrest career when he retires, possibly one of those what could have been fighters. forrest was very much a physical specimen, tall, rangy, good power educated jab, a good tactician with decent ammature pedigree he was probrably the most feared fighter of the division after bagging the wins against shane, its a pitty boxing fans were only introduced to him when he was 30 years of age. forrest career when he was at elite level was hindered by injuries so it may be hard to make any real judgements on what he could have achieved allot of ppl will remember him for being shanes kryptonite however his losses to Mayorga when he was fresh off his wins against mosley will forever cast doubt on how far he could have gone, he deserves praise for beating a prime version of mosely 8 years ago however such a win could easily be matched to junior jones wins over berrara , vernon forrest for me was a good fighter on his best night i do however have immense doubt on how well he could have done against the rest of the elite at 147/154 had he been fit to continue with his career theres very little doubt in my mind that he would have come unstruck against the trinidads and wrights of the division the DLH and Vargas are 50:50 fights given the fact that both fighters were not at there best around the time forrest was making his mark, his controvertial win against quartey is also something worth mentioning both fighters were comming off huge layoffs going into the fight forrest comming off surgery however this is no excuse for the robbery that took place that night. quartey clearly won the fight.
Right now, Forrest will go down as having Mosley's number and not much more than that. Those who followed his career know that he was a very talented and impressive fighter and seemed to have the potential for a lot more than what he accomplished. But still, it's not like he's been shut out since the Mosley fights. He's been given every chance to make good on his potential, but for whatever reason, he seems to choke - twice against Mayorga, then Quartey, then Mora. The only time it seemed he really lived up to his potential post-Mosley was against Baldomir. I don't know what the reason is - he's always complaining about some shoulder injury, plus he was already up there in years when he broke unto the scene anyway, but who knows. The Quartey fight in particular really hurts his standing in my eyes, even though he officially got the "W", mainly because Quartey was a lot older and more faded than he was. He should've been able to beat him, regardless of whatever excuses he might've had.
If we are to believe him about the extent of the injury then it is no suprise he never went to any greater heights..As that is a very serious injury for any sports where you use your arms and with boxing of course its pretty damn regularly. He threw it away against Mayorga IMO and thats when his career to a turn..He went from p4p material, to top contender/middle of the pack titlist..Though Ricardo must be given props for getting under the skin of Vernon and getting him to trade ala Griffith-Carter. And his awkward, wild style offsetting Vernon's very conventional one. I thought the 2nd fight could have gone either way to tell you the truth but Forrest fought very scared for much of it letting it slip away from him. The Mosley fights were huge wins and fairly big upsets at the time but in retrospect its debatable how great they were..With many now putting Mosley's career into a more reasonable context, especially his lightweight reign. I would defo lump him in with one of those fighters who didnt use their talent to the best of their ability. But his career is ongoing, still some wins out there that could see retire in a more favourable light. He was actually one of my favourite fighters around the time when he was his best...I appreciated his skills and liked his personality but his inactivity and soft losses(disputed wins) made him sort of forgettable and I gradually stopped caring what he was up to. Not sure where he belongs all time at welter..But I would probably rank him a little better H2H then what his resume suggests.
I'm feeling you here, I remember i used to really appreciate his skills, i was an amateur at the time (nothing of note), and after watching Mayorga stop him, i went in the gym trying to emulate some of the stuff i saw Vernon do in the, what round was it, frst or secnd, can't remember. I luvd how he came in with right uppercuts behind his jab, he would blind a guy with the jab, and tee off with it.
Vernon is hurt by the top names like Delahoya staying away from him, which was a bit of a duck. I think he matches up well with Hoya and Tito never did too wel against rangy boxer types either. If he beat 1 of those instead of Mosley he'd probably be ranked higher even though Shane is every bit as good. The Mayorga fight certainly casts a shadow on him, but he arguably avenged that 1 in the rematch. The Quartey fight is another shadow on him. So why does he have these shadows? Defensive/Concentration/Focus weaknesses? I think so Now Vernon is old at 35/36 and could do with another signature win before its too late. A Pavlik win would raise his stock immensely and it isn't impossible task as Kelly is a tad 1 dimensional other than that at 154 there isnt many big names around
He beat Baldomir more comprehensively then anyone. That fight was a offensive masterclass and showed that Forrest being able to hurt Mosley years prior was no incident. Anyway, Forrest was a bit of a hot and cold fighter. But when he was hot, he was very hot. Against Vince Phillips in 2000? Won all 12 rounds on one card. When he came in prepared and motivated against Mora the second time? Wins 10 and 11 rounds on 2 separate cards. And you can't say his career is defined solely by a win over Mosley when he duplicated that exact same feat years earlier as an amateur and was undefeated for over a decade as a pro. It's not his fault he was avoided so heavily during his prime years.
I don't know about that. Look at what Mosley just did to Margo. No one else has ever been able to do to Mosley what Vernon did in their first fight. Even when Winky dominated him up at 154, he never dropped him; and Cotto beat him in a very close, competitive fight. And Vernon fought the best version of Mosley out of any of those guys. I would say Vernon's win over Mosley stands the test of time, and may even look better now than it did then.
My main point was many considered Mosley the next big thing..the next superstar. Though he continued to show he was/is a top fighter, Shane fell short of what was expected of him in some circles. I think Shane runs into a lot of trouble H2H if he has stylistic problems with the man in front of him, even against less acomplished fighters...But there a sizable majority who think the roider is one of the best H2H ever to lace them up at all the weights he campaigned at. I dont really agree with that..I think to many put him up on a pedestal.
