You do make a good point. If they inducted Barry McGuigain, I could see where Forrest has a good case. A dominating win over a prime Mosley, a later win over Mosley, and wins over Quartey, Frank, Baldomir, Phillips, and Piccirillo. I think he beats Verno Phillips, Joachim Alcine, and Sergei Dzinziruk right now.
He was avoided like the plague when he was coming up in the mid to late 90's. Once he had reached the summit by beating Mosley twice, he got knocked out by Mayorga and then lost to him again in the rematch. After that, he was injured and did not fight for alomost 2 or 3 years. Right now, unfortunately for Vernon, there is no money to enitice other fighters to fight him if they don't have to.
I have a bet with a guy at work that he beats Sergio Mora on une 7th at Mohegan Sun in CT. Vernon is still world class.
I would take him over De La Hoya right now at 154. Taller, longer jab, uses his height, better stamina. I think he'd outbox him. Quartey should have beaten him, but that wasn't the Vernon that's fighting now. His shoulder seems to be looking better and better each time out and his sharpness is pretty damn good for an older fighter.
Yeah, the same things that would have given Oscar a problem back at welter would still give him a problem now; height, reach, etc. Vernon certainly seems to have improved since his performance against Ike. His shoulder seems to be stronger, and it shows in his jab. I think a fight between him and Oscar would be interesting.
I read Ray Ray's post. And you made a good point in that thread; there are doubts about Paris reaching his apparent potential that go beyond the violence thing. I really want to see him become the next Detroit boxing superstar, but I'm less confident than I used to be.
I wonder if his head is really in boxing right now. And from what I heard, he struggled in his last fight. At least we've got Tyner stepping it up this week. That should be a good fight.
I have the same question about Paris. And yeah, he did not look good in his last fight. This is a huge fight for Tyner. He's not young for a lightweight and a win would do a lot for his career. I'll be watching this fight closely.
The Quartey fight was a close one, with many observers saying it should have gone to Ike. It was too close to call it a robbery either way it went; Bert Sugar, among others, had Forrest taking a close decision. Good point about Vernon's jab/uppercut. :yep