Vernon Forrest has learned one of boxing’s harsh lessons: The distance from top of the heap to landing in a heap is about arm’s length.
On Saturday night, wild-swinging Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga supplied that arm. He measured previously undefeated Forrest for an overhand right that unhinged Forrest from his senses and his welterweight title.
Thus, early in the year after he was lauded as one of boxing’s top pound-for-pound fighters based on his two 2002 victories over previously unbeaten Shane Mosley, Forrest was chopped down by 6-1 underdog Mayorga via third-round technical knockout.
Mayorga is a throwback to another era in boxing and a poster boy for political incorrectness. After smoking Forrest, he smoked a cigarette in the ring, a postfight bookend to his snacking on a slice of pizza just before weighing in for the bout.
Through an interpreter, Mayorga (25-3-1 with 23 knockouts) said, “I don’t have beautiful style, but I have strength. When I hit him with the right, I knew he was going down. I threw the left to get him out of the ring.”
He almost did, flooring Forrest and leaving him sagging against the ropes as he tried to rise, convincing referee Marty Denkin he should stop the fight.
Afterward, Forrest complained that the bout was stopped too early and said he wanted an immediate rematch. Regardless of whether he meant it, he does need quick vindication.
He just lost the first bout in his new six-fight contract with HBO. The deal was devalued by Saturday’s dramatic upset, as was Forrest’s argument that he would be a more logical opponent for Oscar De La Hoya than Mosley would be.
Now Mayorga has inserted himself into the rich mix from 147 to 154 pounds alongside De La Hoya, Mosley, Forrest, Antonio Margarito, Daniel Santos, Fernando Vargas and Winky Wright.
Tyson tuneup? It appears the cash potential Mike Tyson brings to any fight is too tempting for heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis to ignore.
Lewis has backed out of his scheduled April fight against Vitali Klitschko, opting to give Tyson a rematch in June if the ex-champ wins convincingly against Clifford Etienne on Feb. 22 in Memphis.
Lewis’ devastating knockout victory last June 8 apparently didn’t jolt all the marketability out of Tyson’s persona.
Klitschko’s promoter, Klaus-Peter Kohl, said he regarded Lewis’ decision as a breach of contract and would seek legal redress.
Staying in the game: De La Hoya, the charismatic junior middleweight champion, and equally charismatic former champion Sugar Ray Leonard want to be part of boxing’s future as promoters.
Leonard will enter the ring for the first time as a promoter on Feb. 7 at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas. Junior-welterweight contenders Omar Weis and Emanuel Augustus (formerly Emanuel Burton) will fight in the 10-round main event.
The Jan. 16 debut of De La Hoya’s “Golden Boy Promotions” Latino Boxing Series drew an announced crowd of 5,182 to Los Angeles’ Grand Olympic Auditorium, the biggest crowd in the venue’s eight-year history. Super-bantamweight champion Oscar Larios won a unanimous decision over Marcos Licona in the 10-round non-title main event.
De La Hoya will step out of his promoter’s shoes and lace up a different pair to face Yory Boy Campas on May 3, a tuneup for a rematch against Mosley in September, according to De La Hoya.
Mosley calls it something else. He recalled that he was criticized for taking a “soft” opponent when he recently negotiated to fight Campas before those talks broke down.
Just jabs: Puerto Rican heavyweight Fres Oquendo, a longtime Chicago resident who returned to the island to train with Felix Trinidad’s father, Don Felix, is slated to appear on the undercard of the March 1 John Ruiz-Roy Jones heavyweight title fight. Lamon Brewster is Oquendo’s likely opponent.
On Feb. 22, the continuing fights of Gerald McClellan and Greg Page against debilitating injuries sustained in their final bouts will be recognized at a charity fundraising dinner in Rockford.
McClellan, a former world middleweight champion, has required round-the-clock care for brain damage and blindness since his 1995 loss to Nigel Benn. Page, a former heavyweight champion, sustained a traumatic brain injury in a 2001 loss to Dale Crowe.
The $100-a-plate dinner will be at the Clock Tower Resort in Rockford.
