By Mark Vester, at ringside
In a fight that was more exciting than many expected, Vernon Forrest (40-2, 29KOs) stopped Michele Piccirillo (48-4, 30KOs) in the eleventh round to retain the WBC junior middleweight title at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut.
Forrest once again came out like a slugger, rather than a boxer, and took the fight to Piccirillo. Forrest's right hand rocked Piccirillo throughout the entire fight. Piccirillo was not much of a puncher at 147 and less of a puncher at 154, which allowed Forrest to take plenty of chances in the contest.
Piccirillo was wide open for counters, feints and right hands. He was hit with more than half of the punches Forrest threw. Forrest used the left jab to set his punches up, rarely missing the mark.
In the sixth round, Forrest caught him with a looping right hand to send him down in the final ten seconds. Piccirillo's corner tried to protest the knockdown, claiming the punch that put their fighter down was intentionally thrown to the back of the head. It mattered not as Forrest scored another knockdown in the ninth, this time Piccirillo was hurt bad from a looping right hand that caught him right on the chin. Piccirillo made it to his feet and was able to make it out of the round.
The eleventh rounds saw Forrest unloading lefts and rights at will. A final right hand sent Piccirillo down on his back and the ref jumped on Piccirillo to stop the fight. Piccirillo, stopped for the first time in his career, also fell in an awkward position from the fight and possible broke his ankle.
