by T.K. Stewart
Vernon Forrest faded badly in the second half of his fight with Sergio Mora on June 7th at the Mohegan Sun Casino. Forrest lost his WBC Super Welterweight title to his younger challenger and by the end of the fight he looked every minute of his 37 years.
In a story I penned the day after that fight I wrote: 'It all boiled down to the fact that Mora was younger, had more vigor, wanted it more and he took advantage of a Vernon Forrest who walked up the steps to the ring and just didn't have it. To these eyes it appeared as though nice-guy Forrest fell victim to one of the most famous axioms in boxing: "He got old overnight."
I was ringside for that fight and served as one of the Showtime network press row scorers. I tabbed Mora as the winner 115-113 after he won six of the last seven rounds of the fight on my unofficial card. Forrest is now claiming that he over-trained for the first fight and says that it will be a different story when he meets Mora in the rematch on the undercard of Joel Casamayor vs. Juan Manuel Marquez on September 13th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"People think, and there's a misconception, that I took him lightly in training," says Forrest. "And actually I didn't take him lightly, I took him very, very seriously. I was in camp from February to June for that fight. I think I peaked early. I think around the first week of May I peaked. Originally the fight was supposed to be in April, then they changed the fight to May 14th. Then they changed the fight again to June 7th."
Forrest claims that the extended time spent training caused him to be lethargic in the final weeks before the fight and when it came fight night he had nothing. He says he'll only train six weeks or so for the rematch. "I couldn't get off like I wanted to," said Forrest. "I'm changing up some of the stuff that I'm doing differently and hopefully when I'm fighting at 100% capacity you will get a better performance from me and a better result."
"People said that I grew old overnight," said Forrest. "It had nothing to do with that. It had nothing to do with that I just miraculously got old. Over-training is as worse as under-training. I was as surprised as everyone else that I couldn't pull the trigger. It had nothing to do with my age."
"I really believe it was just because that I over-did it as opposed to that I'm just getting old," said Forrest in explaining the loss. "You can't have two spectacular fights and then all of a sudden 'Boom!' If you was old then you was old in the fight before that and the fight before that one. It don't work that way."
"After four rounds I was completely done. I was completely zapped! I had nothin'! I had nothin' left. It was just sheer will that I made it twelve rounds. I think anybody could have beat me that night."
For what it's worth, this writer was also ringside when Forrest knocked out Italy's Michele Piccirillo in December of last year and the guy that fought Mora was not the same guy that fought Piccirillo. Forrest stands a good chance to regain his title if he fights just a little better. Right now the oddsmakers agree and the fight is virtually a pick 'em betting proposition.
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