Forrest Wants Mayorga/Forrest 3

Can Forrest redeem himself against Mayorga? BY Elliot Worsell: A 90% fit Vernon Forrest was a calculated fighting force. The former IBF, WBA and WBC welterweight champion who demolished the sugar sweet reputation of Shane Mosley was a textbook, jab-right-cross boxing machine. His fundamentals worked like clockwork. His boxing brain almost hummed as he shifted through his repertoire of punches on the 147 lb division. So one can only wonder what impact a 100% package could have achieved. The 34-year-old Forrest, at Wednesday's conference call (July 6), explained how that package has never been fully realised, and barring a near miracle recovery, possibly never will. Forrest has, after all, been away from the ring since July 2003 because of a long-term shoulder injury. "My shoulder will never be 100% again," Forrest explained. "But I'll take 70% or 80%, and we'll go from there. I'm about 80% right now." Forrest, 36-2 (26), will tackle unheralded Californian junior-middleweight Sergio Rios next Saturday night (July 16), on the undercard to Bernard Hopkins' middleweight title defence against Jermain Taylor. The credentials and reputation of his next foe are irrelevant. For the self proclaimed 'Viper' it's just good to be back and spitting venom. "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years," Forrest proclaimed in his best LL Cool J drawl. "There have been a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of disappointments when trying to get back. I haven't fought for two years, not because I didn't want to fight, but because I couldn't fight due to physical ailment." That physical ailment, a problem that has recurred throughout the Georgia native's 13-year career, was a complicated one and set the 5'11 box-puncher back longer than expected. "I've always had problems with my left shoulder, but before, I couldn't get the marquee fights, so I could afford to take breaks and give the shoulder a cortisone shot. But when I got into the position of making a lot of money and gaining recognition, I just had to push on through the pain barrier in fights. I got used to taking so many cortisone shots that it deteriorated my joint. I tried protecting my shoulder while throwing punches and that eventually took its toll on my elbow." "So I ended up having surgery on both my shoulder and my elbow," the unlucky ex champ continued. "I've had three surgeries in the two years I've been away. In the first, I was supposed to have the rotator cuff fixed and in the second they went into the shoulder to stop bone-to-bone rubbing, where my cartilage had worn away. Then I had to have a third surgery in January to fix all the things the surgeon should have fixed the first time!" "I'm still due a fourth surgery on my elbow, but I've had to put that one off." It all could have been so much easier for Forrest, too, had certain people heeded the signals Vernon was sending during his seven months of physiotherapy treatment. "Before my surgery I went through seven months of physiotherapy because, even though I told everyone that I needed surgery, they said it could be fixed with just physio. So once I completed the physio I returned to training and my shoulder went out again. So, this time I had to have surgery. That all set me back another five or six months. Then, when I started training again, I found out that my arm wasn't fixed right and it would require more surgery. After each surgery I kept telling the doctors that my arm felt exactly the same as it did before surgery. That was the frustrating part of it all." Yet, adversity and setback are not abnormal for this vastly experienced prizefighter who compiled a staggering 225-16 record as an accomplished US amateur. He has, after all, only ever entered the ring with dodgy shoulder in tow. He knows no different. This from a man whose fighting style, laser-like jab and booming right cross were once likened to famed Detroit puncher Thomas 'Hitman' Hearns. He explained his recurring difficulties with the troublesome left shoulder to the assembled media: "The injury has always affected me throughout my career. I always used to fight like I was running a long distance race to get me through the pain. I'd start fast, build up a lead and then cruise through to the finish before my shoulder gave out on me. It affected my jab and my left hook. I've never really been able to throw a good left hook because of it, as I can't manage to bring the hook across my body. If you watch my fights you'll see me throwing a lot of straight shots, and that's because of the shoulder problems." He's not expecting the problems to ease up after two-years away from the brutality of boxing, either. One gets a sense his comeback - or, I should say, return - is only happening because the name 'Vernon Forrest' has become nearly archaic in today's boxing landscape. A lot can happen in 24 months. "It's come to the point now where I'm back to fighting through the pain again. I've been away for two years because of injury, and now I have to resurface," Forrest explained, as though 'boxing' and 'Vernon Forrest' has to become synonymous once again. "I've had to alter the way I throw my punches because of the surgery. One day I hope to be able to go back to the time when I had no pain while throwing punches, and I could just work on the basics again. To be able to just focus on technique and refining the basics is what I was all about. I've had to alter my basics to allow me to continue fighting, and hopefully the changes I've made will help carry me to the top again." "When I snap out my jab now, I have to shorten it. I can't extend my arm out as far as most people can. If I shoot it out like a straight arrow it hurts." A near jab-less Vernon Forrest? Say it ain't so. Perhaps, given Forrest's honesty about his injuries, the hampered 'Viper' will be easy to match in the coming months as he looks to re-launch his bid for welterweight supremacy. Or maybe, as he explains, a new challenge at 154 lbs lies ahead. "There's no guarantee I'll stay at junior-middleweight, but that's where I am right now. I have some unfinished business in the welterweight division, though. I want to be the undisputed champion at welterweight, because that's something I failed to achieve before. I was the unified champion but never undisputed. There's a lot of competition at 154, though, so we'll see what the best offers are that come up. I'm going to let my body take it's own course and see where I go from there." So what of the inexperienced Rios, who will feel the heat of the restored and recharged Vernon Forrest next weekend? Where does he fit into the masterplan? "Right now, I see myself taking a step down from the big name fighters that are out there," explained Forrest as though he'd just slammed down the slo-mo button on the talk of big fights. "After next Saturday I'm looking to fight two more times before the end of the year. I'm looking to be out again six weeks after my fight on July 16th. I'm not going to be rushed into a big fight like Felix Trinidad did after his layoff (against Ronald 'Winky' Wright). I've got a minor league assignment to do against Rios, as I'm coming off an injury. I want to have time to build up my physical confidence again, and with my physical confidence comes my mental confidence." "Once I'm fully ready I want anyone out there with those green belts, blue belts, red belts or black belts." One expects Forrest to plan his 2005 re-emergence in the same manner he so efficiently boxed inside the ropes. Calmly, calculated, and with a real deliberate air to every move or shake he performs. The definitive thinking mans fighter. So much so that he's already lined up his dream fight - and indeed only vital fight - against sole conqueror Ricardo Mayorga. "I want to fight Ricardo Mayorga again. That fight will definitely take place. I don't even have to be 100% for it. I just need a couple of fights to get back into things, and then we can do that. He's the only fighter I truly want to fight - everyone else is just a possible option. Mayorga has beaten me and shown he is the better fighter in one fight. But I feel I beat him in the second fight, and deep down believe I am the overall better fighter." Whether, physically, Forrest deems himself 70%, 80% or 90% ready for action in his return, there's little doubt the boxing brain still tallies in at 100%. Encouragingly for Vernon, that's one factor that has always helped him throughout his career, and cannot be botched by reluctant surgeons. July 6, 2005.