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TEMECULA – Vernon Forrest has had a friend in boxing. His friend has been cortisone.
It has been his balm, soothing the aches in his left elbow and shoulder and comforting him while he was establishing himself as the world's ranking welterweight.
"Me and cortisone got along real well," Forrest was saying yesterday. "We won two championships together."
But a man can take only so much cortisone. By Forrest's account, the injections caused the joints in his left arm to deteriorate. "I can't take it anymore. I have no other choice," he said.
He has lost a friend.
Forrest is moving on. At 34, now a junior middleweight, he proceeds with what he insists is not a comeback but "a return" to boxing at the Pechanga Resort and Casino tonight when he engages Elco "The Animal" Garcia of Durango, Colo., in a scheduled 10-round bout being televised on Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
First bout is at 6. Also on the program is a scheduled eight-round junior welterweight match between Hector Camacho Jr. of Orlando, Fla. (38-1-1, 22 KOs), and Nelson Estupinan of Delicias, Mexico (12-1, 9 KOs).
Forrest (36-2, 27 KOs) will be appearing at one of the two sites where he has experienced defeat. It was at Pechanga in January 2003 that Ricardo Mayorga of Nicaragua stopped him in the third round, stripping the Augusta, Ga., native of his WBC and WBA welterweight titles. Forrest and Mayorga fought again in Las Vegas the following July, Mayorga claiming a majority decision in a bout that one of the judges scored a draw.
Forrest, boxing's Fighter of the Year in 2002 after his two conquests of Sugar Shane Mosley, planned to box Teddy Reid in April 2004, but by then the discomfort from his injuries was too much and he had to withdraw from the scheduled bout. For two years, he was idled.
Now – he should excuse the expression – he comes back for his second appearance at 154 pounds. While he said he is not overlooking Garcia or any other fighter he might engage, the man he wants is Mayorga.
"Because I have to beat that guy," he said. "We definitely have to fight again. He's a guy I will always seek to fight, no matter how much longer I am in the sport."
His motivation is pride. "Absolutely, pride," he said. "It is nothing more than pride. I am a very prideful man."
And seemingly a very fit man. Forrest appeared svelte yesterday when like Garcia he weighed in at 154, the junior middleweight limit. "If the bigger fights are not at 154, they soon will be," promised the former champion.
As Forrest is, Garcia is 34. There their similarities end. Garcia (18-3, 8 KOs) has won 15 of his past 16 bouts and never has been knocked down, but he has not been in with fighters of Forrest's class.
"But he (Forrest) has been fighting at 147," said Jacob Maes, Garcia's manager. "We're not a 147-pound chump. My guy is a big man. He has nothing to lose. We're not here for the money; we're not here to be a punching bag; we're here to pull the upset. If it's a boxing match, he probably will outbox us, but it looks like he's playing into our game."
Forrest said he expects to put on what he termed "a fantastic performance," adding, "Get ready for fireworks."
It has been his balm, soothing the aches in his left elbow and shoulder and comforting him while he was establishing himself as the world's ranking welterweight.
"Me and cortisone got along real well," Forrest was saying yesterday. "We won two championships together."
But a man can take only so much cortisone. By Forrest's account, the injections caused the joints in his left arm to deteriorate. "I can't take it anymore. I have no other choice," he said.
He has lost a friend.
Forrest is moving on. At 34, now a junior middleweight, he proceeds with what he insists is not a comeback but "a return" to boxing at the Pechanga Resort and Casino tonight when he engages Elco "The Animal" Garcia of Durango, Colo., in a scheduled 10-round bout being televised on Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show Period."
First bout is at 6. Also on the program is a scheduled eight-round junior welterweight match between Hector Camacho Jr. of Orlando, Fla. (38-1-1, 22 KOs), and Nelson Estupinan of Delicias, Mexico (12-1, 9 KOs).
Forrest (36-2, 27 KOs) will be appearing at one of the two sites where he has experienced defeat. It was at Pechanga in January 2003 that Ricardo Mayorga of Nicaragua stopped him in the third round, stripping the Augusta, Ga., native of his WBC and WBA welterweight titles. Forrest and Mayorga fought again in Las Vegas the following July, Mayorga claiming a majority decision in a bout that one of the judges scored a draw.
Forrest, boxing's Fighter of the Year in 2002 after his two conquests of Sugar Shane Mosley, planned to box Teddy Reid in April 2004, but by then the discomfort from his injuries was too much and he had to withdraw from the scheduled bout. For two years, he was idled.
Now – he should excuse the expression – he comes back for his second appearance at 154 pounds. While he said he is not overlooking Garcia or any other fighter he might engage, the man he wants is Mayorga.
"Because I have to beat that guy," he said. "We definitely have to fight again. He's a guy I will always seek to fight, no matter how much longer I am in the sport."
His motivation is pride. "Absolutely, pride," he said. "It is nothing more than pride. I am a very prideful man."
And seemingly a very fit man. Forrest appeared svelte yesterday when like Garcia he weighed in at 154, the junior middleweight limit. "If the bigger fights are not at 154, they soon will be," promised the former champion.
As Forrest is, Garcia is 34. There their similarities end. Garcia (18-3, 8 KOs) has won 15 of his past 16 bouts and never has been knocked down, but he has not been in with fighters of Forrest's class.
"But he (Forrest) has been fighting at 147," said Jacob Maes, Garcia's manager. "We're not a 147-pound chump. My guy is a big man. He has nothing to lose. We're not here for the money; we're not here to be a punching bag; we're here to pull the upset. If it's a boxing match, he probably will outbox us, but it looks like he's playing into our game."
Forrest said he expects to put on what he termed "a fantastic performance," adding, "Get ready for fireworks."