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Damn, what a war. The greatest three round fight since Hagler-Hearns. Forrest, unwilling to let Mayorga establish himself as the stronger man, elects to stand and trade with the Nicaraguan slugger. Forrest goes down in the first round as a result of the delayed reaction he suffered at the hands of a vicious Mayorga left hook.
Forrest recovers well and starts to inflict some serious damage to Mayorga with uppercuts and right hands. Mayorga comes back undaunted and answers back with power shots of his own. In between rounds, Mayorga tells his corner "This black guy hits hard".
In the third round, Mayorga comes out winging power shots again, and Forrest starts to get discouraged by his inability to turn back his foe. After stunning Forrest with an errant right hand that landed on the back of Forrest's head, Forrest goes down from a chopping right hand. Referee Marty Denkin stopped the fight and awarded Mayorga the improbable upset victory. What a fight, and a learning experience for Forrest. Although Forrest lost the rematch (on a night in which I feel he deserved the decision), he learned not to underestimate his foe. He better use that experience tonight, or risk falling into a similar trap against Ghanaian legend Ike "Bazooka" Quartey.
As called by HBO commentators Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant:
"And they're gonna have a war! This is not the fight that Vernon wanted!
Vernon wobbling as he throws the right hand and he goes down! Goes down in the face of a crushing right hand. And that time he was seriously hurt. Look at the wobbling in Vernon's eyes. Marty Denkin stops the fight! And Ricardo Mayorga has done it!"
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