By Jim De Pierro

18.07 - I know everybody reading this article is reading it for my opinion on what will happen when Shane Mosley (38-1 35 KOs) will attempt to avenge his only loss to Vernon Forrest (34-0 26 KOs) who holds wins over Mosley in both the pro ranks and as an amateur. I always believe in saving the best for last so you will either have to read my opinion on some light-heavyweight action this weekend or skip down a couple of paragraphs.

Fist up on the under card of Forest-Mosley II will be another rematch between Antonio Tarver (19-1 16 KOs) and Eric Harding (21-1-1 7 KOs). Tarver’s only loss came at the hands of Eric Harding a little more than two years ago with the winner promised a shot at Roy Jones jr. title. Despite Harding’s lack of KOs he did everything to Tarver but knock him out and fractured Tarver’s jaw or ribs. The first fight was a very lopsided affair. Harding went on of course to lose Roy Jones. Harding, unlike 95% of Roy Jones opponents was actually able to hold his own against Jones before retiring in the 10th round due to a torn bicep injury. I had never really thought much of Harding as a fighter before he fought Tarver based on his one fight I saw of him against Montel Griffin. I thought Griffin won that fight and was surprised to see it given to Harding because Harding at that time was almost a complete unknown. Based on his dominating win against Tarver and his credible performance against Jones I consider Harding to be the second most talented light heavyweight in the world. Some might say that distinction should belong to Darius Michaelczewski (sp?). I have never seen Michaelczewski fight but looking at the quality of fighters Michaelczewski fights he has never beaten anyone of consequence other than Griffin IMO and I would make Harding a favorite over Michaelczewski.

Normally based on such a dominating win in the first match I would predict Harding to win easily in the rematch. I’m a little hesitant to pick Harding again because I think Tarver has marked improvement in his last two fights against Chris Omar Johnson and Reggie Johnson respectively. Tarver also recorded a 5th round TKO win against an undefeated 22-0 Lincoln Carter in a fight I don’t remember seeing. The addition of Buddy McGirt to the corner of Tarver should make this fight more competitive than the first fight. I still think Harding is technically a little more sound and more crafty than Harding and should win again albeit not as comfortably. Personally I hope to Tarver wins, not that I would really care to see Roy Jones fight either of these guys but Harding had his chance and blew it. Tarver would probably end up getting smoked if he ever stepped foot in the ring with Jones but you never know for sure in boxing.

Eric Harding UD over Antonio Tarver

For those of you who have nothing better to do Sunday night that get Fox Sports you might want to tune in to catch Montel Griffin (42-3 28 KOs) take on another Roy Jones bum of the month Derrick Harmon (22-2 10 KOs). I would be lying to you if I told you this will be an exciting fight. Griffin of course, as some of you boxing nuts know, is the only fighter who has blemished Roy Jones record when he took advantage of a Jones cheap shot when he was on one knee to win the light-heavyweight title by disqualification. Jones in the rematch made Griffin stumble around the ring like a drunken sailor as he absolutely humiliated Griffin with an awesome display of power. Its hard not to route for a guy like Derrick Harmon who goes into the ring carrying pictures of missing children especially in light of the news coverage of Elizabeth Smart and the five year old girl who was abducted from her backyard. Harmon has a somewhat I would consider somewhat conservative defense oriented style. He didn’t get beat up as much as a lot of Jones opponents but that was largely due to putting a lot of effort into defense and not throwing anything back at Jones. Harmon fought a couple times since losing to Jones against Demetrius Jenkins and Glenncoffee Johnson in remarkably dull fights. In boxing generally you shouldn’t get up to go the bathroom because you might miss something but if it’s Derrick Harmon fighting and you feel the call of nature it’s a pretty safe bet that your not going to have missed a whole lot by the time you get back.

Even though Griffin looked like a complete fool against Roy Jones (who doesn’t) and has been KO’d by Michaelczewski I still think he is a better than Harmon. Harmon has never beaten anyone that I would consider more than third tier fighter. Griffin did beat James Toney twice.

Montel Griffin UD over Derrick Harmon

Call me a believer, call me thick headed, say what you will but I really believe Mosley is going to win this fight and silence the critics. I know it sounds like sour grapes to site the head-butt as the reason for Forrest’s domination of Mosley in the first fight but sometimes the truth tastes like sour grapes. A lot has been made of the fact that Forrest had beaten Mosley in the amateur ranks and now has a victory over him in the professional ranks as well. Its funny how people are quick to site an amateur fight between Forrest and Mosley as relevant to what happened in the pro ranks but quickly forget about amateur fights involving Riddick Bowe and Jorge Luis Gonzales or Mike Tyson and Henry Tillman where Gonzales and Tillman were the victors in the amateur ranks. Amateur boxing is more about tapping than actual fighting. The difference between amateur and pro boxing is so vast that I usually dismiss the result of an amateur fight between two fighters meet in the pro ranks. If amateur bouts are as relevant in the pro ranks as a lot of Forrest supporters think they are then Vernon had better hope that Kostya Tszyu doesn’t move up to fight for the welterweight title.

There are several reasons that account Forrest’s lopsided victory over Mosley. The head-butt in and of itself didn’t seriously hurt Mosley but it did disorient Mosley enough that Forrest was able to catch Mosley with the same shots that Mosley was easily evading in the first round. The real damage that put Mosley on wobbly legs and prevented him from fighting the fight he needed to fight was done in the second round when Forrest sent Mosley to the canvas twice. I think Mosley did recover about six or seven rounds later but at that point Mosley had ceded so many of the early rounds just trying to survive that he was forced to fight a fight of desperation in an attempt to salvage his then undefeated record and hold on to his welterweight title. The only thing Forrest had to do in the last third of the fight, which he was able to do very successfully, was let Mosley come to him, tie him up and run out the clock.

Mosley has made the accusation that Forrest butted him intentionally and that the head-butt was something that Atlanta based fighters under the tutelage of Evander Holyfield are trained to do. Mosley claims that he learned this from a former sparring partner of Forrest’s, which he won’t give the name of. I don’t think there is evidence of Forrest committing an intentional foul. From looking at the tape it looks like what Forrest did would be pretty hard to intentionally butt someone that way. Forrest of all people would be the last person to want a fight to end as the result of a butt because of what happened in his first fight with Raul Frank where the IBF title remained vacant because of what was ruled an accidental head-butt. The only semi credible evidence that might even suggest that Forrest was capable of butting Mosley while making it look accidental is the fact that Forrest most likely trains in the same gym as his fellow Atlanta resident Evander Holyfield and is good friends with Bernard Hopkins. Hopkins is without a doubt one of the dirtiest fighters in the game today and he would do anything short of getting himself disqualified to beat his opponent. Holyfield in the last few years has been fairly or unfairly been getting the reputation of a fighter who uses his head. I’m undecided on whether Holyfield uses his head as an extra punch or not but the fact remains that Tyson, Ruiz, Rahman and Lewis all have complained about head-butts in fights with Holyfield. Unless you believe in guilt by association I generally give fighters the benefit of the doubt unless there is an obvious pattern of fouling that butts are unintentional. Mosley may very well have been told that by one of Forrest’s sparring partners but I think Mosley ought to consider the possibility that the information he received might be an intentional lie fed to him by the Forrest camp throw him off his game in the rematch.

Forrest a while back made an almost equally ludicrous comment that he carried Mosley because he didn’t want anybody to think that he won on a lucky punch. Yeah, right. I think the trash talking in the build up to this fight is phony. I don’t see it as an effort to sell the fight but rather an attempt at one upsmanship to gain a mental edge on their opponent. I am willing to bet that regardless of the result Shane and Vernon will be sportsmanlike at the end of the contest.

I see Mosley fighting a highly disciplined and technical fight with Forrest. Even though Mosley is the smaller of the two men I think he would be best served by keeping distance between himself and Forrest. Mosley can compensate for the natural size advantage by the fact that his natural hand speed is better than Forrest’s and he moves around the ring real well. Staying in the center of the ring is going to be crucial if Mosley wants to neutralize Forrest’s offense. Forrest enjoyed the most success in the 2nd and 10th rounds of their first fight when he had Mosley pinned up against the ropes with no place to run. To the extent that Forrest is able to cut off the ring against Mosley will be the determining factor in proving that the first fight was no fluke. One factor that I think will work mildly in favor of Forrest is that Laurence Cole is the referee. If anything ruins this fight it is likely to Cole who has a reputation for stopping fights to soon. If Cole and not Smoger had been the referee the first time its quite probable that Forrest would have won in the 2nd round. I could write another whole article on what I don’t like about Cole and the whole Texas boxing commission but needless to say Cole is one of the last people I ever like to see referee a boxing match. If Cole makes a weak stoppage in this fight he is going to be near the top of my sh** list.

I don’t see Mosley getting knocked out because I don’t think Forrest could have hit Mosley with much more than he did the first time and I doubt that he will land as much on Mosley this time. I don’t see Forrest’s first fight with Mosley as a fluke but at the same time I am not convinced that this is purely a case of styles make fights. Forrest may very well have a style that gives Mosley problems but even if that’s true Ali was still able to beat Kenny Norton two out of three times even with Norton’s awkward style. Personally I believe Ali only won the second fight out of the three but the point remains that fighters can adjust after taking a one sided beating in their first fight.

I see this fight as kind of resembling the rivalry between Cesar Bazan and Stevie Johnston. Bazan, like Forrest held a natural size advantage over the clearly smaller Johnston and was able to frustrate the smaller man in their first fight. Johsnton, like Mosley entered as the favorite and was the quicker of the two but was continually beaten to the punch and outworked in their first fight. One of the things that make Stevie Johsnton one of my favorite fighters was how he was able to adapt in the rematch by darting in getting a few shots in then getting out before Bazan could do any serious damage. Johnston was able to eek a fairly comfortable unanimous decision to reclaim his title. I expect Mosley will do the same by a majority decision.

Shane Mosley MD over Vernon Forrest

Agree? Disagree? Think I’m full of it? E-mail me at dman4673@earthlink.net or post a comment and tell me what you think.