Mayorga Knockout over Forrest headlines Eight Bout card

By Kent Appel @ Ringside

28.01 - I couldn't help thinking I as sat in the grand ballroom of the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California this past Saturday night, January 25, 2003, waiting for the much anticipated match up between WBC welterweight champion Vernon Forrest of Atlanta, Georgia and WBA champion Ricardo Mayorga of Managua, Nicaragua, that an upset was in the making.

I had been to the weigh in and press conference on Friday afternoon and my feeling came from something I couldn't quantify. It came from a hunch I felt when I looked at Mayorga, a 6 to 1 underdog going into the fight, that he had a look about him that told me he felt he couldn't fail and that he was ready for the fight of his life. Of course, you folks are just going to have to take my word for it. Such is usually the case when you have a feeling and you don't tell anyone about it.

The feeling I had went beyond the usual bravado that accompanies any press conference before a major fight. That Mayorga said, "take a picture of him as that will be the last of him and he will have to ask his mother if he wants a rematch," did nothing to sway my opinion on what was to transpire as did the comment by Forrest to the fans, "get your popcorn, sodas, or whatever, as this is going to be an early night." Little did Forrest know that it would be him on the receiving end of an early trip home! Mayorga just had the look and attitude of a real warrior.

The Mayorga/Forrest fight, one of two bouts shown on live HBO television, was part of an eight fight live card presented by DiBella Entertainment and Pechanga in association with Goossen Tutor Promotions.

The fight started out fairly slowly with Forrest controlling what little action there was with a left jab and occasional right hand through most of the first round. The course of events changed with about ten seconds left in the round when Mayorga tagged Forrest with a hard left hook that he followed up with a four punch combination that floored Forrest for the first time in the fight. One of the punches seemed to land on the back of Forrest's head, which drew a warning to Mayorga from referee Marty Denkin. But Denkin ruled it a knockdown, much to Forrest's dismay, who didn't appear hurt as the bell sounded to end the round. I gave Mayorga the round by a score of only 10 to 9, based on the knockdown and the fact Forrest had won most of the round.

An angry Forrest came out for round two determined to show Mayorga who was boss and he played right into the hands of the Nicaraguan slugger. Forrest got the better of some heated exchanges in this round but it took him out of his fight plan of setting up his combinations behind a left jab and it foreshadowed the explosive events in the next fateful round, which turned out to be the last of the fight and the last of his championship reign.

Forrest again tried to show his dominance in the third round but Mayorga was gaining momentum by landing some hard right hands early in the round and again at the mid point. Forrest fought back with a powerful combination that appeared to slow down Mayorga for a moment at mid round but he couldn't maintain his advantage as Mayorga seemed to be largely unaffected by Forrest's punches. Mayorga stormed back at about the two minute mark of the round with a powerful combination punctuated by a tremendous right hand that put Forrest down for the second time in the fight. Forrest arose at the count of six but referee Denkin determined that he was unable to continue awarding the fight to Mayorga by TKO at 2:06 of the third round.

What is next for Ricardo Mayorga? He didn't rest on his laurels after scoring a win over Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis to win the WBA title, and I don't expect him to do so now, even though he earned it with his great victory over WBC champion Forrest, who was considered the consensus best welterweight in the world going into the fight. I would like to see a rematch between him and Forrest or maybe another title unification fight against Michelle Piccirillo of Italy, the holder of the other major welterweight championship, the IBF title. Whatever he chooses to do, I am sure he will take on the challenge full steam ahead as Mayorga is not the kind of fighter to back down from anyone. Mayorga, 29, improves his record to 25-3-1, 23 by KO.

Vernon Forrest, at the age of 32, can still be at the top of his game and he has come too far to turn back now. He was coming off the best year of his career that was capped by two victories over "Sugar" Shane Mosley and I think he would have a chance to regain his glory by defeating Mayorga if the two fight a rematch. That is if he doesn't fall into the trap of fighting Mayorga's fight by slugging it out with him. With the loss, Forrest falls from the ranks of the unbeaten to a mark of 35-1, 26 by KO.

Mayorga weighed in at 146 pounds for the fight while Forrest tipped the scales at a half pound under the 147 pound division limit.

In the ten round CO feature super featherweight bout, also shown on live HBO television, Former world champion Joel Casamayor of Miami, Florida, took on Nate Campbell of Jacksonville, Florida.

Casamayor, a southpaw, overcame a strong performance by Campbell, who effectively used right lead punches to offset Casamayor's left handed stance, particularly in the early rounds of the fight. But as the bout wore on, Casamayor used an effective counter-punching style, at times fighting with his back to the ropes, to score more and more with combinations to the body and the head to build up enough points to outscore Campbell on all three judges scorecards. The unanimous verdict was by the scores of 98 to 92, 97 to 93, and 96 to 94. I saw the fight by the score of 97 to 94 for the winner, Casamayor. With the win, Casamayor, 132 pounds, improves to 29-1, 18 by KO, while Campbell, 131 pounds goes to 23-1, 21 by KO.

On the non televised under card the results were as follows: Cedric Boswell, 238 pounds of Detroit, Michigan used a strong two fisted attack, featuring the right lead, to wear down Jim Strohl, 222 pounds of Decatur, Illinois to score a fifth round knockout at 2:46 of the round. Boswell improves to 21-0, 16 by KO while Strohl falls to 24-3, 20 by KO. Yuri Foreman, 153 1/2 pounds originally from Haifa, Israel now residing in New York, New York used powerful left/right combinations to set up a final left/right combo to knockout William Evans, 153 pounds of Topeka, Kansas at 1:38 of the first round. Foreman goes to 8-0, 4 by KO while Evans is now 4-3, 3 by KO.

Xavier Tolliver, 147 pounds of Atlanta, Georgia dominated every round with excellent combinations to score a fourth round TKO over Jerry Sarabay, 146 pounds of Honolulu, Hawaii when Sarabay was unable to come out for the fifth round due to a possible broken ear drum. Tolliver is now 11-2, 8 by KO while Sarabay falls to 4-3, 3 by KO. Malcolm Tann, 226 pounds of Seaboard, North Carolina, 2002 Golden Gloves national champion improved his record to 4-0, 2 by KO with a right handed one punch knockout at 23 seconds of the first round over Milan Roldzak, 225 pounds of Northridge, California. Roldzak falls to 4-5, 4 by KO.

Robert Allen, 163 pounds of Atlanta, Georgia knocked out Kevin Hall, 163 pounds of Virginia Beach, Virginia at 1:17 of the first round. Allen improves to 34-4, 25 by KO while Hall steps back to 18-7-1, 12 by KO. Derek Bryant, 231 pounds of Philadelphia, Penn knocked out Damon Reed, 211 pounds of Topeka, Kansas at 2:52 of the second round to improve to 16-0, 14 by KO while Reed falls to 34-7, 24 by KO.

After the fight card was over I got a chance to briefly chat with IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd. I asked Byrd who he would be fighting next and he said, he was looking to fight the winner of John Ruiz verses Roy Jones Junior, the WBA heavyweight championship fight to be held in March. I asked him, who do you think will win, Ruiz or Jones? He answered, "I am not sure as it will be a tough fight." He did say though, "if Roy wins, he doesn't want to fight me." Interesting comment!