FORREST STUNNED BY MAYORGA
By Cliff Clark
26.01: Ten to one underdog Ricardo Mayorga scored a shockingly upset over previously undefeated Vernon Forrest In Temecula, CA tonight by luring a superior boxer into a slugging contest. Severely criticized for fighting a tactical battle in a dull rematch with Shane Mosley in his last fight, Vernon Forrest, who was everybody's fighter of the year for 2002, went to war with iron-jawed slugger Ricardo Mayorga. Mayorga goaded Forrest at every opportunity leading up to the fight. Forrest in turn promised to "Close his mouth." Mayorga got the reaction he wanted.
The fight started out as a boxing match. Forrest and Mayorga cautiously circled each other to the left and threw tentative jabs and straight rights to open the first round. After the fighters landed only a couple of jabs to the body in the first minute the pace heated up a bit. Forrest landed a couple of 1-2 combos to the head, and Mayorga grabbed his head. Forrest flung him off drawing a warning from referee Marty Denkin. Forrest was out scoring Mayorga with his jab and straight right, and looked to have won the first round by a good margin when a wild left hook caught him high on the cheek with about 12 seconds to go. Vernon immediately answered with a right to the jaw, but when another wild left hook missed behind his head, Forrest ducked and moved to his left. Forrest's left foot then tripped over Mayorga's right foot. Forrest slipped to the canvas as another left hook from Mayorga whizzed over his head without connecting. The referee incorrectly ruled a knockdown and Forrest lost a round by 2 points that he clearly should have won. Forrest protested the knockdown call smiling, talking and shaking his head.
Between rounds trainer and chief second Ronnie Shields told Forrest "Don't back Up." At the bell for the second round Forrest met Mayorga head on. He was promptly driven across the ring and into the ropes. Vernon spun out and went to war. Following orders from his corner, he stayed on Mayorga for the whole round and blasted him with terrific punches. Forrest appeared to be trying for the KO. Mayorga appeared unhurt from the assault, but remarked to his corner, "Boy! That black guy hits hard." Forrest won the round by a wide margin, but he took several hard punches. He already appeared slightly drained from the effort of slugging with a slugger.
During the break Shields continued to tell Forrest to stay in the center of the ring and not to back up. In the 3rd round Forrest got nailed with several brutal rights behind the ear. Despite taking punishment, Forrest seemed bent on hurting Mayorga and stopping him. When he caught Mayorga with a good right uppercut, he walked straight into him and tried to finish him. Vernon took some very hard punches in a wicked exchange. A few seconds later Forrest missed with a wild right swing. He missed so badly that he threw himself into the ropes like an amateur. A wild Forrest left hook missed as well, and he was blasted into the ropes by a countering right hand to the temple. Forrest fell with his back against the ropes and sprawled onto his knees with his legs doubled under him. Mayorga quickly smashed his left forearm to Vernon's face as he lay there. Forrest was in an extremely awkward position, but he awkwardly pulled himself to his feet by the ropes. Instead of completing the eight count and asking Forrest to walk toward him like he should have done, Denkin waved a finger in front of Vernon's face and stopped the fight. Forrest protested, but not very vociferously because his corner immediately sat him down. Denkin has been severely criticized after some recent fights he's refereed, and I'm sure he will be for this one as well.
Ronnie Shields is a great boxing trainer, but he did a lousy job tonight. Between rounds he gave Forrest some extremely bad advice. He told him "Don't back up. Stay in there and get under those wild swings." Now if Mayorga was a straight-ahead slugger type--like Tyson or Frazier--that might be good advice. Many sluggers don't fight very well backing up, so you try to back them up. However, Mayorga is extremely comfortable moving backwards. His nickname in Nicaragua is "El Matador." He's a dangerous freestyle swinger with a very heavy jab and terrific short right. He often backs up for a minute or two, boxing and catching his wind. Not that he's a very good boxer, but he does this to gather himself for another bombs away charge. And even if you used the strategy of backing him up, you don't try to drive tough sluggers backwards with wild left hooks and right hooks. If you have the height, reach and weapons of a Forrest, you use the jab and straight right more. And you pace yourself. Mayorga can absorb a terrific punch, and his punches are so compact that when a very tall fighter attempts to duck his right hooks on the inside, he tends to get punched in the back of the head. This happened to Vernon. Another important point is that Mayorga weighed 161 coming into the ring. He's a very strong welterweight. Forrest should have used his superior boxing skills, and his superior jab and straight right. He should have moved more and utilized the entire ring. And he should have tied Mayorga up on the inside. Shields should have been telling Forrest to box, to move, to stay outside, and to use the jab and straight right as primary weapons, and to be very patient and not try for the early KO. He should have told him to stop looking for the homerun shot. Mayorga can be out-boxed, but not out-slugged. I find Forrest's tactics amazing because in a recent interview he said he had to out-box Mayorga.
A rematch between Mayorga and Forrest should be next on their agenda.
cliffclark77@hotmail.com
