Forrest vs. Mora: Has Vernon Gotten Too Old For Boxing?

By Boxing News - 09/09/2008 - Comments

forrest446646.jpgBy Scott Gilfoid: Sometimes a fighter just get old overnight and loses it. That seems to be the case for Vernon Forrest (40-3, 29 KOs) who challenges World Boxing Council light middleweight champion Sergio Mora (21-01, 5 KOs) on Saturday night at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Forrest, 37 and quickly approaching 38, has steadfastly made excuses for his past defeat to Mora three months ago, a 12-round majority decision loss, saying that he was bored and hadn’t trained properly for the fight, explaining why he had lacked energy all fight long and run out of gas by the third round.

However, it looked as if Mora, 27, had a lot to do with Forrest running out of energy so quickly. Mora fought an outstanding fight, jabbing often, moving constantly, faking Forrest out of position, and hitting him to the body and head with strong left hooks.

The jabs alone, which Mora shot steadily at the midsection of Forrest all fight long, also seemed to be a big factor as to why Mora was so successful against the aging star. This time, Forrest contends that he’s trained much harder for this Saturday’s fight, and that we’ll be seeing a different Forrest than we did last time out.

Let’s hope so for his sake. Mora, a crafty puncher with power that’s greatly underrated, was all over the ring last time out, outworking the older Forrest and seeming to have too much youth and energy for Forrest to keep up with. It was like watching a young son with an older father on the playground, and although Forrest fought well at times in the fight, he was rarely ever able to fight hard for the full three minutes of every round like Mora did.

I thought Forest did a commendable job in the first couple of rounds, but after that things soured quickly as he seemed to lose energy almost immediately. First couple of rounds were more of a feeling out period for Mora, who looked as if he was trying to figure Forrest out during that time. However, once he got started, Mora never looked hesitant again as he worked Forrest over with hooks and jabs, hitting him many more times than he was being hit. Forrest didn’t look bad when Mora would slow down and stand directly in front of him like most of Forrest’s opponents tend to do.

Indeed, when Mora would stop or fight against the ropes, Forrest looked almost as good as he did earlier in his career, hitting Mora with powerful hooks and uppercuts to the head. But, when Mora would start moving around the ring, forcing Forrest to use his old legs to follow him around, things were much different. Forrest started looking haggard, as if he was using up too much of his energy at too rapid a rate. Mora, it seemed, wasn’t allowing Forrest to get his much needed rest breaks, making him fight much harder than his weary 37 year-old body could fight at.

The outcome of the fight, a close majority win for Mora, gives a false sense of the actual fight that took place. There was nothing close about the fight, and in truth, Mora probably should have been awarded a lopsided 12-round decision. He looked as if he won nine of the twelve rounds without any problems, and simply gave away the first two rounds while studying Forrest. I think Mora would have won those rounds too if he had chosen to fight Forrest in those rounds. As it is, I think Forrest was only capable of winning one round on his own in the fight, the 5th, in which he landed well earlier in the round.

Even in that round, however, Mora dominated the last two minutes of it, hitting Forrest with numerous left hooks. After the 5th, Mora easily won the remaining rounds by outworking Forrest both on the inside and outside, and making him look ancient in the process. I can understand a fighter being out of shape and losing because of it, but even in those circumstances, they will still fight competitively in a significant amount rounds. In Forrest’s case, I couldn’t see him fighting well at any time in the fight.

There was no indication that he had the ability, stamina or youth to fight competitively with the former star from The Contender reality television program. Forrest just looked old and more than a little shot. He may have looked good in his prior fights against Carlos Baldomir and Michele Piccirillo, two stationary fighters with little movement, but against a pure boxer like Mora with slick moves and excellent defensive skills, Forrest was out of his league.

I can’t see anything changing in the rematch, other than perhaps Forrest getting beaten even worse next time out. Mora has already said that he’s going to start fighting hard sooner in the fight, that he won’t be just giving away the first two rounds like he did last time out, and that he plans on making Forrest work hard for the entire fight. If Mora follows through with his fight plan, then I can’t see Forrest winning the fight. In fact, I can’t see him winning more than one, possibly two rounds. Mora is too young, quick and elusive for a fighter the age of Forrest.

Prediction: Mora by a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision.