Forrest beats Mosley to win welterweight crown

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Posted 7:30AM on Sunday, January 27, 2002

NEW YORK - Whether it be amateur or pro, Vernon Forrest is just too much for Shane Mosley. Forrest, a 7-1 underdog, knocked down Mosley twice in the second round and had him in deep trouble in the 10th to win a unanimous decision and become the WBC welterweight champion Saturday night. The last time Mosley lost was to Forrest in a three-round bout in the semifinals of the 1992 Olympic trials. Forrest said before the fight that the result would be the same as it was 10 years ago. Not too many people believed him. After all, many considered Mosley the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Forrest backed up his boast with a big right hand. The fight actually was a two-round match, the second and the 10th when Forrest picked up most of his winning margin. Early in the second round, the fighters clashed heads and both staggered backward as referee Steve Smoger called time. Mosley sustained a cut on the hairline. When action resumed, Forrest brought a roar from the sellout crowd of 5,323 fans in the Theater at Madison when he landed a tremendous right that sent Mosley backward. Forrest followed up with two more rights, and Mosley went down. Mosley got up at four and tried desperately to stay out of further trouble as Forrest pursued him around the ring. About 10 seconds before the bell, he landed a right hand. As Mosley tried to grab him he fell and it was ruled a knockdown. This time Mosley got up as the bell rang. ``I have a radar on my right hand,'' Forrest said. ``It was a heat-seeking missile, and I was on target with it all night.'' Forrest said the collision of heads did not bother him, but it did get to Mosley. ``The head butt affected me,'' Mosley said. ``I was bad, but not so bad I couldn't see or anything.'' In the 10th round, Forrest - who also went into the fight unbeaten - landed a hard right and followed with a hook, a right uppercut and another right that hurt Mosley. But Mosley was able to last out the round. ``It's very ironic that this is the guy who beat me last time,'' the 147-pound Mosley said. ``I want a rematch.'' After the second round, Mosley got through the third round and then fought gamely, holding his own until he ran into trouble again in the 10th. Tom Kaczmarek scored the fight 115-100, Melvina Lathan saw it 117-108, and Julie Lederman had it as 118-108 for Forrest. The AP scored it 116-109 for Forrest. The defeat capped a rough four-month run in New York for fighters considered the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. On Sept. 29, Felix Trinidad Jr., who laid claim to that honor, was knocked out by Bernard Hopkins in the 12th round for the undisputed middleweight championship in the main Garden arena. Forrest certainly boosted his stock with the upset that made his record 34-0 with 27 knockouts. He's also been in one no contest. Forrest, 146 pounds, had won the IBF welterweight championship last May 15 but that title was stripped from him when he signed to fight Mosley rather than IBF No. 1 contender Michele Piccirillo. The loss left Mosley, a former IBF lightweight champion who was defending the WBC welterweight title for the fourth time, 38-1 with 35 knockouts.