The Ring No. 3 Ranked Welterweight Former welterweight champion
Result
Forrest defeats Mosley via unanimous decision
Shane Mosley vs. Vernon Forrest, billed as Sweet Revenge, was a professional boxing match contested on January 26, 2002, for the WBC and The Ring welterweight championship.[1]
Background
Following his third defence of the welterweight belt he won from Oscar De La Hoya, stopping Adrian Stone in the 3rd round, Shane Mosley said he would looking towards either a rematch with De La Hoya, or a unification fight against unbeaten IBF champion Vernon Forrest.[2]
Forrest meanwhile had finally secured his first world title, defeating Raul Frank at the second attempt (the first ending in a no contest) in May 2001.
In December 2001 it was confirmed that Mosley and Forrest would face off on January 26.[3] The IBF would strip Forrest of their title for not defending against mandatory Michele Piccirillo.[4]
Forrest was the last man to defeat Mosley, upsetting him in the 1992 Olympic trials just before he turned pro. Mosley denied he held a grudge against Forrest, saying in the build up "I forgot about the Olympic fight. The only thing I remember is I lost. They raised his hand, and I lost. After that, I put it all behind me. From that day forth, I swore to knock everyone out."[5] Forrest was a 7 to 1 underdog.
The fight
After a competitive 1st round, a clash of heads early in the 2nd cut Mosley on the hairline. After a brief pause the action resumed with Forrest hurting Mosley with combinations before catching him with a right that send him for the first time in his career. He quickly rose to his feet and continued but looked wobbly. Forrest would continue landing hard punches, with Mosley hitting the canvas again at the end of the round with the bell saving him from further attacks. Forrest would continue to outbox and dominate the action landing the cleaner and harder punches, with Mosley unable to change the tempo of the bout. In the 10th Forrest landed a hard right followed a hook, a right uppercut and another right that seemed to hurt Mosley, but the champion would last the full 12 round distance.
At the end of the bout, all three judges scored the bout for Forrest with Tom Kaczmarek having it, 115–110, Melvina Lathan 117–108 and Julie Lederman 118–108, making him a two time welterweight champion.[6][7]
HBO's unofficial scorer Harold Lederman scored the bout 117–109 for Forrest.
Aftermath
Speaking after the bout a jubilant Forrest said "Shane Mosley is supposed to be the best boxer in boxing. They call him the Michael Jordan of boxing, and I beat him. Am I going to be Michael Jordan?" Mosley was gracious in the defeat, but admitted that he fought the wrong fight saying "I want a rematch, I fought it wrong, probably should have boxed with him instead of pounded with him."[8] He did praise Forrest saying "Vernon is an excellent fighter. He put combos together well."
