Vernon Forrest made his first successful WBC light middleweight title defense on December 1, 2007 scoring an 11th round TKO over Italian Michele Piccirillo at the Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut. Forrest knocked Piccirillo in the 6th, 9th and 11th rounds before referee Arthur Mercante Jr. waved off the bout. Having not fought for a year Forrest picked up the vacant title winning a bout against former world champion Carlos Baldomir on July 28, 2007 at the Emerald Casino in Tacoma, Washington. Rapidly unloading with both hands, moving and feinting, Forrest looked good in the fight against the tough Baldomir quelling doubts about his boxing skills. The next fight for Forrest will be a fight aired on Showtime against Sergio Mora who won the first season Contender. Mora, a middleweight will move down to light middleweight to challenge Forrest.
| Fight | Location | Date | Boxing Tickets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forrest vs Mora | Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT |
June 7, 2008 Saturday 7:30 PM |
Forrest vs Mora & Quintana vs Williams Tickets |
Vernon "The Viper" Forrest
The undefeated Vernon Forrest dealt Sugar Shane Mosley his first two losses in 2002 capturing his WBC welterweight title and winning the vacant Ring Magazine welterweight championship of the world in their first meeting. But then Forrest suffered his own first defeats in 2003 at the hands of wild puncher Richardo Mayorga who took Forrest's WBC and Ring Magazine welterweight titles. Forrest didn't fight again for two years after his back to back losses to Mayorga, pledged by elbow and shoulder injuries and probably self doubt. He came back in 2005 and fought lightly regarded light middleweight opponents Sergio Rios and Elco Garcia winning both fights by TKO victory.
Forrest, now re-established in the super welterweight division got an HBO fight with former welterweight champion Ike Quartey. The fight took place on August 5, 2006 at Madison Square Garden. Forrest won by a controversial 10-round unanimous decision. Those ringside as well as the crowd thought Quartey won the fight. True, Forrest was the busier of the two but he was back peddling a lot and Quartey's good defense made it hard for Forrest to hit his target. Quartey kept the pressure on the retreating Forrest and was landing the heavier punches at a higher rate. Forrest even lost a point for a low blow in the 9th round. Yet the scores came in at 96-93, 95-94, 95-94 all for Forrest.
Forrest vs Quartey Decision
After it was announced that Vernon Forrest had won a unanimous decision victory over Ike Quartey the crowd reacted vocally loudly booing the decision and chanting bullshit.