VERNON FORREST

updated September 15, 2008

Vernon Forrest was born in Augusta, Georgia on February 12, 1971, the sixth of eight children. Vernon Forrest compiled an impressive 225-16 amateur record, which included capturing the 1992 junior welterweight world amateur champion and 1991 U.S. junior welterweight national title. He received a scholarship to Northern Michigan University, were he studied business administration and trained with the U.S. National Team under the tutelage of head coach Al Mitchell, who was to become a coach and technical advisor of the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team. Fulfilling his Olympic dream was the only reason Vernon Forrest left college. Vernon Forrest was proud to represent the United States as a light welterweight in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Summer Games. Vernon Forrest's Olympic Games coach Al Mitchell remains on his coaching staff today.

Vernon Forrest made his professional debut on November 25, 1992. The 6-foot welterweight with a 73-inch reach kept winning as a professional and by 1996 Vernon Forrest stopped 13 out of 15 opponents-five in the first round. He secured his first professional title -- IBC Jr. Welterweight Championship- - in November 1995. This was only Vernon's fourteenth fight. He went on to secure his second title -- the WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Championship -- with a unanimous decision over Ray Oliveira. He eventually relinquished the WBC Continental Americas crown to fight Adrian Stone for the available NABF Welterweight crown. A left hook broke Stones jaw and Vernon Forrest was victorious again and now, three-time champion.

From December 1998 to June 1999, as NABF Welterweight champion, Vernon Forrest stayed busy and dispatched every opponent he faced until he got his chance to fight for the vacant IBF Welterweight Championship against Raul Frank in August 2000. Forrest was forced to accept a no-contest decision and waited nine months before meeting Frank again in a rematch at Madison Square Garden on May 15, 2001. Vernon Forrest easily dominated Frank, and became the new IBF Welterweight Champion of the World.

Vernon Forrest only wanted to "fight the best." He agreed to face then pound for pound king, Shane Mosley for Mosley's WBC welterweight championship belt. The fighters met on January 26th, 2002 at New York's Madison Square Garden in a title bout that is sure to be remembered as one of the most defining moments in Vernon Forrest's career.

Vernon Forrest dominated the fight from the beginning knocking Mosley down twice in the second round. Throughout the bout Vernon Forrest demonstrated his superior boxing skills along with an arsenal of body shots, right hooks, and uppercuts. The final decision was unanimous, with overwhelming scores from the three judges of 118-108, 117-108, and 115-110. "I'm not a titlist anymore," said Vernon Forrest. "I'm a champion. I earned the right to be called that."

Unlike most champions in boxing today, Vernon Forrest agreed to face Mosley in an immediate rematch. "I beat him the first time and I will beat him again," said Vernon Forrest. Vernon Forrest defeated Mosley with the same will, determination and domination he has brought to the ring throughout his career.

In 2003, Vernon Forrest fought Ricardo Mayorga twice in an attempt to unify the welterweight titles. A disappointing showing in their first bout that resulted in a loss for Vernon Forrest, and a close decision loss in the rematch, left him disappointed. However, it did not diminish his resolve to continue his career and regain his status as a World Champion -- and one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world.

He made a spectacular comeback after sustaining a severe shoulder injury during his fight against Ricardo Mayorga in 2003 that forced a two-year absence from the ring. He came back stronger than ever, with two TKOs in 2005 and a unanimous 10th round win-by-decision over former champ Ike Quartey in 2006. 2007 was a year of total domination. Vernon Forrest pasted champion Carlos Baldomir to win the WBC Light Middleweight Title, and showed the world just how good a fighter he is during his December win against former champ Michele Piccirillo by an 11th-round knockdown to retain his title.

Although losing the WBC Light Middleweight Title to Sergio Mora in June 2008, Vernon Forrest has proclaimed he will recapture the Title in Mora-Forrest II -- a 12-round co-featured bout to the highly anticipated Joel Casamayor vs. Juan Manuel Marquez showdown scheduled on Saturday, September 13 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.