In an upset every bit as shocking as Bernard Hopkins' knockout of previously unbeaten Felix Trinidad, Vernon Forrest stunned the boxing world by toppling the other claimant to top pound-for-pound honors, Sugar Shane Mosley. For twelve one-sided rounds, Forrest put a systematic beating on the previously undefeated two-division champion, knocking Mosley down twice, and nearly finishing the job on a half dozen other occasions. Mosley's advantages in speed, movement, and versatility were nullified by Forrest's power in the early rounds, and the new champion's uncanny ability to tie Mosley up in the late rounds. Forrest's perfect gameplan may not have been enough to install him as the new pound-for-pound champ, but it was more than enough to take Mosley's title by a wide unanimous decision.

Maybe it's wrong to call this win an upset. After all, Vernon Forrest brought into the ring a sterling 33-0/26 record, an unfairly stripped IBF welterweight championship belt, and bragging rights over Mosley, who he had defeated ten years prior during the '92 Olympic trials. Still, in the days leading up to this showdown, it was nearly impossible to find anyone who would pick Forrest over Mosley. Mosley's spectacular rise to the top of the boxing world had eclipsed Forrest's lackluster Evander Holyfield-managed stint as a pro, and on paper his skills overwhelmed the standard jab-right-hook attack of Forrest.

In fact, the first round played out just as many thought the entire fight would. In that round, Mosley fired big power shots that landed first and did the damage. Mosley glanced a giant overhand right off Forrest's head early in the opener. Forrest waited until the one-minute mark to register an answer, a perfect one-two that tagged Mosley on the chin and earned a nod of respect from the welterweight champion. But Mosley's much heralded speed flashed again, as a blistering three punch combo caught Forrest off guard, and sent him back a few steps on his heels. Forrest wasn't hurt, but he could do little more than cover up as Mosley launched several more blinding combinations at him to close the round.

If Mosley has a weakness as a welterweight, it's been his reliance on power. The ease in which he dropped Shannan Taylor with a single overhand right seemed to convince Mosley that he was too strong for the division. In his last bout, Mosley wasted three rounds against Adrian Stone doing little more than looking for an opening. Once he found the opening, he leveled Stone for a 10-plus count. Leading into this fight, both Mosley and his trainer/father Jack could do little more than insist that Forrest wasn't ready for Mosley's power. When the second round began, Mosley fought not in the fluid, combination style that had brought him victory in his best fights, but fought as though he were looking for the one punch that would show Vernon Forrest how good he was.

Unfortunately for Mosley, Forrest was also loading up with big punches. Both men threw simultaneous right hands early in the second round, both missing by a mile. What did hit, however, were the two men's heads... hard. Both guys backed away from the butt holding their heads. Mosley was cut on the hairline, and blood traced his face for the first time. After a brief time-out, the fight resumed. Forrest now launched a heavy one-two, and his right hand chopped into Mosley's face as he backed up with his hands down. The punch rattled Mosley, who wobbled a few steps back towards the ropes. Forrest now let his hands go. Mosley leaned back on the ropes, blocked a right and a left hook, and then ate the punch that would change his career. It was a big right uppercut, and it sailed between Mosley's gloves and snapped his head straight back. Mosley's legs straightened beneath him, and only the ropes kept him standing. Eyes rolled back in his head, a limp Mosley rested on the ropes for a half-second before a roundhouse Forrest right tagged him on the cheek and sent him to the canvas in a heap. It was the first knockdown of Mosley's career.

A dazed and confused Mosley pulled himself up by nine, but his eyes looked foggy as referee Steve Smoger asked him if he was able to continue. Mosley responded enough to convince Smoger to continue the bout, and a still wobbly Mosley staggered towards a swinging Forrest, trying desperately to hang on. There was two minutes left in the round.

Mosley's legs were like rubber, and his arms were little better. His attempts to hug Forrest resulted in Mosley flopping this way, then that, occasionally catching a breathtaking Forrest power punch in between. Mosley eventually caught enough of Forrest's arms to force a break, but Smoger's separation nearly downed a weak Mosley, so gone were his legs. Forrest smacked Mosley with a big right, and then another. Mosley fell backwards across the ring, crashing into the ropes and then eating more Forrest shots as the challenger gave chase. This pace continued for most of the rest of the round. Mosley never seemed to regain his legs, twice almost falling to the canvas without even being touched. At one point, Mosley backed away from another clinch, but while stepping back his own legs gave out, sending him reeling into the ropes. Forrest followed up right a right hand to the chin that sent Mosley falling forward into him. Forrest wasn't sure whether he should punch or clinch back as Mosley fell forward, tried to hug him, and ended up face down on the canvas. Smoger ruled the fall a knockdown, a delayed reaction from the right hand. It was a proper call.

Mosley beat this count as well, looking no better for wear and tear. But somehow, he made it out of the round. When the bell finally rang, a dazed Mosley staggered back to the wrong corner. His survival in this round says volumes about his courage and determination. Not many fighters would have heard the final bell.

Mosley didn't look much better after the one-minute rest period. He began round three shuffling left and then right, trying his best to stay away from Forrest. But the footwork was not the gliding dancesteps of the graceful pound-for-pound boss, but the unstable baby steps of a hurt fighter. Forrest took his time giving chase, missing a big right hand and eating a fairly solid right to the body from Mosley. Forrest uncorked a picture perfect hook into Mosley's face a few times, and again Mosley was forced to try and make a clinch. Once broken, he returned to his attempts to circle away. But with Mosley's mobility hampered by bad legs, Forrest was repeatedly able to trap Mosley on the ropes. There, Mosley had no answer. Forrest would step back to his perfect range, and bounce a series of shots off a defensive Mosley. Mosley occasionally would try and fire back, but Forrest was too far away. Mostly, however, Shane was forced to stay covered up and absorb power shots. It wasn't pretty.

To his credit, Mosley's legs began to come back to life in the final minute of round three. Forrest, sensing this, began winding up his punches more, and Mosley (for the only time all night) was able to make Forrest miss badly with wild swings. These big misses were exactly the openings that Mosley had hoped for, but in his current condition he wasn't even able to throw a return punch, let alone land one.

Mosley had desperately needed to make it through round three, and he had. He looked somewhat better to begin round four, but instantly fell back into the pattern of looking for the haymaker that would turn things around. Mosley cracked Forrest with a big overhand right in the round's opening seconds, then fired a few fierce blows to Forrest's ribs. But no sooner had Mosley displayed signs of life, Forrest returned to the uppercut and stopped Mosley in his tracks. The first one halted Mosley in place, and a follow-up uppercut shook Mosley's legs again. A clean, flush, loud right hand followed, and Mosley was back on the ropes hanging on for dear life. Mosley was now clearly a desperate fighter, and he began swinging for the fences on those few occasions when he could get his arms moving. A quick Mosley hook backed Forrest off the ropes, but once in center ring, Mosley again took the worst of it. Shane launched a big right hand, which landed to the oohs of the crowd, only to be answered with a bigger, harder right. Twice more before round five closed, Mosley hurled his body into a solid clean punch, only to have Forrest answer with one or two harder blows. After the third time this happened, Forrest didn't stop with a quid pro quo shot, and he landed a series of big right hands on Mosley to close the round.

Forrest was winning the fight easily, and seemed to hurt Mosley nearly every time he landed flush. But Mosley started the fifth round looking his freshest since the knockdowns. Jerking his upper body around, Mosley was clearly trying to establish a boxing rhythm. Forrest began backing up under Mosley's renewed energy. Mosley now applied constant pressure to Forrest, following him around the ring without giving him a second to breath. Unfortunately, Forrest was pumping out his jab continuously as he moved back, and Mosley was never able to get his feet set before launching his shots.

After backing away from Mosley for half a round, Forrest took a moment to score some points, again landing the uppercut, backing Mosley to the ropes, and landing some heavy shots before moving back to center ring. Despite taking heavy beating, Mosley was not completely done yet. Mosley showed what his game plan might have looked like in the closing thirty seconds of round five, stepping around Forrest after he missed, and launching shots while Forrest was bent over. Mosley spun and countered Forrest several times to close the fifth, but couldn't land clean. In all, another round for Forrest.

With the fight half-over, Forrest had banked a sizable points lead. Even though still loading up with singular bombs, Mosley was showing signs of making adjustments in the sixth round. And so, Forrest unveiled the second part of his plan: holding. Again and again, Mosley would fire first from the distance, leaping in with reaching punches. Forrest was able to see these shots coming and cover up... and then tie Mosley up. Over and over, Mosley would launch, Forrest would tangle, and it would take Smoger a good five seconds for force a break. A few times Mosley's shots landed. Instead of holding, Forrest fired back. Near the end of the round, Mosley landed a huge right to the top of Forrest's head, the best punch of the round. It might have been enough to swing the round to Mosley, given Forrest's holding... but Vernon answered Mosley's right with two of his own, including a fierce shot that swiveled Mosley's head and appeared to rock him again just before the bell ended the round.

The desperation was growing with Mosley, now on stable legs but unable to solve the Forrest puzzle. Mosley's upper body movements began getting more frenetic. He spun his gloves, rocked his torso from side to side, and jutted out his chin in a series of feints. But every time Mosley would get close, Forrest tangled him up in his web. Again and again, Mosley tried to rip his arms from Forrest's clutches and continue throwing, but he could not. This time stalling technique didn't bode well for Forrest, who now gave the impression that Mosley was regaining momentum. In fact, round seven was shaping up to be a Mosley round, based solely on Forrest's holding... and then Forrest nailed Mosley with a massive right. The punch rocked Mosley like so many others had this night, and when the bell sounded a moment later, there was no choice but to give Forrest a 10-9.

Forrest's holding continued into the eighth round. Mosley stung Forrest with a sharp left hook early in the round, which only encouraged Forrest to hold some more. In fact, Forrest did nothing but hold in this round, while Mosley spent an enormous amount of energy repeatedly trying to free himself from the clinches. Mosley ended the round by nailing Forrest with a big right, the only other punch of significance in this forgettable round. Forrest, intent on answering every Mosley punch, fired back with a right of his own. It tagged Mosley on the chin a good two seconds after the bell rang to end the round. Mosley had finally banked a "rally round," despite Forrest's post-round power shot.

It was Mosley who was now making the fight, with Forrest appearing to sit on his substantial lead. But while Mosley launched and Forrest slipped and grabbed, Mosley still wasn't able to gain control. Over and over, Mosley's bombs missed. There was a definite feeling that if Mosley would swing his punches in four and five punch flurries, a coasting Forrest could be in trouble. But for whatever reason, Mosley could not land his shots. And when he did, Forrest scored in return. Mosley landed a single big right at the midway point of round nine, only to have Forrest answer with a one-two-three that was heavier and cleaner. Each time that Forrest landed, Mosley needed a few seconds to recoup, and while Forrest's blows were infrequent, he scored enough to win the round and halt any hopes Mosley may have had for sweeping the final rounds.

Forrest wised up in the tenth. Despite clearly winning the fight to this point, Forrest was putting himself at risk of a funny decision by wasting a few rounds doing more clutching than punching. He changed his tactics in the tenth, and Mosley paid the price. Coming in behind a jab, Forrest was repeatedly able to back Mosley straight back. Each time, Mosley would end up on the ropes, where he was most vulnerable. Forrest pinned Mosley to one side of the ring at the halfway point, and landed two flush rights to Mosley's face. Mosley was again wobbling on the ropes, looking ready to go. Forrest landed an uppercut, another right, and then a hook to Mosley's side that made the champion crinkle his face in extreme pain. Replays showed the body shot went low, but Smoger didn't notice, especially not after Forrest stood Mosley up with an uppercut a fraction of a second after the belt shot. Mosley was now ready to go. He leaned forward, trying to clutch, and lost his mouthpiece. A bizarre New York rule requires an immediate replacement, so despite no lull in the action, Smoger called time and sent Mosley to his corner to get the gumshield washed out. Of course, the process took too long, giving Mosley 20 seconds to recover. He barely could. He hung his arms over the top rope and hung his head down as he waited for the mouthpiece. Once he got it, Forrest went back to work. It was a huge Forrest round, and when the bell ended it, a swollen and distant looking Mosley gazed at Forrest and dragged himself back to his corner.

Forrest was now unstoppable. The more desperate Mosley became, the more he loaded up with knockout attempts. Forrest was able to avoid almost all of these swings, tying up Mosley time and again, forcing him to waste even more energy trying to get free. Forrest mixed in a series of casual one-twos, hurting Mosley again and again with each heavy right hand. But Forrest was tiring, and Mosley was beginning to land more haymakers than he should have. But it was all too little, too late.

Mosley's corner stopped short of asking for the knockout before the final round, although Mosley seemed to understand where he stood. Forrest, perhaps exhausted, perhaps distracted his imminent victory, looked extremely tired in the final round. As Mosley tried in vain to land a power shot, Forrest easily tangled him up in clinch after boring clinch. Mosley earned the final round in his column, as he was the only one fighting, but it was hardly enough to win him the bout.

And so Vernon Forrest made it look easy: beating Mosley up early, clutching to sit on his lead in the middle rounds, putting more hurt on Mosley in the tenth, and then holding again to end the fight. Boxing Chronicle gave Mosley only the 1st, 8th, and final round... 117-109 Forrest. The official tallies were similar, giving Forrest a wide victory by scores of 115-110, 117-108 and 118-108.

Still undefeated, Forrest (34-0/26) picks up the WBC belt (he should also be the IBF champion, but for that sanctioning body's idiotic decision to strip Forrest for facing Mosley), but not the pound-for-pound title. Forrest fought a brilliant gameplan, using his height and jab to full advantage, hurting Mosley when the champ made basic mistakes of dropping his hands and backing straight up, and then neutralizing Mosley's flurries with a frustrating series of clutches, hugs, and armlocks. It may have been a perfect plan, but it certainly doesn't put Forrest on top of the pound-for-pound list.

What it does do for Forrest, however, is earn him a much-deserved spot atop the welterweight division, pound-for-pound or not. Forrest's career has been conducted largely in obscurity. Remember, this guy was on the same Olympic team as De la Hoya, and is only just now getting recognition. This win will earn Forrest at least one big payday, and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

As for Mosley (now 38-1/35), his next move is unknown. After the fight, he was extremely gracious in defeat. But he took a serious beating and may not want an immediate rematch. And while Mosley made no excuses, we find it interesting that Mosley swore to us that he would never again try and make the 147 lb. weight limit when we interviewed him back in October. Was he drained at 147, or was he in such great shape that he was convinced his power would rescue him? Without question, this was Mosley's most lackluster ring performance since he won the IBF lightweight title from Philip Holiday in his 1997 HBO debut. Most of the credit for Mosley's inability to perform must go to Vernon Forrest... but there is no question that Mosley is capable of more than he showed this night. He will come back, but will he ever be able to defeat Vernon Forrest?

On the undercard, Arturo Gatti returned to the ring in his first fight since losing to Oscar De la Hoya nearly a year prior. Paired with free-swinging Terronn Millett, Gatti needed to do what he had promised for so long: box instead of brawl. Luckily for Gatti, Millett was incredibly easy to hit. The first one-two Gatti threw landed completely flush, as did any and all right hands Gatti launched during this short bout.

Millett, who was able to swell Gatti's tender skin by landing only single digits in the opening round, simply couldn't get out of the way of Gatti's bombs. A conservative Gatti became more bold in round two, mixing in his dreaded hook with his never-missing right. He hurt Millett in this round by going downstairs and then up, but didn't drop him until round three, after an accumulation of blows sent Millett down face first. Millett beat the count only to get up and take an even more heinous series of flush shots. The bell to end round three saved him from further punishment, but Gatti continued hammering in the fourth, putting an already weakened Millett down for the second time in the bout. Referee Jimmy Santa, apparently oblivious to the one sided drubbing taking place in front of him, allowed Millett to continue yet again, and after another half dozen flush, head-snapping Gatti power shots sent Millett to his back, the fight was finally called off.

Gatti (now 35-5/28) declared this fight as his comeback, and while Millett isn't as tough at Kostya Tszyu, he was a legitimate opponent at 140. Gatti, looking fit and claiming to have ended his between-fight partying, may have found a good weight class for his ever-changing frame. While Gatti has a long way to go before he can again call himself a boxer, he showed decent patience against Millett, and fired almost all of his combinations from behind a substantial jab. What's more, Gatti didn't cut in this fight, a fact that completely stunned Gatti cutman Joe Souza. Gatti's next likely foe will be the winner of a Ward-Leija rematch. If Gatti can stay in shape, and continue to work on his jab, we might just pick him to win it.

.....Chris Bushnell

See also: 

10/20/01: Exclusive interview with Shane Mosley
7/21/01: Mosley shows power in tune-up
3/10/01: Mosley obliterates another contender
6/17/00: Mosley pounds on DelaHoya
1/22/00: Mosley and Forrest climb welter ladder