Vernon Forrest shot to death!

Subject: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:41 am

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4356715
Former two-division world champion Vernon Forrest was shot and
killed Saturday night during an attempted carjacking, promoter Gary
Shaw said."It's 100 percent confirmed. He's dead," said Shaw,
who had two stints as Forrest's promoter. "I will say this about him --
he was a decent human being. His work with kids, I think people knew
how much he cared for kids, underprivileged and mentally challenged
people. He was a real decent human being outside the ropes."WSB
Radio in Atlanta first reported the shooting, citing a police
spokesman. Forrest, who was 38, was an Atlanta native. He was shot
seven or eight times as he chased at least two men who had tried to
steal his Jaguar as he put air in his tires at an Atlanta gas station,
Lt. Keith Meadows said, according to the radio station. But Forrest had a gun and confronted the men, police said."The
victim and suspect became involved in a brief foot chase," Meadows
said. "At some point, gunfire was exchanged between the two of them.
The victim was shot at least once in the head."Forrest was fatally wounded by two semi-automatic weapons, according to police."At
this point we have a general description of at least two black males
driving a red Monte Carlo." Meadows said, according to the report.Police said the suspects likely didn't know Forrest, whose girlfriend's young son was in the car when he was shot. "What
can you say? Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest all
leaving us within 30 days? I think it's a little much for our sport to
handle," Shaw said, referring to the recent high-profile deaths of two
other boxing stars. "The violence, the guns have to go. Violence
belongs inside the ropes. Not outside them. It's just senseless. Maybe
boxing ought to dedicate itself to keeping the violence inside the
ropes and try to send that message out to the world."Manager Al Haymon was too broken up to talk about Forrest, the first fighter he signed to what would become an all-star stable.Forrest
(41-3, 29 KOs), a 1992 U.S. Olympian, was a former two-time
welterweight and two-time junior middleweight champion best known for
his two decision victories against Shane Mosley in 2002.Forrest
had beaten Mosley to keep him off the 1992 Olympic team but when they
met in January 2002 in New York, it was Mosley, then widely regarded as
the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in boxing, who was a significant
favorite. Instead, Forrest knocked Mosley down and dominated
the fight to hand him his first pro loss and win the WBC welterweight
title. Forrest outpointed him in a closer fight in the July 2002
rematch in Indianapolis.Forrest won the vacant IBF welterweight
title in May 2001 with a lopsided decision against Raul Frank in New
York. It was a rematch because their first bout ended in a three-round
no contest nine months earlier. Forrest never defended that belt,
instead vacating in order to facilitate the big-money first fight with
Mosley.Forrest was also known for his charitable side because of
his involvement in Destiny's Child, a group home that provides support
and guidance for mentally challenged adults. Forrest had often talked
about how the struggles of people he helped support provided him with
inspiration when he fought.After signing a multimillion dollar
contract with HBO after the wins against Mosley, Forrest was stunningly
upset in the first fight of the new deal when Ricardo Mayorga knocked
him out in the third round in January 2003 in Temecula, Calif. In the
rematch that July, Mayorga won a majority decision to retain the title
in Las Vegas.Forrest entered the rematch with Mayorga with
nagging shoulder and elbow injuries, which required surgery and forced
him into a two-year layoff after the bout.Forrest returned in
July 2005 and knocked out Elco Garcia; he was still troubled by his
left arm, but continued to fight. After another one-year layoff,
Forrest won a controversial decision against former welterweight
titlist Ike Quartey in August 2006 before another 11-month layoff. Forrest
came back again in July 2007 and easily outpointed former welterweight
champ Carlos Baldomir to win the vacant WBC junior middleweight title. After
knocking out Michele Piccirillo in the 11th round of his first defense
in December 2007, Forrest was upset by former "Contender" reality
series winner Sergio Mora via majority decision in June 2008. But
Forrest reclaimed the title Sept. 13 in Las Vegas by dominating Mora in
the rematch in what turned out to be Forrest's final fight.Forrest
had been scheduled to defend against mandatory challenger Sergio
Martinez on Aug. 1, but suffered a rib injury training for an April
tune-up fight with Jason LeHoullier and withdrew from both matches.With
the mandatory defense long overdue against Martinez, Forrest was
stripped of his title. But, according to Shaw, he was not quite
finished."He was ready to come back and we were discussing
fights for Vernon," said Shaw, who first promoted Forrest when the two
were with Main Events in the early part of the decade. "I had told Al
Haymon recently I would love to make a fight between Vernon and
[middleweight champion] Kelly Pavlik. I thought he still had a career
in front of him."Dan Rafael is a senior boxing writer for ESPN.com.

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:24 am

Sad sad news

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:25 pm

Jesus what the hell is going on with all these deaths...RIP

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Sun Jul 26, 2009 6:38 pm

Heard about it on ESPNnews a couple hours ago...RIP

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:40 pm

Shitty, he was a damn good boxer. RIP my prayers are with his family.

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:57 am

Hate these bitch ass people that feel the need to shot and kill someone because they themselves are cowards.

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:57 am

oh and r.i.p. vernon.

Guest

RIP Vernon Forrest he was a classy guy outside of the ring and World Class boxer inside.

Very sad news indeed that he was killed. This last month has been tough for me with Gatti,Arguello and now Forrest passing I hope there is no more.

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Mon Jul 27, 2009 10:41 pm

I didn't know a lot about his personal life, but he was a real philanthropist and gentlemen. He was a thinking man's fighter and one of the better fighters of this generation.

This is bullshit. The niggers who shot this guy should be stoned in the streets. Jealous because they would never be half the man he was.

Subject: Re: Vernon Forrest shot to death! Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:26 pm

Wolfgangsta wrote:: I didn't know a lot about his personal life, but he was a real philanthropist and gentlemen. He was a thinking man's fighter and one of the better fighters of this generation.

This is bullshit. The niggers who shot this guy should be stoned in the streets. Jealous because they would never be half the man he was.

Not to hate on Vernon, a guy that I have much respect for, but he DID chase after those guys and start shooting at them. It probably could have been avoided if he would have just not shot his gun at them.

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