Vernon Forrest
By George Hernandez
Vernon Forrest, a former two-division champion who was the first boxer to beat Shane Mosley in 2002, was shot and killed in what police are calling an attempted robbery in Atlanta Saturday night.
Forrest was shot several times in the back late Saturday night. A witness said, “Vernon had his wallet out and the guy snatched his wallet and started running. Vernon pursued after him. The guy turned the corner and Vernon didn’t see him. He turned around to go back to the car. That’s when he started firing.”
Forrest was on the Olympic team with Oscar DeLaHoya in 1992. He won welterweight and junior middleweight titles and compiled a professional record of 41-3 with 29 knockouts. He was 38 years old.
After taking two years off because of injuries, Forrest made a comeback that included a win over Ike Quartey and a win over Carlos Baldomir for the vacant WBC junior middleweight title. Forrest defended it once, before losing it in an upset to Sergio Mora in June 2008.
Forrest is the third boxer to die in the last month. Alexis Arguello was found dead at his home on July 1 in an apparent suicide. Two weeks ago Arturo “Thunder” Gatti was discovered dead in a Brazil resort condominium. Gatti’s wife remains the prime suspect in that case.
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