Mayorga Is King of Forrest

Referee Marty Denkin waved a finger back and forth in front of the face of Vernon Forrest. But Forrest’s eyes didn’t follow him.

Instead, Forrest slumped against the ropes Saturday night in a ballroom of the Pechanga Resort & Casino, staring straight ahead, eyes wide open, seeing nothing, unaware he was about to be declared the loser of a professional fight for the first time.

Seconds earlier, Forrest had not seen the right hand coming from Ricardo Mayorga that crashed into the left side of Forrest’s face, sending him into the ropes, where he was briefly helpless, left arm dangling.

After counting to nine and administering the eye test, Denkin put his arms around Forrest, a 6-1 favorite, and whispered to him that it was over:

A wild, free-swinging brawl against Mayorga at 2:06 of the third round.

Forrest’s brief reign as the World Boxing Council welterweight champion.

His dream of becoming undisputed champion, at least in the foreseeable future.

His greater dream of eventually luring Oscar De La Hoya into the ring.

Forrest, who dropped to 35-1 with 26 knockouts, was coming off two victories over Shane Mosley last year that vaulted Forrest into the elite circle of the sport’s top fighters.

Until Saturday.

“In my country, women give birth to men,” said Mayorga (25-3-1, 23 knockouts), a Nicaraguan who adds Forrest’s title to his World Boxing Assn. welterweight crown.

Mayorga came into the fight with a reputation as a wild, undisciplined fighter who looks for the home-run knockout on every punch. For a smooth, disciplined boxer such as Forrest, the strategy seemed obvious: Stay away, use your boxing skills and let him beat himself.

That, indeed, seemed to be Forrest’s strategy at the beginning until he hit the canvas in the first round from what appeared to be a shove by Mayorga. Denkin, however, ruled it a knockdown.

After the fight, when his head finally cleared, Forrest was still disputing Denkin.

“I didn’t think it was a knockdown,” Forrest said.

The ruling seemed to take Forrest out of his game plan. He came out for the second round fighting Mayorga’s fight, matching him roundhouse punch for roundhouse punch.

“Look, when you fight a guy who is kind of wild,” Forrest said, “you want to let him know he’s got to show you some respect. I wanted to show him I could fight, box and bang.”

Bad idea.

Mayorga broke into a big grin when he saw Forrest ready and willing to trade punches. Suddenly, it was Hagler-Hearns, Mayorga playing the role of Marvin Hagler and Forrest stuck with the part of Thomas Hearns.

“He hit me,” Mayorga said, “but I was fighting a clown. My corner told me to take it easy. I could have finished him earlier. I don’t have a beautiful style, but I have strength.”

By the third round, that strength was obvious. Mayorga caught Forrest with a right hand that staggered him against the ropes. Forrest responded with a left that touched nothing but air.

Then, Mayorga moved to finish off Forrest.

“I hit him with the right,” Mayorga said. “I knew he was going down.”

When it was over, Forrest, who had a rematch clause in the contract, said he wants it immediately.

In another corner of the ring, Mayorga was too busy celebrating to even consider it. He puffed on a cigarette, cheered as the Nicaraguan flag was waved and then stood up on the ropes to soak in the cheers from a crowd of 2,250 that refused to leave.

He had beaten an undefeated fighter, beaten the odds and propelled himself into boxing’s upper levels. Surely that was enough to contemplate for one night.

*

In the semi-main event, a 10-round, 130-pound, non-title bout, former WBA super-featherweight champion Joel Casamayor (29-1, 18) handed North American Boxing Federation titleholder Nate Campbell (23-1, 21) his first loss.

Casamayor won a unanimous decision by landing the more effective punches, although it was Casamayor who looked like the loser at the end, blood on the left side of his face from a cut over his eye, sustained in the sixth round.