That’s what Vernon professed to ringside media scribes after his first encounter with Shane Mosley.
"I told ya" was repeated once again last night at the Pechanga Resort in Temecula, California, but this time it came from a different mouth.
It was now Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga professing those famous words after he literally smoked Vernon “The Viper” Forrest in three rounds to capture the WBC and WBA welterweight championship belts.
"I plan to whip him like a man whips a boy," Mayorga said before the fight.
The South American was was not lying.
Mayorga, a native of Nicaragua surprisingly came into the bout a 6-1 underdog. However, the odds obviously had no effect on the WBA titleholder. Unafraid of the 2002 fighter of the year, the “Matador” brought the fight to Forrest from the opening ring of the bell.
Mayorga pushed forward with a relentless attack that drove Forrest backwards, which later saw the wild Mayorga credited with an awkward knockdown towards the end of the first round. A looping overhand right caught Forrest off-balance on the shoulder knocking the Georgia native down to all fours on the slippery canvas.
In the second round, Mayorga continued to press the attack, but this time Forrest was not as willing to play ‘roadkill’ and let Mayorga run all over him. An incensed Forrest counter attacked the charging Mayorga with poisonous and lethal uppercuts, but the tough Nicaraguan who attests his countrywomen deliver men not babies, withstood the shots, to even later gesture Forrest to try and hit him a little more.
Forrest obliged, and Mayorga smiled.
"When you fight a guy who's kind of wild you want to let him know right away he's got to show you some respect and that's what I tried to do in the second round," Forrest said.
The third round saw the end of Forrest’s WBC title reign. Once again a determined Mayorga trotted forward and drove Forrest back into the ropes with an assault of punches that culminated in a hard left hook that apparently stunned Forrest. Mayorga seizing the opportunity to end it early, bulldozed forward to unload an atomic size right hand, followed by a pushing left hook that put the ‘Viper’ down to the floor again.
"When I hit him with the right I knew he was going down," he said. "Then I hit him with the left to get him out of the ring," Mayorga said.
Forrest somehow got back to his feet, but clearly looked sea sick as his body swayed to the left along the ropes. Referee Marty Denkin held up his index finger and motioned in front of Forrest’s face side to side. When Forrest did not respond, Denkin stopped the bout at 2:06 of the round.
"The ref didn't even count to eight. After he stopped the fight, he came by my corner and said that I didn't follow his finger with my eyes. I wasn't thinking about his finger," Forrest pleaded.
With the victory, Mayorga 25-3-1 (23 KOs) added Forrest's WBC title to the WBA version he already owned.
"It was a clean shot he caught me with…he hit me in the temple…but when you in a championship unification fight, you supposed to fight to the end," Forrest said after suffering his first professional loss, pushing his ledger to 35-1 (26 KOs).
After the bout, Mayorga celebrated his victory with a cigarette handed to him by HBO commentator Larry Merchant.
Puff, Puff…
Close Fight, Shady Decision
In the co-feature, former WBA junior lightweight champion Joel Casamayor took a unanimous 10-round decision over previously unbeaten Nate Campbell.
Campbell 23-1 (21 KOs) pressured Casamayor in the early going, landing more than a couple of hard right hands. But over the long haul, Casamayor 29-1 (18 KOs) proved stronger, landing the more effective punches.
Casamayor, the Cuban 1992 Olympic gold medallist, fought with a cut and swelling over his left eye.
Despite an apparently close fight, the ringside judges did not see it that way. Judge David Mendoza had Casamayor ahead by a score of 98-92, while Jerry Cantu had it 97-93 and Chuck Hassett 96-96.
Campbell to say the least, also found the results puzzling.
"I think I won the fight," he said. "The only thing hard about this fight was beating the judges."
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - "I told ya… I told ya."