[Previous entry: "Floyd Mayweather Bears 'Soul' Tonight on 'Soul of a Champion.'"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "It's Back to Work for David Diaz, Who Targets Winner of Corrales-Casamayor!"]
09/27/2006 Archived Entry: "Forbes Loses Reality Finale!"
Forbes Loses Reality Finale!
Grady Brewer beats Steve Forbes, who has ties to Portland, on ESPN's "The Contender" show
The Oregonian newspaper
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
INARA VERZEMNIEKS
LOS ANGELES -- He put on a valiant fight, but ultimately, Steve "Two Pound" Forbes, the only world champion boxer from Oregon in the last 44 years, lost his bid to win "The Contender," an ESPN reality series that followed 16 boxers as they battled their way through a single-elimination welterweight tournament.
In a close, 10-round bout at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Grady Brewer (21-11, 12 KOs) of Lawton, Okla., beat Forbes (32-3, 9 KOs) in a split decision to win the $500,000 purse and The Contender belt, a massive gold thing that had been on display at a Monday news conference, where Forbes had promised "a hell of a fight."
In reality, the bout was a tense, angry affair, with little of the flash that had come through in Forbes' earlier fights in the tournament. There were long stretches of grappling. Brewer clamped down on Forbes, frustrating Forbes' punches. Brewer edged Forbes on two of the three judges' scorecards. Those two judges had the bout 97-93 and 96-94 for Brewer; the other judge scored it 96-94 for Forbes.
Forbes lives in Detroit, but he has strong ties to Portland, where he was born and raised and where he learned to box. It's also where he met his wife, Valerie; the two met at a boxing class at the Matt Dishman Community Center.
"It's where everything started for me," says Forbes.
Scattered throughout Staples Center on Tuesday night were connections to that part of Forbes' past, urging him on: his father, who lives in Texas but who also grew up in Portland; his grandma and aunt; the former pro who mentored Forbes and asked Forbes to be his sparring partner when Forbes was just a teen; and guys who boxed with him in his amateur days.
Forbes had been one of the most experienced boxers in the tournament and an early favorite to win. In 2000, Forbes won the International Boxing Federation's junior lightweight world title (making him the first world champion boxer from Oregon since Denny Moyer won the junior middleweight title in 1962).
Forbes gained 17 pounds to enter "The Contender" tournament -- yet at times appeared to be one of the smallest boxers. Forbes continually outclassed his opponents, once even prompting the show's host, former world champion Ray Leonard, to exclaim that he needed to learn some of Forbes' moves.
Forbes also came across on the program as one of the kindest, most thoughtful boxers of the bunch. At the end of Tuesday's fight, wrapped in a towel, he looked subdued but remained gracious and made a point to praise Brewer's abilities.
Inara Verzemnieks: 503-221-8201; inarav@news.oregonian.com
Replies: 1 Comment made on this article
How can a guy (Brewer) be 21-11 and have 12 ko's to his credit???
Posted by Walter @ 10/01/2006 09:47 AM EST
