Sugar Shane’s sour grapes

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 11, 2002 | 10:18 a.m.

For all the civility Shane Mosley demonstrated at the outset of his remarks, it didn't take much prodding for him to belittle Vernon Forrest and continue doing it for several minutes.

During a conference call this week to promote their July 20 rematch in Indianapolis, Mosley was polite and borderline remorseful in his introductory statement.

"It did kind of surprise me," he said of Forrest winning their first fight, Jan. 26 in New York, by 10, 9 and 5 points on the judges' scorecards. "He beat me and we're going to do something better in the next one."

But however classy and condescending that statement might have seemed, it was quickly offset as Mosley went on a crusade that was nothing less than a harangue. He used his time to reiterate that Forrest's upset victory was tainted by an assortment of illegal tactics.

Foremost on Mosley's mind was a second-round head butt that, he claims, altered the remainder of the fight.

"I know what happened," he said. "He hit me with a head butt and he did it on purpose. He initiated the head butt and he knew what he was doing. It was kind of planned."

Not only kind of planned, but practiced during training camp, Mosley alleged.

"They've been taught this," he said, referring to Forrest and fellow Atlanta fighter Evander Holyfield. "After the first round he saw I was too quick for him and he dove in with his head."

The move, which Mosley said was told to him by a former member of Forrest's camp, required Forrest to jab to the left, throw a wide right and all but simultaneously come forward with his head. "Holyfield did the same thing to (Hasim) Rahman," Mosley maintains, citing Holyfield's June 1 TKO-8 win over Rahman in Atlantic City that was marred by an ugly and oversized welt raised on Rahman's head.

"He hit me with the hard part of his head and it gave me a concussion," Mosley said of Forrest. "He dove straight in and hit me in the temple because he knew I wasn't ready for it."

As for Forrest's grimaced reaction after the head butt, Mosley said "He was acting."

The fuel Mosley has tossed on the fire certainly adds to the attractiveness of a rematch that will be televised by HBO and will have Forrest's World Boxing Council welterweight title at stake.

Mosley, 38-1 with 35 knockouts, will be looking to reclaim his spot at or near the mythical pound-for-pound throne, while Forrest (34-0, 26 KOs) is intent on solidifying his credentials with a third successive win over his rival, having also beaten Mosley in the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Las Vegas betting odds vary only slightly and generally have Forrest at a minus 140 and Mosley even.

"I just call him a liar, basically," Mosley said in response to Forrest's claim that he carried him for 12 rounds in January just to give him a beating.

"He hit me with his best shots and couldn't put me away," Mosley said. "He couldn't knock me out even though I had a concussion. He didn't have the power or the endurance to do it."

As if the head butt wasn't enough to rile Mosley, he tacked on allegations of an intentional 10th-round low blow and repetitive holding.

"He disguised (the low blow)," Mosley said. "The referee was on his right side and he threw a left that the referee didn't see. I felt a sharp pain that I never felt before.

"That was another break that he got. It was another tactic that he used because I was coming on strong."

Add on Mosley's belief that Forrest held to his advantage and the end result is a fight that disappointed the Californian.

"It wasn't a spectacular fight," he said. "I don't think any more of him for it."

Likewise, said Mosley's father and trainer, Jack.

"Vernon is a basic fighter," he said. "He doesn't do a whole lot of things and I don't think his heart is there as well. And all that dirty stuff he can leave at home, because this time we're going to be looking for it."

With revenge as his motive, Shane Mosley said he has never trained harder for a fight.

"I've trained with a vengeance," he said. "I'm angry ... I view this fight as me getting back what I once had. I'll probably be more physical without trying, just by the nature of the fight. I'm going to move, attack and use everything in my arsenal."

With his blood boiling like this, he said there was no point fighting anyone other than Forrest.

"I can't see myself knocking out another poor soul just because I'm mad at Vernon Forrest," Mosley said. "I can't do that. This butt whipping is for Vernon Forrest and no one else."