I was one of the happiest viewers in the world on that fateful January 26th. Happy for Vernon Forrest, not so much because I'm not a Shane Mosley fan, but because I know the road that Vernon had to take to get there and finally get his dues. I've known Forrest personally for a while now, well over ten years when he was still an amateur getting ready for the Olympics.

I like Shane as well and also consider myself to be a fan of his, as I also know him personally, but I think all the stars aligned up right that night just as they had ten years ago. Vernon didn't beat Shane because of a head-butt, he beat Shane because he is the better fighter and it doesn't take a second fight to prove it. He dominated Shane, he won ten out of twelve rounds. That ain't luck, that's called having someone's number.

It's no different than Hopkins vs Trinidad. Hopkins will beat him every time because he has his number. Tyson vs Holyfield, before all the wars Holyfield has been in he would have beaten Tyson every time. Once a guy gets dominated over a duration of twelve rounds he can't beat that guy that's in front of him based on skills alone; one punch of course can change the outcome of anyone of these fights. You have twelve rounds to come up with a solution to the problem that is in front of you and out of twelve rounds you can only win two, you're not even close to finding a solution! The next time around that same problem is twice as hard to figure out, because mentally he knows what he has to do to gain control of the situation.

The once beaten warrior can easily fall prey to its once conqueror because that seed of doubt has now been planted and instilled, even imbedded into his sub-conscious; it even showed in the fight this time around. I've seen it played out with my own eyes, the more and more Vernon dominated Shane, the more passive Mosley became. He started to extend his hand in friendship at the beginning of each round and also at the end; a warrior doesn't embrace or show any hint of friendship until the battle is over.

I think Shane is one of the great fighters of our era but fighting Vernon again will only taint his previous accomplishments especially without some type of confidence builder in between. Back to back fights of that magnitude can ruin a good fighter but demoralize a great one. I will be honest, I had doubts and reservations about the outcome of this fight. I even leaned toward Shane until I saw the pre-fight interview. I saw genuine confidence and supreme belief in Vernon; I know he wasn't trying to sell anything but the truth and on that night he not only showed me, he showed the entire world.

Much continued success to Vernon and to Shane as well...