JERRY FORREST had already gotten a bitter taste of the inner workings of the fight game when he left a secure job as a nuclear electrician to go all-in on his career as a heavyweight boxer. It was just getting started, though, as the Virginian followed up a controversial decision loss to Jermaine Franklin in 2019 with equally debated draws against Zhilei Zhang and Michael Hunter last year.
But the 34-year-old isnโt going anywhere.
โI think about it [going back to the old job] from time to time, but boxing has blessed my life,โ he told Boxing News. โItโs done a lot of good for me and my family. You know they say you donโt owe people anything, but I owe boxing because itโs freed me up to give me the time to do what I want to do in life.โ
The married father of three may not have won a fight since he knocked out Martez Williamson in September 2019, but people are talking about him, and the chatter should get even louder should he defeat former title challenger Kubrat Pulev on Saturday (May 14) in Inglewood, California.
Originally expecting to face Andrey Fedosov last month, Forrest instead got the call to replace the Russian when he withdrew from the bout with Pulev. Now itโs his turn to try and join Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko as the only ones to beat the Bulgarian. And that would be making a statement for a fighter who believes this is his year to deliver one.
โI know my timeโs gonna come,โ he said. โI just have to be patient and wait.โ
ย Forrestโs patience has been tested since he turned pro after a short amateur career at the age of 24. Already a late starter, the Newport News product was forced to learn on the job without the connections many heavyweight prospects are blessed with. What followed were losses to Hunter and Gerald Washington, fights under the radar on the regional scene, and a general sense of apathy from the boxing public until he nearly upset the 18-0 Franklin.
That performance got him a promoter in Lou DiBella, and while he lost another high-profile bout against late replacement Carlos Takam in an ESPN-televised bout, he knew he was on the right track, and his family backed him when he left his day job to focus solely on boxing. โThey were cool with it and everybody believed in me,โ Forrest said. โI know my capabilities. I know, and my family knows what Iโm capable of and we knew I was able to do it. Telling them that I want to do it full time and really take this step, they just believed in me. They gave me support and because of them and boxing, Iโm here. Itโs been an all-around shared win for the family.โ
Those wins outside the ring didnโt translate between the ropes the last two times out, despite what fans and pundits believed. Against unbeaten Chinese prospect Zhang, Forrest hit the deck three times in the first three rounds before roaring back and earning a draw verdict.
Again, it made an impression.
โIโll say this,โ Forrest explains. โBecause of what I do and how I fight, Iโve always gotten a bigger offer, win, lose or draw. There has always been a level of resilience inside of me. I can only be denied for so long. Iโm a smaller guy, so itโs a lot more obvious what I do. You see the resilience and you see that poise. I was in shape to get knocked down three times and still come back and win every round from four on. Thatโs not easily done.โ
Itโs not. But itโs even harder to get a decision after digging a hole that deep. So in his next fight last December, a rematch with Hunter, Forrest didnโt wait to go to work, and after controlling much of the action and having his foe in trouble a few times, it was expected that the last-minute replacement was going to upset the apple cart and get the win.
Only one judge agreed. Another one gave Hunter the fight and the third ruled it a draw. Forrest was left out in the cold again, but he isnโt bitter. Heโs just aware at how the boxing business works, as sad as that state of affairs is.
โThe Michael Hunter fight, I asked for it,โ said Forrest, who was originally scheduled to face Joe Jones that night in New York City. โI knew the risk involved, and I knew they werenโt gonna give me nothing. Itโs just the facts and the variables. I wasnโt a huge name turning pro, so I get it. And when you get to the top and youโre not signed with the people that you should be signed with or who they want you to sign with, things happen. So itโs hard in the sense that I know Iโm gonna be cheated, but this is what you sign up for, so, at the end of the day, Iโm really not mad or upset. Itโs kinda like, you know itโs corrupt, I canโt prove it unless I go to litigation, and with that being said, I just kinda move on. My boxing speaks for itself. And I feel like Iโve made enough of a statement enough times now to where people are kinda getting it. But the tables are gonna always eventually turn if you win. And the tables are turning.โ
Forrest is hoping to kick those tables over against another favoured foe in Pulev, but heโs not about to let boxing politics and A-sides and B-sides dictate what he can control, and thatโs his work ethic. If he doesnโt have the experience or talent to beat the รฉlite, he can at least outwork them, and what heโs found out over the past few years is that when it comes to hunger and the willingness to put in the time and effort in the gym, heโs light-years ahead of those at the top of the heavyweight division.
โWhat Iโve noticed in camps is that they donโt go hard,โ said Forrest. โHeavyweight camps are lax. Everybody in there is friends. Iโll tell you this โ when I go to a camp, they usually donโt call me back. For real. Because Iโm there to work. Iโve only been to very few camps, and when I go, I donโt get called back or they send me home. Itโs never been because they beat on me. And Iโm talking about world champion, number one, number two ranked people in the world โ I just wonโt say names.โ
One name Forrest will invoke, though, is a fictional one, the Clubber Lang character from Rocky III who beat the champion because he was simply hungrier.
โMy mentality is Iโm Mr T and all of them guys are Rocky,โ said Forrest. โEverybodyโs Rocky to me, and to me, none of them are real. None of them are in great shape, theyโve all got to world championships and they got comfortable. And I have a decent life, donโt get me wrong, but I want what theyโve got. So thatโs what drives me and pushes me to do a little bit more and work more than what theyโre doing. Thatโs what you see in the ring. Theyโre willing to go for a knockout because they donโt have the resilience to keep pushing. Iโm willing to go 12 rounds and push you to death.โ