GL:  Tell us about your performance tonight. "I thought it was a good performance, I give myself a B+ on it.  There were times where I was a little over anxious.  He took my head off, he did what I thought he was going to do.  I was able to neutralize his jab.  He has a very good jab, and I was able to neutralize that." 

GL:  Was there anything about Piccirillo that surprised you?

VF:  "He was a bit more aggressive than I thought he'd be.  I didn't think he was going to be as aggressive as he was.  He stepped to me a few times, and I was impressed with that."

GL:  How does it feel to score your first stoppage in a while?

VF:  "Like I told you before, if he stepped to me I was going to knock him out.  All he did was bobbing and moving and fighting defensively.  I knew that I was going to have to initiate the fight, but if he stepped to me I knew I would catch him.  He stepped to me, and I knew.  We worked on a systematic stoppage in the gym ,everyday, working on just breaking the guy down.  That's what I did, I broke the guy down, and I got the stoppage."

GL:  The first knockdown appeared to come from a punch that landed behind the head.  Did you throw it intentionally?  What are your thoughts on the first knockdown?

VF:  "The first knockdown, I threw a right hand, and it landed.  I'm not a dirty fighter, I didn't intentionally hit him behind the head.  I didn't know.  The referee came to my corner and said it was a legal shot, there's nothing else to talk about."

GL:  You've dominated Baldomir and Piccirillo in your last two fights.  Where do you go from here?

VF:  I'm going to fight again, I'm going to come back in April.  I plan on fighting and defending my title then.  I just want to be busy, I want to keep and stay busy.  Who, when, and where, I'm not sure, I just want to be busy. 

GL:  If Mayorga comes down to 154 he's one of those who's, right?

VF:  Yeah, it's a fight that we want, but at the same time it's still business.  The business has to be taken care of.  It's a fight that I want, but I don't fight for free. 

GL:  Talk about the weight issue, about the scale in the fitness center being off.  I know because I was there, but for the readers, explain how that all went down. 

VF:  "I went to sleep at 156, and I can lose two pounds in my sleep.  I hop on the scale in the morning, and if I don't get the complete two pounds, I run for 30 minutes or whatever.  Then I'm on weight and I can just chilll for the rest of the day.  The scale they had in the fitness center said I was 156 pounds, which I thought I was.  The official scale said I was 160, then the other scale said I was 159.  I just went in there and worked out a bit.  I dropped the weight and it wasn't a problem.  People don't understand, I fight at 154, I don't walk around at 154.  I don't live my life at that weight, I just have to be 154 pounds for about 3-4 seconds.  Then I can go back to my regular weight. 

GL:  How much longer do you see yourself staying at 154?

VF:  I don't have a problem with 154.  I'll move up in weight if a good opportunity presents itself.  I don't have to mave up, if the opportunity comes for me to move up, that's when I'll do it. 

GL:  What do you feel you need to build on in your next fight, other than maintaining your balance when you're swinging your left hook, so you're not swinging for the fences? 

VF:  One of the things that I've been working on is not swinging for the fences all the time.  I've been working on combinations, and things like that.  For some reason, I get in the fight, and I'm looking for the KO instead of using my boxing skills.  When I miss, a lot of the time when I'm going for the home run shot, it looks real bad because I'm overextending my arm.  All of things I'll work out in the gym.  I've got the best trainers in the world with ??? and ???.  All the little things can be worked out.  I don't have a problem with that.

GL:  Give us some closing thoughts.

VF:  I thought it was a great night of boxing.  I thought I put on a great show for showtime.  Also, Piccirillo ut on a good show.  It was a great Christmas present for the boxing fans.  I'm looking forward to getting back in the ring in the first quarter.  Stay tuned to my boy G. Leon and Boxingtalk for all the latest on Vernon Forrest.

M

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