JA: I know that there is something that you want to get off your chest about your with Grady Brewer. "First thing I want to apologize to my fans for my performance in the Grady Brewer fight, it was a bull shit, horrible fight. Everyone who seen how I fight knows that is not the way that I fight. The three fights that was on the contender before the finale was action packed fights but in the Brewer fight, it was a horrible fight. There was a lot of stuff that was going on behind the scenes. I had to work with Tommy Gallagher, on the show I really appreciated how he gave me the right advice. When the show ended I went to New York and trained with him. Tommy has his own way of training and I didn’t do what I normally do, I wanted to give Tommy all the respect. The chemistry seemed great, there was a lot of things that I didn’t do in training that I’m normally used to doing, and I take complete responsibility for that. I can’t cry over things that happened in the past but I do want people to know that the Steve Forbes that fought in the finale was not the real Steve Forbes. I had a lot of legal issues going on that I can’t get into right now. There was a lot of things going on at the time behind the scenes. If you bet against me, that was the perfect time to bet against me."

JA: How long have you been thinking about the what “If’s” and what could I have done differently?

SF: I’ve been thinking about this a lot. The other thing too, before I did the contender, me and the contender were going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to do the show because of the weight class that they were fighting at. I’m not a welterweight, this tournament was above the welterweight division at 150 pounds, almost junior middleweight . The finale of the show, normally on the show you have same day weigh ins, on the finale we didn’t. Grady came into the ring the night of the fight at least 165 pounds where I gained the most three pounds, that’s a big factor. You can be the most slickest fighters of all time but if you go in their with that big of a weigh disadvantage, it’s going to take a toll on you. No one talked about the weight and it kind of pissed me off. I’m glad that I did the tournament because it helped me out so much with the fans. People that are not even boxing fans enjoyed the show. I live in Michigan and I went to a Pistons game, myself and K-9 got a lot of love.


JA: Give me your thoughts on the contender as a promotional company and how satisfied are you with them handling your career?
SF: To be honest with you. The way that they do the show and the way that get their fighters out there, it’s great for boxing. I really don’t know what to think because that was the show. There is some talk of this and some talk of that, I’m just sitting back waiting to see what’s up. I don’t know what to think to be honest with you.

JA: Are you encouraged with the way that they made the fight between Joe Calzaghe and Peter Manfredo for the world title?
SF: I am encouraged by that. Junior Witter called my name out in an interview and I called them about that, they are working on some things. Next thing I hear is that Manfredo-Calzaghe is made, I will be honest with you, that is an encouraging thing for me.


JA: Who will be working your corner in your next fight?
SF: My trainer is going to be Floyd Mayweather Sr. Me and Floyd have worked in the past and I’ve a lot of success with Floyd in my corner. Floyd Mayweather in my opinion is the best trainer out their right now, I think that all the Mayweather’s are great trainers. It’s an honor to get back working with Floyd Mayweather Sr.

JA: What most do you want to come out of this interview?
SF: I want people to know that I don’t want to deal with any bullshit. Everyone thinks that Steve is this nice guy, but when your nice sometimes people think they can take advantage of you. I wanted people to know that I’m on a mission. I just found out that my wife is pregnant, everything is intense right now.

JA: That’s a blessing.
SF: It is. I just want people to stop the bullshit, because it’s serious, I take my career very serious. I wanted to let people know that there was some things going on before the fight with the weigh-in, a few things that a few people didn’t know. I’m just looking to fight and come back bigger and better since the last time they saw me.

JA: When would you like to fight again next?
SF: Yeah January or February. There was some talk of me fighting for the world title but there might be some hurdles that need to be hopped.

JA: Do you feel that you have lost some respect when you lost to Grady?
SF: I don’t know if I have to prove something to the fans, but I would like to show them the flashy speed, the combinations. I know that the fights that I had on the show were action packed and edited, all of those fights on the show, especially my fights were action packed. I never cried after a fight but I cried after that fight because I feel that the fans didn’t see the real Steve Forbes.

JA: Do you think that you’re ever going to let that go?
SF: It will be tough. Once I fight again I will probably forget about all of that stuff.

M

Send questions and comments to: jamesalden@boxingtalk.com