GL: How has everything been going in preparation for your mandatory defense against Michele Piccirillo on Showtime? "Everything is right on schedule. We're working hard down here and working on a lot of new stuff with different techniques. I'm looking forward to it being a very good fight and I plan on puttin on an even better performance."

GL: Is it possible for this to naturally unfold as an exciting fight for the fans or will you have to press the action to make it that?

Vernon Forrest: "I'm going to have to press the issue and I'm going to have to get out of my game plan to make the fight interesting, but at the same time. It will be a very controlled effort and I'm going to make the fight one-sided but exciting. If he wants the championship he's going to have to risk something for it."

GL: Have you watched him on film?

VF: "Not really, but I like to watch films with Al Mitchell and he'll be in town tomorrow and we'll start breaking down the fights frame by frame and formulate a game plan. He's an expert strategist, so I leave most of that stuff to him."

GL: How is the training situation with Buddy and Al working out?

VF: "Everything is working fine. Anytime I get ready for a fight, the whole team is one cohesive unit. Al and I have been together for twenty years and he's always been helpful with the strategy whether he's been in the corner or not."

GL: You captured the 154 pound title on HBO and put on a great showing. Not that there's anything wrong with Showtime and I'm sure you're pleased to be fighting on a premium boxing channel, but are you disappointed HBO didn't pick up your mandatory?

VF: "I'm fighting on Showtime and I never thought I'd get this opportunity based on my relationship with HBO. TV is what gives you exposure so I wouldn't care if I were on free access TV as long as I'm getting the exposure."

GL: Obviously you're not looking ahead of Piccirillo, but if you're victorious over Piccirillo where do you go from there?

VF: "I'm glad that you asked that. I would like to eventually move up to 160 and Pavlik is the guy I'd like to fight. I think he's a tremendous fighter. His fight with Miranda was exciting and very impressive and so was his fight with Jermain Taylor. I'd love to match my skills up with him sometime next year. I'd be willing to move up to 160 for that fight. If De La Hoya is looking for a fight, I'm always interested. It's just what does he want to do? The same goes for Floyd. He had the championship at 154 and he moved down to 147 to fight Ricky Hatton. Anytime he wants to come back to 154, that's the kind of fight I would welcome. He's the best pound for pound fighter in the world and I think I have what it takes, the skills and the know how, to match him. I think it would be a very exciting fight."

GL: Somebody asked Floyd about fighting you in our chat with him the other night. Floyd basically said that you're a good fighter, but if you couldn't beat him in your prime, what could you do to him now?

VF: "I don't think I ever had the opportunity to fight Floyd, but if he thinks I'm past my prime, but all means make the fight and put it together. His uncle was my first professional trainer. I understand how he fights and the system that he fights under well. I understand what he's trying to do in the ring when he's out there. I can watch his fights and know what he's going to do before he does it. I would welcome that fight at 154. I can't make 147 and I can't make any weight under 154. When he beat De La Hoya he said he was a welterweight beating a junior middleweight. I'd love for him to try that again."

"Floyd wins a lot of fights with his feet, not his hands. Floyd throws one punch at a time like everybody else. I don't understand why people have so many problems figuring him out. The guys throws one punch at a time. He's not like a Roy Jones, a guy who throws five and six punch combinations. Roy's got fast hands and fast feet. But when you talk about hand speed, you don't talk about Floyd Mayweather Jr. Shane Mosley throws more punches in combination that Mayweather does, he's just as fast and I didn't have that hard a time with him. There's a lot of fighters he can beat with his feet, but I'm not one of them."

"Mosley got fast hands and fast feet and you have to understand how a guy with quick hands thinks. If you can understand how they think, you make them fight you according to your style and your pressure the bitch out of them. I can honestly say I fought somebody who fights like Floyd, he can't say he's fought anybody on my skill level. The way I'm feeling right now there's no telling what's going to happen to these guys that are brave enough to fight me.

GL: And what would you do to Floyd?

VF: "I would shut Floyd down...without a doubt. He don't throw combinations, he throws one punch at a time. I have yet to see him throw more than one punch at a time. He's the best for a reason and he deserves his position, but you can't compare him to me stylistically and know he's going to win. My skills and my size and my jab will shut all that shit down."

GL: If you shut Floyd down I imagine Piccirillo will feel like he's trying to fight you with a straight jacket on?

VF: "Piccirillo will be an example of what I'm going to do to anybody I fight. I'm going to bottle him up, put him on the shelf and move on to the next guy."

GL: I love what I'm getting out of you today, but we must stop because there's too much time between now and December 1. Can you give us some closing thoughts?

VF: "Let me throw another curve ball to you. I was out at the Miranda fight last night and I ran into Mayorga and we definitely want to make that fight. If he gets by Vargas, which I doubt, but even if don't get by Vargas, I definitely want that fight. That's a mess I definitely got to clean up and that's going to getting mopped up in 2008. I normally don't call out guys, but I'm definitely looking for that number one spot on the pound for pound list."

M

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