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Former world champion boxer Vernon Forrest killed in Atlanta shooting – ESPN

Vernon Forrest Shot And Killed

Former two-division world champion Vernon Forrest was shot and killed Saturday night during an attempted robbery, police said Sunday. Fulton County medical examiner Michele Stauffenberg confirmed the case was a homicide and that the autopsy showed Forrest died from “multiple gunshot wounds involving the torso and thigh.” Sgt. Lisa Keyes said a police report on the shooting was not immediately available.

WSB Radio in Atlanta first reported the shooting, citing a police spokesman. Forrest, who was 38, lived in Atlanta and was an Augusta, Ga., native.  Lt. Keith Meadows told the radio station that Forrest was shot seven or eight times — at least once in the head — as he chased at least two men who had tried to steal his Jaguar as he put air in its tires at an Atlanta gas station. Forrest had a gun and confronted the men, who fatally wounded him with two semi-automatic weapons, according to police.

David Livingston/Getty ImagesVernon Forrest, a recent WBC junior middleweight champion, was killed Saturday as he chased at least two men who had tried to steal his car, police said. “At this point we have a general description of at least two black males driving a red Monte Carlo,” Meadows said, according to the report.

Keyes said that there are no official suspects at this time.

Promoter Gary Shaw, who had two stints as Forrest’s promoter, said, “It’s 100 percent confirmed. He’s dead. I will say this about him — he was a decent human being. His work with kids, I think people knew how much he cared for kids, underprivileged and mentally challenged people. He was a real decent human being outside the ropes.”

Charles Watson, the boxer’s manager, said police and witnesses told him that Forrest had stopped at a gas station to put air in his car tire when a man approached asking for money. “Somehow, Vernon had his wallet out and the guy snatched his wallet and started running,” Watson said. “Vernon pursued after him. The guy turned the corner and Vernon didn’t see him. He turned around to go back to the car. That’s when he started firing.”

Watson said that Forrest’s 11-year-old godson was with him but had gone into the convenience store and did not witness the shooting.  “What can you say? Alexis Arguello, Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest all leaving us within 30 days? I think it’s a little much for our sport to handle,” Shaw said, referring to the recent high-profile deaths of two other boxing stars. “The violence, the guns have to go. Violence belongs inside the ropes. Not outside them. It’s just senseless. Maybe boxing ought to dedicate itself to keeping the violence inside the ropes and try to send that message out to the world.”

Gatti, a former two-time champion who retired in 2007, was found dead July 11 at a Brazilian resort. Gatti’s wife, Amanda Rodrigues, is being held as the prime suspect. Arguello, another former champion, was found dead on July 1 at his home in Managua, Nicaragua, in an apparent suicide. He was elected mayor of Nicaragua’s capital last year.

July 26th, 2009 | Tags: death, Entertainment, fights | Category: Entertainment, Open | Leave a comment

Arturo Gatti Found Dead At Age 37

SAO PAULO — Former boxing champion Arturo Gatti, one of the most exciting fighters of his generation, was found dead in a hotel room in the posh seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas early Saturday.

Police investigator Edilson Alves told The Associated Press that the body of the former junior welterweight champ was discovered in his hotel room at the tourist resort, where Gatti had arrived on Friday with his Brazilian wife Amanda and 1-year-old son.

Alves said police were investigating and it was unclear how the 37-year-old Canadian died. Foul play is suspected in the death, the CBC reported.

“It is still too early to say anything concrete, although it is all very strange,” Alves said.

A spokeswoman for the state public safety department said Gatti’s wife and son were unhurt. The women declined to give a name in keeping with department policy.

“There were no bullet or stab wounds on his body, but police did find blood stains on the floor,” she said.

Brazilian boxer and four-time world champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas told the G1 Web site of Brazil’s largest television network Globo that he was a close friend of Gatti and his wife, and that he “knew they were having some sort of problem and were about to separate, but I didn’t know they were in Brazil.”

Francisco Assis, a local police investigator, told G1 that Gatti could have died up to eight hours before his body was found early Saturday.

Gatti (40-9, 31 KOs), nicknamed “Thunder”, was best known for his all-action style, which was epitomized in his classic trilogy with Micky Ward in 2002 and 2003.

July 22nd, 2009 | Tags: death, Entertainment, fights | Category: Entertainment, Open | Leave a comment