Q&A
KING OF THE ROPES: STEVE FORBES
Despite being ignored in a city starved for athletic heroes, this world champion still has high hopes for his home town.

BY ZACH DUNDAS
zdundas@wweek.com

Steve Forbes sits on his grandmother's plastic-covered couch, waiting for the hype to start. A broad band of gilt metal and oxblood-red leather sprawls across Forbes' lap. Forbes got his hands on this trinket down in Florida last month. He only had to beat up one guy for it.

By all accounts, Forbes is a good guy, the church- going grandson of a preacher and a confirmed family man. In conversation, he's enthusiastic and friendly. You wouldn't guess that he pummels people for a livingÑand pummels them very nicely, thanks.

At an age when most kids are considering whether they'd rather ride a tricked-out BMX or a skateboard, Forbes drew first blood in the amateur boxing ranks in Portland and Beaverton. He liked it so much he decided to turn pro, moving to Las Vegas a few years ago. After a few fruitless years as a lightweight, Forbes dropped to the junior lightweight division, a fiercely competitive weightclass populated by 130-pound speed devils. The switch worked: On the first Sunday in December, Forbes beat John Brown to claim the previously vacant International Boxing Federation world championship for his class.

He figures he can move back to Portland now. Boxing doesn't have a very high profile around hereÑwhich may explain why the city hasn't really rolled out the old red carpet for its first champ in decades. Still, Forbes hopes to change that. In fact, heÕs got big plans.

WW: In the three weeks since you won your championship, what sort of response have you gotten in Portland?

Forbes: Not a very big one. I train in Las Vegas, and I got more of a response from there, and they have so many world champions. I mean, that's a big thing, to be the best in the world, and to come homeÑespecially since Portland doesn't have a big boxing communityÑI just feel ignored a little.

What was your first reaction at the moment the fight in Florida ended and you knew you were champion?

Before the fight, I told my wife, 'Y'know, I don't think I'll cry if I win.' And she said, 'Ha, you won't be able to control it.' So I started crying. I was so happy to have accomplished something that hadn't been done in Oregon for about 40 years, since Denny Moyer. I was so happy to be world champion coming from here, because I'd always tell people that there were some great fighters in Portland but a lot of them just never stuck with it.

What impact do you hope your win will have on boxing in Oregon?

Hopefully we can help Portland become a boxing town. I know the fans, even for the amateurs, that you see coming to matches are really great. They love the action, and you really hear their support. Hopefully we can do the same thing in the professional ranks.

I have to say that I've never met the world champion of anything before. How does it feel?

You know, it feels really good.

I bet.

I feel like finally I got the big one. I feel like I have so much more to prove. I want to be a champion for a long timeÑnot just like a one-time thing, but to stay champion.

All athletes try to win championships, but not all go in with a realistic chance of actually doing it. Have you always felt you were building toward a championship?

Yeah, I always knew, even when I was an amateur boxer. I said, 'You know, I think I'll be a world champion in the professional ranks.' I always studied it, watching films of the greats and imitating their championship fights. So that was always my goal; I always believed it could happen. I just didn't know when. I didnÕt think it would happen this soon.

You grew up doing karate before you ever started fighting. What did martial arts teach you that you still use in the ring today?

To stay focused. With karate, see, I was a just a kid when I took it, but one thing I took away from it is that there are distractions, and you have to stay focused, not let anything get in your way. That's what I told myself with the boxing, that there would be a time when I'd have to stay focused. There was a time when I wasn't getting many fights. And I said to myself, it doesn't matter, you just gotta stay focused. I took that away from karate.

How old were you when you boxed for the first time?

I was 10 when I started to train, and 11 when I worked my first contest as an amateur. I remember, I trained all through the summer. And of course there are a lot of things you can do in the summer as a kid, but I liked boxing because you'd get to travel.

What do you remember most about that first match?

How tired I got. We were only boxing one-minute rounds at that time. ThatÕs funny now, but I was so tired.

A lot of kids might have been dissuaded at that point. What hooked you?

I would say the fact that boxing is one-on-one, where you have to outsmart the other person like in chess or checkers. I always liked checkers: one-on-one, my mind against your mind, let's see who's better. Also, the traveling was a big thing. I got to go places as a young person that I'd never have gone otherwise.

Do you have a title defense set yet?

Actually, yes. It's in February. I could easily wait until April to defend, but I want to stay active. I don't want to be the kind of champion who sits around and waits.

So if you have a couple of months before the fight, what stage in your training cycle are you at right now?

Right now I'm still in the celebration-type, mellow-down mode. I'll start training on Jan. 8, and I'll start up as if I just walked into the gym for the first time. I'll just kind of warm my body up for the first few weeks. I'll be doing a lot of moving and a lot of bag work, and then build myself up, let the momentum build. Towards the end of training IÕm really working hard.

At what point do you really start focusing on your particular opponent for that bout?

I would say three weeks into it. I really start getting focused, I watch a lot of film and look at the weaknesses of my opponent, as well as the strengths. I look more at the strengths, honestly. If my opponent has a good right hand, I'm always conscious of it, watching out for that big right. Everything else falls into place.

To what degree does your particular opponent's style affect how you fight? To what degree do you alter your style given who youÕre fighting?

I'm always working on different styles. I never try to keep the same style, because I believe you gotta be versatile, you gotta be able to switch up a lot. My opponents watch a lot of my films, so I totally come with a different plan for each fight. A lot of guys get into this ego thing, where they say, 'This is the way I fight and IÕm not gonna change.' I change a lot.

You're the IBF champion in your weight class. Are you free to pursue championships from other sanctioning bodies?

Actually, my goal is to be world champion for seven years. I would say that in around 2002, I would like a unification fight with one of the other champions, but thatÕs much easier to say than to do. If youÕve got different promoters, different networks, itÕs hard. The two champions have to be willing to face each other, because once youÕre the champion of one sanction, you canÕt be ranked by another.

Looking at the list of IBF champions, you see Lennox Lewis and Roy Jones Jr. ThatÕs pretty elite company. How's it feel to be a part of it?

I always dreamed that I wanted my name up there with champions past and present: Shane Mosley, Mike TysonÑy'know, the younger Mike, he was viciousÑLennox Lewis, Holyfield. It's still hard for me to believe itÕs happened so soon.

Boxing, which requires so much talent and courage, is also a sport where your talent is at risk everytime you step in the ring. Is that something thatÕs always in the back of your mind?

There's always a risk involved. But I look at sports like football. Anything can happen in any sport, but I believe you gotta take care of yourself. A lot of boxers donÕt take care of themselves as far as conditioning goes. They donÕt prepare well, they dehydrate themselves to make weight, and then they get hurt. Boxing is getting a lot safer. Things still happen, but itÕs kind of rare anymore. The fact is, I used to play football, and I got hurt more in football that I have ever been hurt in boxing.

Would you let a kid of yours box?

I would. But I would never force my child to box, or to do anything for that matter. But if my child wanted to box, I would definitely see how serious he or she was and I would support them 100 percent. BoxingÕs done a lot for me, especially as a kid. I was never in troubleÑI mean, I was like anyone else. I liked to hang out, I didnÕt want to train hard. But once I got older I understood that a lot of the things I learned from boxing would help me, not only to become world champion, but also in my family life.

What is the biggest lesson from boxing you've applied to family life?

I've learned that if you don't have a support system, the boxing is going to be very hard. If you don't have a spouse whoÕs supportive, you're going to have a tough time. My wife was a track athlete, so she understands about training and preparation. The biggest thing for me is her support, and the support of my daughter and my family.

You mentioned changes in boxing. Can you put your finger on one in particular?

The Muhammad Ali Reform Act. It really protects the fighters. Years ago, guys would really get taken advantage of in the sport, but with the reform act, boxers have a lot more control over their careers. In the next few years, it's going to get better, because boxers are definitely starting to read more on business, get into business classes and really take advantage of their careers.

Have you done any of that yourself?

Yes, and actually I'd like to start a program that was geared towards helping young boxers look after themselves, to get them busy competing and looking into a lot of different things.

Does it bother you that the media focus almost exclusively on the heavyweight class?

Yeah. To a boxer, the heavyweights are the most boring division. Even other fighters are like, 'I can't believe the heavyweights get this much attention.' In America, people are fascinated by the big thingsÑthe big house, the big car...the big heavyweights! But little guys like me put on the best fights, the best shows, the most competitive matches. You always see the best fights in the lower weight classes. I would say probably my weight division is the hardest weight class. One of the hottest weight classes in boxing right now is junior lightweight division, without a doubt...so much great talent at this division, and now with me coming up kind of out of nowhere, itÕs even more of a great division.

Speaking of coming out of nowhere, what kind of coverage did you get in the boxing press before the fight?

About a year ago, I don't think people in boxing really knew who I was. Locally, in Vegas, they were kind of watching me, but before the championship I guess there were questions about how I would deal with the top contenders. They were waiting to see how IÕd do, and I guess now I have the OK (laughs) from the boxing writers.

I have to ask. What's it like to hit and be hit?

Well, in the ring it's not like getting smacked on the street. The human mind is something else. When you expect something, it's never as bad as when you don't expect it. That's when you see guys get knocked out. They didn't expect that punch, probably didnÕt even see it. But when you're in there hitting him and heÕs hitting you, I would say you're aware that, OK, I'm gonna get hit. You don't feel it then, but man, do you feel it the next day. Like, 'Did I get hit over here?'

What's your relationship with other fighters like outside the ring?

It's funny, because the two best guys in the junior lightweight division, Floyd Mayweather Jr., who's a fellow champion, and Dio Corales, a guy he's fighting, are two of my best friends. And I'm thinking, why am I friends with these guys when theyÕre the ones I could end up fighting? We have great respect for each other, and throughout the years we've all helped each other. A lot of times you hear before a fight, 'Oh, these guys really donÕt like each other.' I'd say at least 60 or 70 percent of the time, that's just built up in the press to sell the fight. It's kind of like the school playground, where you get somebody and they're the instigator, and they'll tell so-and-so that so-and-so said something about 'em. ThatÕs exactly how it is in boxing.

How's Vegas?

It's a lot of glitter flash. After living there, I'd say it's good to visit, but when you live there, you realize that it's not what people think. Vegas is kind of like going on a date with someone. You don't really know the whole person from one date when they put on a great attitude. After you've seen 'em around for a while, you know the real them. Vegas is a great place to visit once a year.

Besides your family connections, what attracts you to Portland?

Growing up here and not seeing it as a big boxing place, that's a big attraction for me. Maybe thereÕs something I can do, especially to get kids going. I want to start some programs to help kidsÑnot just kids involved in boxing, though I want to do that too.