First Gatti, Now Forrest...Damn

As if boxing wasn't a dangerous enough sport, I guess you can never train to defend against your wife strangling you with her handbag (Gatti) or bullets in your back as another star loses his life.

Vernon Forrest, a former two-division champion who gained stardom when he became the first boxer to defeat Shane Mosley, was shot to death in what police are calling an attempted robbery.

Atlanta police Sgt. Lisa Keyes said in an e-mail Sunday that the 38-year-old Forrest was shot several times in the back late Saturday night on a street just southwest of downtown. Keyes said there were no suspects.

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." Keyes said a police report on the shooting was not immediately available.

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 Forrest's 11-year-old godson was with him, but had gone into the convenience store and did not witness the shooting. (source: The Huffington Post)