By Ricardo Ibarra
Making his return to the ring after a near five-year absence from the sport, former IBF Jr. lightweight world champion Steve “2 Pound” Forbes (35-14, 11 KOs) will take on California’s Tavorus Teague (6-25-4, 3 KOs) on Saturday night at the Clackamas Armory in Clackamas, Oregon, squaring off with the journeyman fighter in the main event of 2Pound Sports & Entertainment’s ‘Fight Night 3: Redemption’ card.
Forbes, a native of Portland and one of the best fighters to come out of the state of Oregon, will be competing in his fiftieth professional fight. The wily twenty-two-year veteran claimed the IBF 130 lbs. strap in December of 2000, defeating top contender John Brown for the vacant belt via 8th round TKO. He would defend it once, defeating Brown by decision in a rematch, before losing it on the scale in 2002 after failing to make weight prior to his fight with David Santos, though he would go on to defeat Santos by twelve round split decision. Forbes came up short in two subsequent attempts at reclaiming a title in the 130 lbs. division, losing a ten round technical decision to Carlos Hernandez for the IBF title in October of 2003, and dropping a twelve round unanimous decision to WBA belt holder Theera Phongwan in 2004.
A jump to welterweight brought Forbes more opportunities, including a spot on the second season of the reality show ‘The Contender’ in 2006, where Forbes battled his way to the finale before losing a split decision to Grady Brewer. In 2008 he took on Oscar Delahoya, dropping a unanimous decision to the hall-of-famer, and followed that up four months later with a failed attempt at taking the WBC 147 lbs. crown, suffering a twelve round unanimous decision loss to then champion Andre Berto.
Forbes stepped away from the sport in 2014 after a series of losses, including a decision defeat to future world champion Jesse Vargas in May of 2012. In his last fight, the Oregonian dropped an eight round unanimous decision to Antonio Orozco in October of 2014. But after a lengthy stretch away from competition, Forbes is now focused on making a successful comeback and working diligently to ensure he wins his upcoming fight.
“I’ve been training hard for this fight and it’s been good,” said Forbes from his camp in Portland. “I’ve been happy with what we’re doing. I’ve missed it for a while, but now I’m getting back in there and things are working well. I’m having a lot of fun with this new journey. Making weight’s the part you don’t really like. But the good thing about that is you learn a lot throughout the years, so it’s not too bad…But I’m sure going to enjoy my vacation after.”
His opponent Teague, a southpaw fighting out of Paramount, California, is a veteran of thirty-five professional fights. Though he’s only scored six wins in five years as a pro, he’s been a fighter willing to take on tough challenges, repeatedly stepping up to face solid competitors. Five of his last seven fights have been against unbeaten fighters, and at one point between 2014 and 2015 he went on a seven-fight run of facing all unbeaten foes, which included prospects Terrell Williams (L KO3) and Juan Heraldez (L UD6). In his most recent fight, Teague suffered his second four round unanimous decision loss to unbeaten Vardges Vardanyan on March 15th.
“He’s one of those guys that can definitely be a sleeper,” said Forbes of his next adversary. “You can go into a fight like that and be a little overconfident, but he’s tough. He’s a solid fighter and he’s scored the upset before. With all those fights, you have to learn something. He fought a lot of tough guys, a lot of undefeated guys, a lot of prospects, so you know he’s going to present some minor problems, being that he’s a tall guy and being that I haven’t fought in a while. From what I know about him he is solid, and he has a lot of experience. That counts for something. When you get a guy that isn’t expected to win, they’re tough.”
Forbes and Teague will square off in a seven round fight in the Jr. middleweight division. Four additional fights will make up the remainder of the card.
In the card’s co-featured bout, undefeated Jr. lightweight prospect Victor Morales, Jr. (10-0, 6 KOs), of Vancouver, Washington, will look to claim his second win in five weeks when he takes on tough journeyman Marcello Gallardo (7-4-2, 3 KOs) in an eight round bout. Morales, an impressive amateur who claimed multiple national titles and competed internationally for team USA, turned pro in August of 2016 and has racked up ten straight wins over the last two and a half years. He last fought on March 2nd, scoring a first round TKO win over Ugandan journeyman Phillip Adyaka. Gallardo, of Renton, Washington, has been in the ring with some note-worthy competition over the course of his thirteen pro fights, including recent world title challenger Christopher “El Pitufo” Diaz, whom he lost a six round unanimous decision to in 2015. This will mark the first fight for Gallardo since August of 2015, when he suffered a fifth-round knockout loss to former USBA featherweight title holder Daniel Franco. The two fighters will meet at the 130 lbs. limit.
Unbeaten welterweight Daquan Wyatt (2-0, 2 KOs) will face California’s Somethonit Phoumychak (0-5) in a four round contest. Wyatt, currently fighting out of Las Vegas, is looking for his third consecutive knockout win. His last victory was a first round TKO of Armando Gonzalez last September. Phoumychak is winless in five fights.
Popular local amateur Lorenzo Caldera will make his entrance into the paid ranks in a four round lightweight bout, taking on Great Falls, Montana’s Jerald Gregori. Caldera had a lengthy amateur career, which included over 120 bouts and repeatedly placing among the top fighters in the nation in his respective weight class. Gregori is also making his pro debut.
Rounding out the card will be a four round heavyweight fight between Pendleton, Oregon’s Justin “Copenhagen Kid” Milani (2-5, 1 KO) and Johnny James (0-1), of Portland.
“I’m very excited about this card,” said promoter Christina Lunzman. “Steve’s going to show people that at any age, you can still get in there and anything is possible if you put your mind to it. He doesn’t have anything to prove, but this is something he loves doing.”
“We also have some good young fighters on the show,” continued Lunzman. “The Northwest has a lot of talent right now. Lorenzo Caldera will be on our card, he fought as an amateur on our first show. He’ll be making his pro debut and he’s really excited about being showcased in his hometown instead of having to go somewhere else. Victor Morales is a great kid with tremendous talent. He’ll be able to fight in front of his hometown fans. We can expect a very exciting night.”
Doors to the Clackamas Armory will open at 5:30 p.m. with the first bout scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Tickets to 2Pound Sports & Entertainment’s ‘Fight Night 3: Redemption’ are available at www.tickettomato.com. For more information visit www.2poundsports.com or the 2Pound Sports & Entertainment Facebook page.