2 dangerous punchers, although Cuevas was more bone crushing while Forrest was like a sniper with better boxing skills. Does Cuevas crush Forrest similar to Mayorga or does Forrest use his jab and right hand to stop Cuevas the same way Hearns did?
I can't see Forrest beating a prime Cuevas. He didn't have the Hearns-like firepower to take Cuevas out early, nor did he have the chin to handle Cuevas' power when it lands. Cuevas in 5.
I can’t see Forrest fighting the perfect fight he’d need to for a victory. He can keep Cuevas on the end of his jab for a few rounds, land a few stiff rights, but at some point Cuevas will get inside and stay inside that reach and land a left hook that Forrest wouldn’t be able to deal with, imo. Cuevas KO 6
I remember watching the first Mayorga v Forrest. Forrest was making a fundamental mistake that you see often and it is a basic misunderstanding of how to throw punches. He was trying to time Mayorga coming in and looking to hit him hard. So he settled into a stance with his feet very wide. You can't punch hard that way- you can't shift your weight through the punch because your base is too wide. If the other guy is willing to stay 4 feet away, you can hit him hard. If he is pushing forward, going hard, he will get right on your lead foot and smother your punches. Then he is right on you and the first thing that you have to do is pull straight back. With your feet that wide you cannot punch short hard and fast inside and you can't move in any direction other than straight back until you get your feet right. Forrest put himself in that position and Mayorga got on him and stopped him. A mistake like that against Cuevas could be career ending. He should have positioned himself with his feet under his shoulders. You can punch from there, you can move from there.
Forrest was flailing all over the ring in the Mayorga rematch and wound up getting out-boxed. That doesn't bode well for his chances against Cuevas
