After four year away from the ring, former IBF jr lightweight champion Steve Forbes (36-14, 11 KOs) returned on Saturday night at the Clackamas Armory in Clackamas, Oregon, to score a unanimous decision victory over the tricky Tavorus Teague (6-26-4, 3 KOs). Featuring as the main bout on his own 2Pound Sports & Entertainment promotions card, Forbes had to work out Teague’s awkward style to eventually maintain the upper hand over the majority of the fight.
Teague, of Paramount, California, has his moments from range and enjoyed an encouraging start to the fight, landing first with crisp right hands. Forbes however stuck to task and eventually closed the distance, landing crafty counters frequently.. Half way through the fight Teague had been forced to fight at close range more to Forbes’ advantage yet still had his successes, stunning Forbes at the end of the fifth..
Forbes continued to maintain a constant work rate down the stretch, something Teague struggled with, and although trading at times, didn’t let his hands work enough to subdue the former champion..
Forbes finished much the stronger, with the Californian adopting a more defensive approach towards the end.. All three judges saw the fight in favour of Forbes..
Scores were 69-64, 68-65, and 67-66.
“I was happy to get the rounds in,” said Forbes after the fight. “I was happy to work on the things we worked on in the gym. His style was so awkward. I’d never fought a guy like that. It was a good test for me…I’m going to keep coming down in weight and this was a good way to test my strength a little bit. This guy is more of a middleweight than anything else…I felt good in there coming back after so many years.”
“I know we’ve got some stuff to work on, but overall it was good. My defense was good, and we were safe in there. A couple times I got a little lackadaisical in there because I knew he couldn’t hurt me, and I was trying to get a good shot in. But other than that, I feel good with it…we’ll be back in August.”
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