Underdog Forbes aims to prove the doubters wrong again

By Kieran Mulvaney

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former IBF super-featherweight champion Steve Forbes said he intended to prove his doubters wrong once again when he fights Oscar De La Hoya on Saturday.

"I'm an underdog, I understand that," Forbes, 33-5 (9 KOs), told Reuters on Thursday.

"But the more I see and read, it's like I never put on boxing gloves before, like I only started boxing yesterday."

Forbes said people had dismissed his chances since the day he was born prematurely in 1977. His ring nickname, "Two Pounds," is in recognition of his birth weight.

"My doctors said I wouldn't make it," he said. "I showed them that they were wrong. I think about everything I've gone through in life, to even make it this far, and it motivates me to keep going."

He began boxing at the age of 10, partly, he said, to prove to "over-protective" family and friends that he was tougher than they realized.

After a successful amateur career in which he won five Golden Glove competitions, he turned professional in 1996.

In 2000, in just his 20th professional contest, he became the IBF super featherweight champion with a stoppage win over John Brown.