The venue was the star on Saturday night as Yankee Stadium outshone the action in the ring. In the main event, Miguel Cotto successfully moved up to 154 to take the WBA super welterweight title from previously undefeated Yuri Foreman by ninth round TKO. Cotto patiently outboxed the light hitting Foreman in the early rounds and appeared to be on cruise control towards an easy decision (or possibly a late stoppage).
However, things got interesting in round seven when Foreman's right knee - on which he was already wearing a brace - buckled. Foreman gamely continued but his knee was clearly bothering him. In the eighth round, Foreman's corner threw a towel into the ring and the fight appeared to be over as people began entering the ring ... until referee Arthur Mercante Jr. ordered everyone out of the ring so the fight could continue. The confusion only postponed the inevitable as Cotto had no trouble finding the immobile Foreman. Cotto dropped Foreman with a left to the body in round nine and Mercante waved a halt to the action without bothering to count. Cotto was far ahead on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage (79-73 twice and 78-74).
Cotto looked good but not great in what has to be considered an unsatisfying victory. Foreman gained some respect with his toughness but, as expected, was in over his head in his first fight against a world class opponent.
The first fight at the "new" Yankee Stadium - 34 years after the last fight at the "old" Yankee Stadium - drew a crowd of 20,272 fans.
Comments
The Cotto-Foreman match deserves an award for the strangest fight in many years. I have long been a fan of Cotto; he is a great professional. But he has had a hard time of it lately in the ring and out, with the loss of his Father. Certainly, Cotto was a favorite in the Foreman fight. Foreman is a dedicated fighter and a professional as well, but he has absolutely no power behind his punches, and quick hands will only take you so far. There was not much chance that Cotto would be hurt by a Foreman punch. Despite this, Cotto is really too small for the division adn stepping up in weight against a stronger opponent would cost him, I think.
I am concerned that there was more to this fight that happened outside the ring, before the fight. Foreman came into the ring with a knee brace. He said after the fight that it was because of an “old” injury. I wonder. Watching the fight, I saw Foreman’s knee simply give way and it must have been painful. I think the severity of the knee injury was just too great to represent an “old” injury. I suspect, and it would be worth exploring, that Foreman’s injury may have been very recent, and very close to the fight date. I wonder if there was just too much money at stake, perhaps for the promoters, to postpone the fight, and an unreported, but serious, knee injury is not the kind of injury a doctor would look for during the pre-fight examination. Looking back, and not taking anything away from Cotto–he did wind–I think Foreman did not look as quick as he looked in other fights. And for a light hitter, speed is everything, as we saw.
cotto is finished as a top fighter–he really never could take a punch and will suffer further damage if he continues against bigger men. he has hopefully made enough money to call- it-a-day–if not he could be badly hurt!