Big time boxing returns to Yankee Stadium

20,272 flock to Yankee Stadium to watch Miguel Cotto defeat Yuri Foreman...twice in the same fight

Boxing returned to Yankee stadium after 34 years. The last time there was a championship fight at Yankee stadium was in September 1976 when Muhammad Ali retained the heavyweight championship of the world in a close decision against Ken Norton and the stadium was located across the street from where the new home of Yankees stands today. Boxing made its debut at the new stadium this past Saturday June 5th and it offered a great pairing of boxers that attracted the support of various sectors of the sports world. You had the Puertorican and Jewish communities, boxing fans, and the curious who were not sure what kind of spectacle the Yankees organization could put together by hosting a boxing event.

In the main event you had the hero of Caguas, Puerto Rico the three time champion Miguel Cotto facing off against the first champion that Israel has had in 75 years, Yuri Foreman the WBA junior middleweight champion, in search of a championship in a third weight class. As expected the stadium filled up with many Puertorican fans that were ultra vocal in their support for their idol. Yuri Foreman who is studying to become a rabbi this year, had his supporters on hand as well from the significant Jewish population in New York city and he also had the motivation to succeed for one special fan, 12 year old Scotty Ballan who celebrated his bar mitzvah earlier in the evening at the stadium. With a mix of salsa music and the sounds of the traditional Jewish war horn, the shofar, the two boxers would get it on.

For Cotto a loss would surely be the end to a terrific career that saw him represent Puerto Rico in the 2000 Olympics, win three world championships in the pros, and face off against some the greats of the game like Shane Mosley, Manny Pacquiao, Zab Judah, and Antonio Margarito. His only two losses were brutal stoppages, the kind of beatings that cut boxing careers short. Based on those losses, his decision to move up in weight to face bigger men seemed like a very dangerous proposition. But Cotto fed off of the doubts of others to give an inspired performance on Saturday night that ranks as one of the best showings of his career.

From the opening bell Cotto appeared confident and sharp throwing punches with more speed and pop then his opponent. He impressed most with the efficiency of his jab that snapped Foreman's head back despite lacking the arm reach of his foe. The defending champion used every inch of the squared circle to his advantage as he tried to use constant movement to frustrate his challenger but in following that strategy he sacrificed his offense and his physical advantages as the larger man allowing the smaller Cotto to play the role of the aggressor. This pattern would continue through out the fight, Cotto on the attack and Foreman on the retreat attempting to counter. Cotto connected with jabs, hooks, and uppercuts while Foreman got off some sneaky right hands occasionally. Cotto caught the champion with a right hand in the second round that buckled the legs of the Israeli and in the third round the challenger sent Foreman's mouthpiece flying after connecting with a flurry. Foreman answered back in the fourth round getting off two combinations that both ended with straight rights that rocked Cotto. But even in the midst of that upswing the champion suffered a loss as he began to bleed from the nose. Cotto dominated the fifth round with effective counterpunching and then won the sixth when Foreman could not keep up with Cotto's punch output.

The seventh round is where all of the drama of this fight truly began as Foreman's strategy of constant motion betrayed him causing him to slip to the canvas and injure his right knee (it was learned later that he had aggravated an old knee injury incurred in Israel years ago). Upon rising it was obvious that Foreman's mobility was seriously hampered as he could barely put any weight on the leg. The referee allowed him some time to walk it off but to no avail, the movement that kept him from danger was no longer there and upon resuming the action Foreman was forced to stand and trade against the powerful Cotto. In those moments Yankee Stadium erupted with the emotion of 20, 000 plus watching two gladiators go after each other fiercely. Cotto was getting the better of the exchanges but with no hope of escape, Foreman put up a brave stand and valiantly fired back earning the respect of all who were witness. The action continued this way until the bell signaled the end of the round and Foreman limped away to his corner in dire trouble.

In the eight round Foreman was attacked by Cotto who's pressure was so intense it forced the champion to retreat and in doing so he slipped again making his condition worse. Foreman was now a sitting duck and in the middle of another exchange going against him, a white towel was thrown in from his corner which is the traditional symbol of surrender in this sport, and it appeared that Miguel Cotto had won by TKO. The ring filled up with the usual suspects and the fighters even congratulated each other and that is when the whole thing took a turn into the bizarre. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. made the rare call of dismissing the towel, clearing the ring and restarting the fight. Ring announcer Michael Buffer announced that the ref ruled that the towel was thrown from an outside source and there for did not count. After inexplicably giving Foreman several minutes to recuperate, the action resumed with Cotto back on the attack on a hobbled junior middleweight champion who looked increasingly in deep water. Foreman survived the round and had to look forward to fighting round 9 on one leg. The fight mercifully ended forty seconds into the ninth round when Cotto caught Foreman with a vintage left hook to the rib cage sending him sprawling to the canvas and forcing the ref to stop the fight.

Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) became a champion once again while Yuri Foreman (28-1, 8 KOs) suffered his first loss as a pro. After the fight all questions where aimed at referee Arthur Mercante Jr. who was justifiably put at the center of controversy for his decision to ignore the towel of surrender. His official response was that the towel was thrown in from the audience and he felt that the defending champ was still in the fight at the time and did not deserve to end the fight that way. A replay which was televised by HBO and shown on the big screen at Yankee stadium clearly contradicted the ref by showing that it was Foreman's trainer Joe Grier who threw in the towel. During the post fight press conference Grier admitted that he threw in the towel to save his man, despite the vehement denials of promoter Bob Arum. When asked about the controversy, the new champion responded; " I understand that I beat Yuri Foreman twice tonight." The win guarantees more big money fights for Cotto and rematches with Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito were tossed about as possible future events.

Promoter Bob Arum declared the stadium slugfest a success and he can legitimately make that claim when you consider the attention that it brought the sport from the mainstream media and the presence of celebrities from the entertainment and sports world. On hand were actors Liev Schriber and Naomi Watts, director Spike Lee, salsa singer Frankie Negron, from the NY Giants Brandon Jacobs, from baseball Darryl Strawberry and Tommy Lasorda, boxers Manny Pacquiao and Tommy Hearns. Arum thanked the Yankees organization and spoke of his desire to bring another fight to the stadium.

Observations

• The result of the first ever boxing fight at the new Yankee Stadium reads as follows: Christian Martinez (4-0, 4 KOs) winner by TKO in the fourth round over Jonathan Cuba (2-2, 2 KOs)
  
  
• As it turns out the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission backs up referee Arthur Mercante's decision to dismiss a towel thrown in from a boxer's corner. The rules state that only the referee or member of the NYSAC can stop a fight in the state of New York. Well just because its a rule doesn't make it right. Initially the ref's reasoning for stopping the fight had nothing to do with this rule. He was quoted as saying that he felt the towel came in from the crowd and he also felt that Foreman's leg was not the issue that nearly everyone watching at home and at the stadium felt that it was. This is the same ref who officiated a fight aboard the Intrepid in New York in which light heavyweight Beethaeven Scottland lost his life. The man was a sitting duck, yes he was throwing punches but he no longer had the ability to dodge the incoming punches. His whole game plan was shattered and with only eight KOs to his resume, a shot to get the hail mary knockout win was way out of reach. The rule is also fundamentally wrong in my opinion. How can a ref or a member of any commission no the condition of a fighter more than his own trainer? A trainer is with his fighter for the majority of his career or at least for the length of time it takes to get ready for the fight while a ref or commission member might only see that fighter one time. If there is one good thing that this controversy has brought to light it is the knowledge that this rule is on the books, now someone needs to correct it.



• Another thing that I feel compelled to point out was a total lack of respect shown by some of the Cotto fans at the stadium that decided to boo the singing of the Israeli national anthem. I don't know how this came off on HBO because I know that at the stadium they decided to turn up the volume when the Israeli singer sang and combined with her Opera style voice it was pretty loud. But you cold still hear the boos from the some of the fans. Just a total lack of class. Mind you I said some of the Cotto fans and not Puertorican fans because I would never classify a whole people as unruly. I've been to Puerto Rico and the people were sweet and welcoming. Whatever you feel about a certain country and whether you agree with its politics or not the respectful and decent thing to do is to not interfere with the singing of their national anthem. When you boo another nation's anthem, you are not representing yourself , your country, or Miguel Cotto in a good way. Cotto comes off as a very serious and dignified young man and I don't think he would approve of those who booed the singing of the Israeli national anthem.



• On a personal note: Big time fighting at Yankee Stadium, A MAJOR PLUS, YES, YES LETS DO IT AGAIN! The atmosphere at the ballpark was electric and it just felt like you were at a huge outdoor block party with the music and all the people walking around dressed to the hilt. Even the weather, which was hot and sticky earlier cooperated and beame pleasant. It was more than a night at the fights, it was a party.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE MOMENT

I had so much fun at the fight at Yankee Stadium this weekend that if I could get on my very own time traveling Hot Tub Time Machine I would go back to 1976 to watch the last fight that was hosted by the New York Yankees. This one was between Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton in the days of 15 rounders at the old stadium home of Reggie, Munson, Martin, Mattingly, Winfield, and Torre's championship squads.