Former champion Foreman to have surgery on knee -- USA Today

By Dave Skretta, AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK — Former junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman will need surgery on his right knee after tearing his meniscus and stretching ligaments Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.

Foreman was hurt in the seventh round of his fight against Miguel Cotto, which he eventually lost when referee Arthur Mercante Jr. waved it off early in the ninth round.

Foreman visited Dr. Gerard Varlotta, a joint specialist at The Rusk Institute in New York, and was told Monday he would need surgery on the knee. Foreman wasn't sure when it will be scheduled or how long he might be out of the ring.

"I will need surgery and I don't know yet how big it is," Foreman told The Associated Press. "I'm going to find out soon, probably in the next day or two."

Foreman said Varlotta was ringside for the fight and saw the injury happen.

The aspiring rabbi hurt himself when he slipped to the canvas in the seventh round on a steamy night in the Bronx. Foreman elected to continue fighting, even though he could barely move around, and survived to the end of the round.

Early in the eighth, Foreman was trading blows with Cotto when his corner threw a white towel into the ring to stop the fight. Mercante angrily tossed the towel out, even though dozens of people were already flooding through the ropes, and asked Foreman whether he wanted to keep fighting. Foreman said yes, the ring was cleared and the bout resumed.

Foreman's biggest weapon is his speed and defense, and his movement was compromised by the balky right knee. Cotto was able to stand in front of Foreman and finally landed a crushing body shot early in the ninth round that ended the fight.

Foreman said that besides the knee injury, he came out of the first main event at Yankee Stadium in more than three decades in good shape a few bumps and bruises and some swelling from the barrage of blows landed by Cotto, now a three-division world champion.

"Yeah," Foreman said, "I feel OK."

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: usatoday.com

Bottom Line, Arthur Mercante Jr. Adhered To The Rulebook -- The Sweet Science

By Michael Woods, The Sweet Science

The fight itself was no classic, as Yuri Foreman found out right quick that we'd pulled a Mark Twain deal on him and you, that the press had decided prematurely that 29-year-old Miguel Cotto was stick-a-fork-in-him done.

Not so, it looked like in minute one, as Cotto's hand speed was there, and his legs were sturdy underneath him. And if his power didn't exactly overwhelm at 154, and he looked a bit more like his brother Jose than the Miguel who'd won three titles, it was still enough to get the better of Foreman.

Yuri, as we'd posited on ESPNNewYork.com (here's the link, check the seventh-to-last paragraph...sports.espn.go.com/new-york/news/story), was perhaps the beneficiary of an avalanche of pre-fight hype. We focused excessively on his superlative backstory, the rabbi-to-be angle, and neglected to examine the resume, and compare it to Cotto's, as much as was warranted. And guess what? I more than played a part in that.

LOL.

Cotto sized up Foreman's lack of pop immediately and as Frank Lotierzo will point out in a column that goes up tonight, that lack of firepower made Cotto infinitely bolder. It's much easier to stick to your agenda when you know the other guy has to catch you totally unawares with a perfectly placed shot to hurt you.

So the scorecards, two of which gave Yuri just one round, another gave him two, hinted at the lack of drama in the bout. But no one on the New York fight scene will soon forget this main event, because of what went down in the eighth round. Foreman trainer Joe Grier didn't like the way his fighter was looking, as he'd slipped twice and was favoring his right knee, which he'd hurt as a teen in Israel. So, responding to his own eyes, and the lobbying of Foreman's wife Leyla, a few rows away from the corner, he lobbed a towel into the ring. This, in his mind, signaled a surrender. In the mind of referee Arthur Mercante, that towel did no such thing.

From my seat in press row, I howled in protest as Mercante blew off the towel, refused to accept the flag of surrender. After a delay in which Mercante, Grier, Foreman and the New York State Athletic Commission conferred, the action re-commenced. We heard a message of supposed clarification from a well meaning Michael Buffer, who said that Mercante had refused to acknowledge the towel because he didn't know its origin, and said it came from an "outside source." On fight night, I heard that, and howled louder. Because I was pretty damned sure I'd seen Grier lob the towel. It didn't come from some hot dog vendor, or whatever.

So my Irish was up. I was heated.

Then the eighth round ended. Foreman went to his corner. He was looked at by Grier, and by a ring doc. He said he wanted to continue. His knee was hurting him, but he wanted to go on. He wanted to be the brave warrior, represent himself, and his nation of origin, with valor. We always ask the combatants we most revere to do just that, right?

Cotto knew he had a wounded animal in front of him to start the ninth, and he bore in for the kill. This was no Andrey Tsurkan, or James Moore and David Santos coming in to finish the deal. This was Miguel Cotto, a veteran of the very highest levels battles. Was this 'A' grade Cotto, classic Cotto? No, but it was still 'B+" grade, better than anything Foreman has ever had to contend with. I'd been muttering to myself, and Tweeting, that Cotto should go to the body, take something from Yuri's legs. He did, with a Micky Ward special.

Foreman went down, in agony, and now Mercante pulled the plug. He gave the kid every chance to pull the miracle upset, but Cotto, and his limitations as a boxer, were too much for him. It was over, less than a minute into the ninth round.

But the controversy lingered. TowelGate, I referred to the incident in my ESPNNewYork column that went up that night. At the Stadium we debated the issue. We wondered why Mercante hadn't accepted the towel. We saw a hurt warrior, on a gimpy leg, we didn't want him to take unnecessary punishment. We heard Mercante's explanation after the bout, heard him say, “The towel came in, in the heat of battle. There was a good exchange going at that moment. And the towel came in and I felt it wasn’t necessary… and I didn’t know where it came from. About ten seconds prior to that, someone from the corner stepped up and said, “Stop the fight, stop the fight.” I looked and there was no one in the corner. There was no need to stop the fight. They were just in the middle of a good fight, a great fight. That’s what the fans came to see. It was a shame…”

That last part stood out for me, at the time. Why, I wondered, is that even part of the equation to Mercante? You all know I lobby all the time for fighters to see themselves as entertainer-athletes, if they wish to maximize their earnings, and lean towards being offensive minded pugilists if they want to be seen as fan-friendly boxers. But a ref can't let that factor into his decision-making, in my mind.

So I wasn't all pro Mercante on Saturday night, for sure. But I must make this admission--that is because I wasn't in possession of all the fact. Fact is, NY rules say that he did the right thing.
Here's Rule 210.17 from their rulebook. It's been in there since the 1930s, I believe.

"No one shall throw any towel into the ring as a signal of defeat or for any other reason."

There you go. Only the ref or the doctor can stop a fight, according to commission rules. Though a cornerman can stop the bout by walking up onto the apron, and getting his fighter disqualified.

Mercante knew that on that night. In the stands, I didn't. In press row, we weren't sure if the refusal to honor the cornerman's signal of submission was part of the unified rules, or a NY-centric rule. The fans, most of them, didn't know the rule. Buffer tried to do the right thing by offering clarity, but his effort fell short, as the towel didn't get thrown from any grassy knoll.

NYSAC chief Melvina Lathan talked to TSS on Monday. "I do think Arthur did what he was supposed to do. I always tell the referees, 'Be aware of the fighter, and if you feel he is not defending himself properly, and you feel the need to stop it, I'll back you one hundred percent. I much prefer that the fight be stopped sooner rather than later."

NYSAC director of boxing Ralph Petrillo told TSS that Mercante did the right thing in the eighth as well. "There was no way for him to ascertain where the towel came from. He did the right thing, and went to the corner." (Mercante said after that Grier denied throwing the white towel when Mercante asked him about it.) Now, the trainer could have come up to the apron with a commissioner to stop it, by disqualification. And Grier could have stopped the fight in between rounds, by telling the doctor or ref. And the fighter wanted to continue."

"Foreman's a fighter, a champion, he came to fight, to defend himself, and his belt, and his people," Lathan continued. "There were some great exchanges still. I think Arthur did a remarkable job, he did what he was supposed to do. He knows the rules, he responded appropriately. All in all, it was a magical evening of boxing. We had full cooperation from all forces, the NYPD, MTA, State Police, Yankee Stadium security, our office. No one was hurt. It was a great evening, for the families, for the people in the Bronx, for boxing."

FYI Lathan's tenure as chief was just extended, by three years. As far as we can discern, the refs and judges underneath her umbrella appreciate the fact that she backs them up, and doesn't second guess them. If I'm Mercante, I'm appreciative, because in this day and age, cover your ass is the prime motivator for too many people in power. But Lathan is in his corner, full on, and seems to understand that critics will rail from the sidelines, expecting perfection during a period of disarray.

Could he or should he have pulled the plug, because Foreman's leg compromised his mobility? Maybe. But as I said before, don't we revere those fighters who keep on competing, even though they broke their hand, or their eye is closed? Don't the fighters themselves enter the ring with eyes wide open? Didn't Foreman desire to keep battling, and was he not defending himself and answering back with offense?

Bottom line, Mercante did indeed adhere to the rulebook. Should we look hard at the rule as it exists in the rulebook? Maybe so. But on June 5, Mercante did indeed act in accordance with the rulebook.

Source: thesweetscience.com

Round marred by bad decisions -- New York Post

By George Willis, New York Post

History will remember Yuri Foreman for his courage and Miguel Cotto for his accomplishment. Thirty-four years after Muhammad Ali fought Ken Norton at the old Yankee Stadium, the Jewish kid from Israel and the determined Puerto Rican did themselves proud in the new ballpark in The Bronx. Too bad I can't say that for everyone else involved in Cotto's ninth-round TKO victory.

The mess of an eighth round when Foreman's corner threw a towel of surrender into the ring only to be ignored by referee Arthur Mercante Jr., was a showcase of bad decision making that could have gotten someone hurt.

Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) is now a four-time world champion in three weight divisions with another big fight on the horizon, while Foreman (28-1, 8 KOs) has earned tons of respect from the 20,272 in attendance after injuring his right knee in an awkward fall in the seventh round. Robbed of his mobility, the Brooklyn-based Foreman stood and fought on one leg earning more fans than when he started. But just about everyone else with a role needs to make sure the mistakes made in the eighth round aren't repeated.

Let's start with Mercante. Selected to work the fight as a tribute to his late father, who worked Ali-Norton, Mercante was having a good night until the eighth round, when Foreman's trainer Joe Grier threw in the towel with 1:13 left. Cotto raised his hand in triumph, and Grier entered the ring. The fight should have been stopped there.

But with promoters, corner men and cameras all in the ring thinking the bout was over, Mercante ushered everyone out, and asked Foreman if he wanted to continue. Since when does a fighter decide how much punishment he should take? A fighter's will to continue should never supersede the desires of his trainer. Mercante even told Foreman: "You're fighting hard. I don't want to see you lose like that."

Mercante would later defend his action by saying: "There was no need to stop the fight. They were in the middle of a great fight. The people came to see the fight. I thought I did the right thing to let it continue."

I don't. Foreman wasn't going to win the fight on one leg. He was only going to take more punishment.

Grier didn't distinguish himself either. At the post- fight press conference, he admitted he threw the towel into the ring be cause he was trying to stop the fight. He also took a swipe at the New York State Athletic Commission.

"Prior to me throwing the towel in I realized that it was a violation," Grier said, "but before I threw that towel in, there were three [NYSAC] inspectors in that corner and I asked them, 'How do I go about getting the fight stopped?' They said, 'Well, let me get the referee's attention.' They couldn't get the referee's attention. I said, 'I've got to get it stopped because he's really starting to get banged up.' They said, 'Go ahead.' So I threw it in. I don't know what else I was expected to do.' "

He should have been expected to stand by his decision. Instead, he wasn't emphatic enough with Mercante and allowed the fight to continue into the ninth. And how does a trainer for a world champion not know how to "go about getting a fight stopped?"

The inspectors failed, too. They were supposed to get Mercante's attention when Grier said he wanted the fight stopped. They yelled at Mercante to stop the fight, but the referee didn't acknowledge them. All this was happening while Foreman's wife Leyla Leidecker was screaming at Foreman's corner to "Stop the fight."

Said Grier: "I wanted [Foreman] to leave with dignity."

Foreman didn't need the ninth round for that.

george.willis@nypost.com

Source: nypost.com

Hype couldn't help Foreman in ring -- ESPN

By Michael Woods, Special to ESPNNewYork.com

NEW YORK -- Three days before the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman clash at Yankee Stadium, we asked Foreman if it was possible that the press had hyped the rabbi-in-training angle to kingdom come, if he considered that maybe his superlative backstory was making pundits overlook the fact that his résumé wasn't sterling.

So many fightwriters and fans were picking the WBA 154-pound champion to upset three-time titlist Miguel Cotto -- whose résumé was beyond reproach -- that the Puerto Rican was no longer the favorite in the court of public opinion.

Foreman answered, We'll see Saturday night.

We did indeed. And the résumé theory held true.

Foreman fought a better grade of athlete than he had previously, maybe two steps better. Team Foreman, like seemingly everyone else, gave Cotto the Mark Twain treatment heading in to the tussle, exaggerating his demise. But we saw from minute one that Cotto's legs were bouncy, he held the weight at 154 well, and his punches had snap.

Ref Arthur Mercante Jr. saw enough 40 seconds into the ninth, as a left hook to the body shifted Foreman's internal organs to an excruciating degree.

This was no Daniel Santos, the man Foreman had wrested the title from last November. Even if wars with Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao have sapped some vitality from Cotto, he's still a formidable pugilist, in the pound-for-pound top 15.

Cotto rises to 35-2, while Foreman is 28-1.

Boxing held up to its rep as the theater of the unexpected, when Foreman trainer Joe Grier threw in the towel in the eighth, sensing that his fighter's right knee was in bad shape after he'd slipped on the wet canvas. But Mercante disregarded the towel, believing that Foreman was in decent shape to continue, and said after that he didn't know who had thrown in the white flag of surrender.

"It was a lot of pain, it was very sharp," Foreman, 29, said of the balky knee. "I didn't want it to stop, I wanted it to continue. I'm a world champion, now a former world champion. I'm not just quitting. We need to fight."

Foreman will get the knee checked out, thinking there might be ligament damage. He said he had a similar injury as a kid in Israel but didn't have health insurance, so he never had it correctly diagnosed.

Promoter Bob Arum said if the injury is bad, Foreman will need to do rehab and will come back against sub-Cotto-level competition.

With the loss, Foreman's cred doesn't dip that much. He showed grit, fighting on a bum knee, and started to trade with Cotto when the Puerto Rican's power shots sapped his ability to keep up the constant movement. From the opening bell, the 29-year-old Cotto's power edge stood out. His jab buzzed the Brooklyner, and his counter left hooks had Foreman fighting to keep his equilibrium several times.

Foreman's best round was the fourth; he appeared to be getting his range. But though he made Cotto miss, he didn't make the now-four-time-titlist pay. Foreman's movement was too often without purpose. His jab needed to be an offensive weapon, as the rest of his arsenal won't make anyone cringe in fear, let along Cotto, who's faced men with chainsaws for fists and kept coming forward.

Cotto, after the ludicrous delay for the "mystery towel" incident, finished the job with a left hook to the body. The loser -- who said after, "Thank God for keeping us both healthy, more or less," winning points for perspective -- needed to be busier to convince the judges that his brand of boxing was better. But it was Cotto who had the volume edge 115-329 to 71-281, and no judge had Foreman winning more than two rounds.

Foreman can take solace in the knowledge that he is not likely to hear the "Yuri Boreman" slam in the near future, seeing as how he stood in the pocket late in the game, and was in it to win it. And he will forever by associated with the strange scenario at the Stadium, Towelgate In The Bronx; there was nothing boring in that bizarre eighth-round interlude.

Michael Woods is a contributor to ESPNNewYork.com and ESPN The Magazine and editor of TheSweetScience.com.

Source: sports.espn.go.com

Miguel Cotto Dethrones Yuri Foreman by Ninth-Round TKO -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

NEW YORK -- Concerning challenger Miguel Cotto, there were a number of major questions to be answered entering Saturday night's challenge for the WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) title owned by Yuri Foreman.

Among them, how much did the 29-year-old former three-time champion have left, given the bloody wars he had during an 11th-round knockout loss to Antonio Margarito in July 2008, a split-decision victory over Joshua Clottey in June 2009 and November's 12-round stoppage loss to Manny Pacquiao that dethroned him as WBO welterweight (140 pounds) king?

All three bouts left Cotto with severe cuts and bruises, including one particularly cavernous gash over a left eye that routinely streamed blood down his left cheek.

There was also the question of whether or not Manny Steward, Cotto's third trainer in five fights, could adequately improve the Puerto Rican fighter's ability to punch cleanly and effectively from close range as an aggressive pursuer of the elusive Foreman.

There was also the question of whether or not Cotto could handle the rise in weight, being at the highest division of his career, where he weighed a half-pound less than the 154-pound Foreman.

Cotto (35-2, 28 knockouts) answered all of those questions with Saturday night's ninth round, technical knockout victory over Foreman (28-1, eight KOs), before 20,727 in the first-ever boxing show at the new Yankee Stadium.

Cotto dropped Foreman with a left hand to the body 42 seconds into the ninth round, after which referee Arthur Mercante stepped in and waved an end to the bout.

"I came to win the fight, and my goal was to put pressure on him all along. After the fourth round, which Foreman may have won, I went to the corner and Manny Steward told me to stay focused," said Cotto. "Even when he went down, I thought, 'I still have to fight.'"

Foreman had already injured his right leg twice in the eighth round, going down twice in pain after twisting and apparently re-injuring a leg on which he wore a knee brace.

A towel from the direction of Foreman's corner had been thrown into the ring, but Mercante overruled it, saying that it came from a source other than Foreman's trainer, Joe Grier.

"I heard that someone was yelling, 'Stop the fight, stop the fight,' and then, the towel was thrown in. At that moment, I didn't know who threw the towel in, although I have a pretty good idea who did it now," said Mercante.

"When I resumed the fight, I called time to let both guys rest," said Mercante. "Yuri was always game to fight. Both men showed the mark of champions in a great fight tonight."

But the towel was thrown in by Grier, responding to Foreman's wife, Leyla Leidecker, who pleaded for him to stop the fight.

"I saw the replay on the screen, and I saw the towel come in," said Cotto, who earned $2 million plus upside to Foreman's $750,000.

"And I thought, 'Fight's over, this is wrong. The fight should be stopped,'" said Cotto. "But hey, he was hurt, working on one leg, and I still kept on fighting. This is a world title fight."

But as a result, the fight continued into the ninth, where Cotto ended things.

"I was surprised. I thought that the corner would have stopped the fight, but there were a lot of bad decisions going on in there," said Manny Steward, Cotto's trainer.

"I knew where the towel came from, and it came right from their corner. The fight was over, and it was wrong to have continued," said Steward. "But I thought that Miguel Cotto fought the perfect fight -- good jab, good right hand. I was very pleased with his effort."

Foreman said he wanted to continue despite injuring his knee.

"I was there the entire fight. The brace is for an old injury. I was making side-to-side movements, however, and it just gave out. I felt a sharp pain and that's why I went down," said Foreman.

"Arthur Mercante let me try to work it out. I'm a world champion, or a former world champion," said Foreman. "I would have never quit. I did not want the fight to be stopped."

Cotto also improved to 8-0, with three knockouts in bouts in New York, including a mark of 6-0 at Madison Square Garden, with four of those contests taking place on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade.

At Madison Square Garden, Cotto defeated former world champions Clottey, Shane Mosley, Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah, the latter, by 11th-round knockout.

Foreman-Cotto brought a fight to a Yankee Stadium for the first time since 1976, when Muhammad Ali defeated Ken Norton at the former venue by 15-round decision.

Cotto, who stood 5-foot-7 to Foreman's 5-11, crowded the taller man throughout the fight.

Cotto will now weigh his options on whether to move up into the higher weight class and defend his crown, or to return to welterweight for other opportunities.

"I have to wait and see," said Cotto. "What's better, to go back down or to stay here. But I'm always ready to fight the big fights."

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Cotto triumphs over injured Foreman at Yankee Stadium -- USA Today

By Bob Velin, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — The unquestioned star of the show Saturday night was the massive, $1.5-billion glittering home of the New York Yankees and the 20,272 fans that rocked it.

But the way the show ended was as bizarre as anything the new Yankee Stadium, or its predecessor, "The House That Ruth Built," had seen since hosting its first fight 87 years ago.

Miguel Cotto, fighting before a nationalistic and electrified crowd of supporters waving Puerto Rican flags, stopped WBA super welterweight champion Yuri Foreman, who had his own sizable Jewish cheering section, with a crushing body shot that dropped the champion at 42 seconds of the ninth round, and referee Arthur Mercante Jr. stopped it. With his new title, Cotto became a four-time world champion, in his third weight division.

But Cotto thought he had won the fight in the previous round when Foreman's trainer, Joe Grier, threw in the towel after his fighter, limping badly, had injured his knee. The fight appeared stopped in that eighth round, the ring filled with people and Cotto celebrated his return as a champion.

Or so he thought. Mercante, much to everyone's surprise, announced that the fight was not over and ordered all but the fighters out of the ring.

Cotto and Foreman finished the wild round, then came out for the ninth. Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) smelled blood and attacked the limping Foreman full force. Foreman, who had slipped or whose knee had buckled several times earlier in the fight, tried unsuccessfully to avoid Cotto's onslaught. The Puerto Rican caught Foreman with the final left hook that dropped the champion, and Mercante stopped it.

"I knew the towel came from that corner, and the fight should have been stopped (in the eighth round)," said Cotto's new trainer, Emanuel Steward. "There were a lot of bad decisions going on in there."

Mercante said he didn't know where the towel came from, thinking it was thrown by someone not connected to Foreman's corner. But it was indeed Grier who tossed it in.

"There was no need to stop the fight. They were in the middle of a great fight," Mercante said. "That's what the fans came to see. I thought I did the right thing. You see a white towel thrown, and if you noticed I called time. They had an extra minute to rest. I went over to Yuri and said 'suck it up, kid.' "

Cotto, who had suffered recent brutal beatings at the hands of Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao, who was at ringside, landed 115 of 329 punches, while Foreman, the rabbi-to-be and first Israeli world champion, landed 71 of 281. Foreman's first career loss dropped his record to 28-1, with 8 KOs.

"I proved this night, everybody who said Miguel Cotto was finished, everybody failed," Cotto said. "Miguel is back."

Cotto was well ahead on the scorecards when Foreman's knee twisted awkwardly in the seventh round. He was already wearing a knee brace from a bicycle injury he suffered as a teenager in Israel, and his family lacked health insurance to get it checked out at the time.

"I was making side-to-side movement and it gave out," said Foreman, who had suffered an earlier cut over his right eye. "It was very painful, a sharp pain," he said. "I couldn't really do a lot of movements."

Steward, a Hall of Fame trainer, said he thought Cotto, who earned $2 million for his night's work, "had fought a perfect fight."

Cotto, who wore Yankee pinstriped shorts, said he simply followed the instructions of Steward, who has trained such champions as Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard, and currently Wladimir Klitschko.

"My jab is back, my movement is back, my left hook to the body is back," Cotto said.

Foreman said he thought the fight was over when the towel was tossed in, but kept fighting because he was the champion. "We're the world champion," he said. "We're not quitting. We need to fight."

Foreman, the Belarus-born fighter who was raised in Israel and emigrated to the U.S. just before his 19th birthday, is about a year and a half away from finishing his rabbinical studies. He had to wait at his hotel until the Jewish sabbath ended at sundown Saturday, then received a police escort to the stadium.

He said last week he would wait to see what happens Saturday night before he decides on his future.

Cotto said he was undecided whether to stay at 154 pounds or go back down to 147. "I'm always ready to fight the big fights," he said.

This was a big fight simply because it was the first time in 34 years the Yankees' home field hosted a fight. The new stadium with the old facade towered around the ring, which was set up behind second base. Many fans, especially those in the cheaper seats, arrived for the earliest of the undercard fights. The four levels of the stands were filled from the first-base said to the third-base side, as well as the 7,000-8,000 seats around the ring.

The energy level was palpable, even for the undercard fights. Cameras flashed continually as fans preserved their memories of the first fight at the New York Yankees since Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton fought for the heavyweight title in 1976. Ali won that controversial decision in his rubber match with Norton. Ironically, it was Mercante's late father, Arthur Mercante, who refereed that fight.

Fans waved Puerto Rican and Israeli flags throughout the stadium, though the former greatly outnumbered the latter. Three national anthems were played—Puerto Rico, Israel and the U.S.

The fans were clearly happy just to be witnessing history.

William Block of New York, a Yankees season-ticketholder, said, "It's a perfect place for a boxing match. I wanted to see what the place looked like at a boxing match, quite frankly. I know what it looks like during games and the World Series. This is pretty impressive."

Billy Childress, from central New Jersey, said the fight was attractive to him because it was the first fight there in 34 years. "It is a must-see event," he said. "It's pretty amazing that we're sitting in the middle of center field. You can almost imagine how the Yankee players feel out here. It's pretty magical right now."

His friend, Jason Jones, of Hoboken, N.J., said he wasn't pulling for either fighter, he just want to see a good fight. He called himself a Floyd Mayweather fan. "I want to see Mayweather-Pacquiao," he said. "But if it happens, I doubt it will be here."

On the televised (HBO) undercard between two undefeated fighters, former U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan scored a unanimous 10-round decision over New York's own "Mean" Joe Greene.

In a physical fight that saw Greene (22-1, 14 KOs) knocked down in the 10th, Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs) won by scores of 96-93, 96-93 and 98-91.

In the first fight at the new stadium, Christian Martinez of New York scored a technical knockout over Jonathan Cuba at 1:18 of the fourth and final round of their super lightweight bout.

Source: usatoday.com

Pacquiao prepares to receive US accolades -- Manila Bulletin

By NICK GIONGCO, Manila Bulletin

Aside from the Fighter of the Year (2009) award that he will receive this Friday from the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Manny Pacquiao is also going to be feted by the elite group as the recipient of the Fighter of the Decade honor.

This will be the third time that Pacquiao is getting the coveted BWAA trophy and the Filipino star, who got elected to the Philippine congress last month, is excited personally grace the formal affair.

“To be named Fighter of the Year is already a big honor,” said Pacquiao, who leaves for the US tonight with wife Jinkee and kids, adviser Mike Koncz and perennial training camp assistant Roger Fernandez.

“So, when I learned that I will also be honored as (the BWAA’s) Fighter of the Decade, I felt I was walking on air,” added the 31-year-old fighter, who had also won the BWAA award in 2006 and 2008.

The New York trip is actually two-fold for Pacquiao.

The day after the BWAA event, Pacquiao will be an interested spectator when Miguel Cotto faces Yuri Foreman in a super-welterweight (154 lbs) clash at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

The winner of the Cotto-Foreman bout will be considered as a prime candidate to challenge Pacquiao in the event a deal with Floyd Mayweather for a Nov. 13 fight is not reached by the parties of the two star fighters.

Pacquiao, Cotto, and Foreman all fight under the promotional banner of Top Rank chief Bob Arum.

Source: mb.com.ph

Arum Looks To Cotto-Foreman, Waits For "Money" Response On Manny Fight -- The Sweet Science

By Michael Woods, The Sweet Science

Bob Arum is gearing up for the June 5 showdown at Yankee Stadium, pitting two Top Rank fighters, Yuri Foreman of Brooklyn and Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico, against each other. On Tuesday, Arum was at the famed and fabled Gleasons Gym in Brooklyn, watching Foreman do a workout for press. He weighed in on the importance of having high profile bouts in mega stadiums, and termed the Cotto-Foreman fight a 50-50 flip of the coin special. But not too much time passed before Arum, who is still basking in the glow of Manny Pacquiao's Congressional win, was asked if Pacquaio-Mayweather would go down on Nov. 13 in Texas, as he desires.

The ball is firmly in Mayweather's court, the promoter told TSS. He didn't specify on the who, what, when and where of negotiations, but Arum said he communicated to Team Mayweather that Pacman will agree to drug testing 14 days before a fight, as was requested by Team Mayweather in the last, disastrous round of negotiations. And, has Team Mayweather responded?

"Nothing," Arum said. "Haven't heard a word. The ball is completely in Mayweather's court. Every term has been agreed to." Cynics who think Mayweather is looking to erect unpassable hurdles, so this fight won't go down, suspect that Mayweather will try and use his last showing, physically and financially, to put forward new demands to Team Pacquiao. Like, my fight against Mosley did so much better than yours against Clottey, I deserve that much bigger slice of the pie. So far, a re-slicing of the pie hasn't been suggested to Arum, he said. "It's still a 50-50 split," he said.

As of today, Arum said, no meeting is scheduled with Team Mayweather, ie Al Haymon, Richard Schaefer and Leonard Ellerbe, so don't expect a breakthrough soon. Pacquiao will be in New York early next week, with his whole family, giving them a taste of the NYC tourist experience, so hopefully we'll have movement by then. Arum has not, he said, put Plan B aka Antonio Margarito versus Pacquiao, into high gear. The Master of the Plaster Disaster would still need to be re-licensed in the US, so that's one hurdle to that bout, but indications are that he'll be able to get the okay to fight in the States by the end of the year.

Foreman's affable backer, NYC restaurant owner Murray Wilson, was at Gleasons. He said that if his guys gets the better of Cotto, which he expects, a showdown with Margarito would make sense. If that goes well, then a bout with Pacquiao is on his wish list. He almost had that locked down before Clottey got the date, and was about to sign the deal with Arum when Pacquiao advisor Michael Koncz sent word that Foreman was out as an opponent, even though Freddie Roach had given the thumbs up. "Koncz said no, Yuri was too big," Wilson told TSS. "Yuri didn't grow overnight. Freddie agreed to it."

Wilson said that Cotto ex cornerman Miguel Diaz, who was let go by Cotto because he didn't inspect Margarito's hands before they fought, has said, "The only time Cotto is going to touch Foreman is during the glove touch before the bout."

SPEEDBAG Arum is pumped to do more of these big stadium fights. He's eyeing Dodger Stadium, perhaps for a Juan Manuel Lopez/Rafael Marquez bout, for next year.

---Foreman's gorgeous wife, model Leyla Leidecker, was at Gleasons, checking on her guy. She directed a documentary about women fighting in the NY Golden Gloves, and she said it's available on Netflix. Here's the URL to tell you more about it. http://www.goldenglovesmovie.com/

--Arum will get roasted, er, toasted by the Friars Club in NYC next week. Ex footballer Jim brown, and hulking Canadian ex heavyweight George Chuvalo will be there to honor the 78-year-old Brooklyn-born dealmaker.

Source: thesweetscience.com

Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao: What Will Be, or Might Have Been? -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

In the wake of Saturday's dominance by unbeaten, six-time titlist, Floyd Mayweather over WBA welterweight (147 pounds) king, Shane Mosley, whose crown was not on the line, Mayweather will likely supplant seven-division champion, Manny Pacquiao, on most experts' list as the sports' No. 1 fighter, pound-for-pound.

There are some, however, who will point out November's 12th-round knockout by the 31-year-old Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 knockouts) that dethroned 29-year-old Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs) as WBO welterweight champ -- this, over a man who unanimously decisioned Mosley in November of 2007 in defense of the WBA crown he held at the time.

Pacquiao is also coming off of a March 13, unanimous, 12-round decision over hard-punching, defensive specialist, Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20 KOs), during which he -- like Mayweather against Mosley -- won virtually every round on the judges' cards.

The 33-year-old Mayweather (41-0, 25 KOs), for his part, was equally, if not more, sensational during September's rout of WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champion, Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs), who has drawn, and, lost a split-decision to Pacquiao in May of 2004, and, March of 2008 -- two verdicts in which Marquez still insists that he was victorious.

"I watched the fight this past weekend, and I thought that Floyd did a very good job. It's clear, however, that Mosley is not the old Mosley, particularly when he had Floyd in trouble in the second round and he had nothing to follow up with," said Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, which promotes Pacquiao. "I think that Mosley should really seriously consider retiring. But that doesn't negate the fact that Floyd had an excellent performance."

Where Mayweather never has suffered defeat, Pacquiao is 12-0, with eight knockouts since losing a unanimous decision to former world champion, Erik Morales, at 130 pounds in March of 2005.

So who is truly boxing's best fighter, pound-for-pound?

Obviously, it should be decided in the ring, which at this point, could be easier said than done.

At one point, in mid-December, it appeared that Mayweather-Pacquiao was a done deal and headed for the MGM Grand, with a source close to the negotiations telling FanHouse that contracts for a March 13 bout could "definitely be finalized this week."

The fighters had agreed on a 50-50 split of the purse, eight ounce gloves, and the welterweight limit rather than a catch weight.

"We agreed to everything in principle, but there are still some finer points that need to be negotiated," Pacquiao told FanHouse on Dec. 5, during his first interview with American media from the Philippines following his win over Cotto. "[Promoter] Bob [Arum] is going to take all of this back to Floyd Mayweather and then, hopefully, it will be all worked out. We believe that the deal will get done."

The negotiations had even survived an incident on the 78th birthday of Arum, who received a call from Golden Boy Promotions' CEO, Richard Schaefer, scuttling the next morning's trip to tour The Dallas Cowboys' Stadium with owner Jerry Jones and HBO's Ross Greenburg

"As far as I'm concerned, the deal is already done. The only issue is the venue. We've countered the offer and the majority of the things just have to be accepted by Bob Arum," said Pacquiao's adviser, Michael Koncz, at the time.

"We're not in a panic mode," said Koncz. "We're used to this for every fight. It's routine. We come to an agreement down the road, then the contract is sent to us for review."

Pacquiao had even agreed to Olympic-style, random drug tests -- which include the drawing of both blood and urine -- at the request of Mayweather's camp, which had insinuated that the Filipino star may have used steroids since he's maintained his punching power from 106 to nearly 147 pounds.

Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach, he had "no problem" with the drug testing, and Koncz, speaking for Pacquiao, said that the fighter would welcome such a procedure.

"Our reaction is, 'So what?' We know Manny doesn't take any illegal drugs or anything. And none of this is getting under Manny's skin or anything," Koncz said at the time. "I'm here with Manny, and to him, it's like a joke. It's a laughing matter. It's something foolish anyway. Why would we be concerned? We know he doesn't do any of that s**t."

By late December, however, the deal was off after Pacquiao had apparently changed his mind about the random testing. Later, Pacquiao cited his belief that he would be weakened from having his blood drawn closer than within 24 days of the fight.

Pacquiao also filed a lawsuit seeking compensatory and punitive damages for defamation of character against alleged steroid accusations, naming Richard Schaefer and Oscar de la Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions, as well as Floyd Mayweather. Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., and, the fighter's uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather.

So what will it take to revisit Mayweather-Pacquiao?

"As far as I'm concerned, Mayweather is the one to dictate. Floyd Mayweather is the king of the world now. So, we all know that from watching 24/7 that the USADA drug testing and what it did for the sport. The respect that it brought to boxing," said De La Hoya, president of the promotional company that works with Mayweather Promotions.

"We know that all fighters can be clean and are clean because of what they showed on 24/7," said de La Hoya. "As long as we can keep on doing that, if fighters can agree to all of that, then we have fights, and we can make fights. But if they're not going to agree to it, then how can we make fights?"

Mayweather would likely demand a heftier side of the purse -- in other words, no more 50-50 split -- and insist that Pacquiao be randomly tested, as did Mosley, by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

"If you're a clean athlete, take your test," said Mayweather days before facing Mosley. "Show the world, you know what? I'm a natural athlete. Take the test. Let them come get you at any time and take the test."

Mayweather claims not to need Pacquiao, having earned a non-heavyweight record guaranteed purse of $22.5 million against Mosley's $7 million.

Mayweather could move into the middleweight (160 pounds) division and face Argentinian southpaw, Sergio Martinez (45-2-2, 24 knockouts), a WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) king who dethroned Kelly Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) as WBO and WBC midddleweight titlist last month.

Pacquiao is running for congress in the Philippines right now, leading in the polls, and awaiting Arum's arrival and support, the promoter said. Arum, who departed for the Philippines on Tuesday, would not comment on a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

"I'm not going to talk about it until I see the results of the election, and that's where we're really all coming from right now," Arum said of an election whose results will be announced on May 10.

"I'm going over to the Philippines to do what I can to provide moral support for Manny Pacquiao," said Arum. "And, very frankly, nobody is going to discuss anything about any fights with anybody until after the outcome of this election."

Arum has outlined options for Pacquiao should Mayweather not materialize.

There is a fight against former champion Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs), a January, 2009, knockout victim against Mosley, who takes on 29-year-old Roberto Garcia (28-2, 21 KOs) on Saturday night.

Garcia will be Margarito's first bout following a one-year suspension by the California State Athletic Commission over the discovery of a plaster-like substance in his gloves before facing Mosley.

Pacquiao-Margarito could take place at The Dallas Cowboys Stadium "if Margarito wants to come down to welterweight."

The winner of a June 5 bout between WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champ, Yuri Foreman (28-0, eight KOs) and Cotto could be could be another possibility, particularly if Cotto wins and a rematch comes to fruition, affording Pacquiao a shot at a record eighth crown in as many weight classes.

"As far as that fight [Mayweather-Pacquiao,] people can keep discussing who is better. It's good for the sport," said Arum. "It's great that they're discussing it. It's clear that this [Mayweather-Pacquiao] is the fight that the fans want to see."

The question is, will they see it?

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com

Yuri Foreman To Appear On Jimmel Kimmel Live Thursday Night -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) champion, Yuri Foreman, a 29-year-old Brooklyn resident who is scheduled to to defend his crown on June 5 at the new Yankees' Stadium against Miguel Cotto, will appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight at 12:05 p.m.

In doing so, Foreman is following the path of seven-division titlist and promotional stablemate, Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs), who appeared on the show before each of his past two fights -- November's 12th-round knockout over Cotto that earned him the WBO welterweight (147 pounds) title, and last month's 12-round unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey.

Foreman (28-0, eight knockouts) was born in Gomel, Belarus, raised in Israel, and is studying to be a rabbi.

Foreman earned a unanimous, 12-round decision over Puerto Rico's Daniel Santos on the Pacquiao-Cotto under card in November to become the first Israeli to win a professional boxing title, and the first orthodox Jew to do so in nearly seven years.

Billed as "The Stadium Slugfest," Foreman-Cotto marks the return of boxing to a Yankees' home stadium for the first time since Sept. 28, 1976, when Muhammed Ali earned a 15-round decision over Ken Norton at the original Yankees' Stadium.

When Foreman steps into the ring against Cotto (34-2, 27 KOs), he will be accomplishing yet another milestone as the first boxing champion to ever do so.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com