Foreman, Cotto brace for Yankee Stadium bout
Source: Agencies |
June 4, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
JABS and uppercuts will replace line drives and home runs tomorrow at Yankee Stadium as championship boxing returns to the ballpark in the Bronx for the first time in nearly 34 years.
Yuri Foreman, an orthodox Jew who is nearing completion of his rabbinical studies in Brooklyn, will defend his WBA super welterweight title against former champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in what is being billed as the "Stadium Slugfest."
The scheduled 12-round fight will be the first non-baseball event held in the US$1.5 billion stadium that opened last year as the new home of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees.
It will renew a storied past as boxing greats like Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton all fought in the old Yankee Stadium across the street.
The Belarussian-born Foreman, who emigrated to Israel as a schoolboy, won the title with a unanimous decision against Puerto Rican Daniel Santos last November in Las Vegas.
"It's a great honour to be the first Israeli world champion, to represent my people, my country," Foreman told reporters on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Foreman, the fringes of his Jewish prayer shawl peeking out beneath a short-sleeve gingham sport shirt, said he has been based in Brooklyn for so long now that he felt like a New Yorker.
"Brooklyn is the closest thing to Jerusalem, so it's not really like I am Israeli or New York," said Foreman.
Final go-ahead
The fight got the final go-ahead after organizers made an accommodation with a Bar Mitzvah party that had already been scheduled at the facility.
Also, because Foreman cannot travel on the Jewish Sabbath, the fight is not set to start until 11:30pm and he will have a police escort take him to Yankee Stadium after sunset so he will have time to prepare.
Foreman, a skilled boxer without a big punch, brings a 28-0 record into the fight with eight knockouts. His triumph came on the same card in which Manny Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round to take the WBO welterweight title.
The 29-year-old Cotto is moving up in weight for the fight and said he is not concerned that Foreman will have the height and reach advantage. "I'll be better than ever," said Cotto, a former light-welterweight and welterweight title holder, who has a 34-2 with 27 knockouts.
"I feel more comfortable. I'm working with more energy, more passion for the work at the gym.
"It is the same when I jumped from 140 (pounds) to 147, and now to 154. We worked pretty good with the strength and I feel more than good. There are no worries."
Yuri Foreman, an orthodox Jew who is nearing completion of his rabbinical studies in Brooklyn, will defend his WBA super welterweight title against former champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in what is being billed as the "Stadium Slugfest."
The scheduled 12-round fight will be the first non-baseball event held in the US$1.5 billion stadium that opened last year as the new home of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees.
It will renew a storied past as boxing greats like Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Ken Norton all fought in the old Yankee Stadium across the street.
The Belarussian-born Foreman, who emigrated to Israel as a schoolboy, won the title with a unanimous decision against Puerto Rican Daniel Santos last November in Las Vegas.
"It's a great honour to be the first Israeli world champion, to represent my people, my country," Foreman told reporters on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Foreman, the fringes of his Jewish prayer shawl peeking out beneath a short-sleeve gingham sport shirt, said he has been based in Brooklyn for so long now that he felt like a New Yorker.
"Brooklyn is the closest thing to Jerusalem, so it's not really like I am Israeli or New York," said Foreman.
Final go-ahead
The fight got the final go-ahead after organizers made an accommodation with a Bar Mitzvah party that had already been scheduled at the facility.
Also, because Foreman cannot travel on the Jewish Sabbath, the fight is not set to start until 11:30pm and he will have a police escort take him to Yankee Stadium after sunset so he will have time to prepare.
Foreman, a skilled boxer without a big punch, brings a 28-0 record into the fight with eight knockouts. His triumph came on the same card in which Manny Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round to take the WBO welterweight title.
The 29-year-old Cotto is moving up in weight for the fight and said he is not concerned that Foreman will have the height and reach advantage. "I'll be better than ever," said Cotto, a former light-welterweight and welterweight title holder, who has a 34-2 with 27 knockouts.
"I feel more comfortable. I'm working with more energy, more passion for the work at the gym.
"It is the same when I jumped from 140 (pounds) to 147, and now to 154. We worked pretty good with the strength and I feel more than good. There are no worries."
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