Cotto vs. Foreman at Yankee Stadium: Does this fight belong there?
February 21st, 2010
By Chris Williams: Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s) has had a good career, winning a WBO welterweight title and beating some quality fighters during his career in Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah and Shane Mosley. However, as of recent times, Cotto hasn’t looked so great, getting stopped by Antonio Margarito in the 11th round after taking a couple of knees, and getting taken apart by Manny Pacquiao in a 12th round stoppage loss in November. In fact, the loss to Pacquiao was Cotto’s last fight.
Yankee Stadium has a lot of history behind. Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali fought Ken Norton there in 1976 in a heavyweight title fight. That was a fight that certainly deserved to be held at Yankee Stadium in my view. However, I don’t feel the same way about a fight between Cotto and Foreman. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the Cotto-Foreman fight would be better off at Madison Square Garden or in Atlantic City, in a smaller venue.
Cotto has really struggling as of late, and to throw him in the Yankee Stadium coming off a knockout loss to Pacquiao, seems a little bizarre to me. It seems weird like having a birthday party when it’s not your birthday. I guess Yankee Stadium being a place where you should be putting a mega fight between two guys that have been tearing apart their perspective divisions, not for a fighter that was recently torn apart like Cotto.
As for Foreman, he’s unbeaten as a fighter. There’s no mistake about that, but he hasn’t exactly anyone that I consider to be good. Foreman’s best wins have come against Daniel Santos, Andrey Tsurkan and Anthony Thompson. That’s it. Those are the best fighters that Foreman has fought. His resume looks mighty thin to me, too for me to see him fighting at the famous Yankee Stadium against Cotto, a guy that was just recently torn apart by Pacquiao.
If Foreman had beaten some good fighters like Kermit Cintron, James Kirkland, Sergio Martinez, Paul Williams and Alfredo Angulo, then by all means, I would be very comfortable with seeing Foreman fighting in Yankee Stadium. I mean I still wouldn’t be ok with him fighting Cotto though, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Foreman fight at Yankee Stadium if he beat all those guys.
But the problem is, Foreman hasn’t. His best wins have come against Santos, Tsurkan and Thompson. Sorry, but that’s not good enough for me. Likewise, I think Foreman would lose to Angulo, Martinez, Kirkland, Cintron and Paul Williams. I think he would lose badly. For me, given the lack of quality wins on Foreman’s resume and the fact that Cotto is struggling with his career, I think their fight would be better off at some other location rather than in Yankee Stadium.
Tags: 36 Responses to “Cotto vs. Foreman at Yankee Stadium: Does this fight belong there?”
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chris wiliams are u serious !
cotto deserves ths and more. he has fought everyone put in front of him. he’s a warrior and a crowd pleasure. he always puts on a show and comes to fight. he is well respected and liked in new york. (a lot of puerto ricans live there duh !) he’s action-packed and he dont duck nobody(unlike mayweather).
He on;y has 1 loss in my book. (margarito had loaded loves, just ask freddie roach).
on to foreman well i feel like he hasn’t faught as many quality guys as other fighters but this is his break to answer that question. i think cotto is on a different level and with new head trainer stewart, Cotto will win this fight easily. we will see the old cotto.
this is a warm jp fight for pacquaio-cotto 2.
when cotto wins this fight it will give him a belt in te 154 division which is the divsionpacman wants to give him 8 titles in 8 divions.
only problem is that cotto will win this time. with the help of stewart cotto will Box with pacquiao not exchange !!!!
after mayweather loses to mosley pacquaio will now fight mayweather in 2011 !
mark my words
To all the pinoy peps… Im a boxing fan been all my life. Now chinquanto you seem to have a personal problem with PRicans. Let me tell u something ignorant fool pacman is great fighter im a fan myself but when u start too talk it about pr fighters now i draw the line…. we know what champions are made of and we have had many many champions and will continue too have more. When pac man retires then what… dumb as… we are born and breeded as champs. You bum
the fight shouldent be there at all its nt 1966
All you PRs who think Pac-man is juicing are just mad cuz your boy got his ass handed to him by a Pinoy. Don’t b mad cuz that PR can’t fight.
miguel cotto will destroy foreman i dont know y he has taken this fight with cotto
If one takes a look at the “three” losses the original writer mentioned in his blog post. There are some things that stand out. First, Margarito was using loaded gloves, period. Manny Pacquiao is the world’s best fighter right now and some may suspect he was juicing ( I don’t).
Then there is the Clottey fight. Let me get this right, to even think he lost that fight is insane. Clottey was the one who was put on the canvas (first time in his career mind you) and never seemed to be the aggressor. Even after the “accidental” headbutt, Clottey sat back and decided to jab all night. Cotto closed Clottey out in the 11th and 12th rounds of that fight. Cotto was dominating the fight prior to the headbutt and never looked in trouble during that fight. Cotto could have easily taken the fight to the fourth round and went to the scorecards and would have won then.
None the less, there will always be detractors of Cotto and how great of a fighter he is. Cotto has not been the same since the Margarito fight. However, he also has a sub par trainer for the last two fights. Cotto needs a new trainer, badly. Cotto has abandoned his jab all together in his last two fights.
im confused here…Miguel Cotto has two losses, one of which was by a guy who loaded his gloves (who knows how many times he has actually loaded those gloves for fights), the second loss was to the best P4P fighter in the world who is also being accussed of cheating. In my mind Cotto deserves this fight to show that he can win against people who arent cheating. WHAT THE HELL IS CHINQUANTO TALKING ABOUT PR FIGHTERS GETTIng BEAT…LAST TIME I CHECKED JUANMA LOPEZ JUST GOT A TITLE!
Margarito was loading his gloves and Pac was juicing so Cotto’s defeats aren’t as black and white as they seem.
Little chinbato,Don’t make me,Have you DEPORTED.
Little chinbato,Stop hateing on the PR.We the trendsetters,Weve made history,We’ve open the door’s,And this the thank’s we get.Don’t make me call IMMIGRATION.
Cotto deserves everything gd. He is all u want n a fighter and a gdman. Dat stadium will sell out
Cotto has earned the right to fight anywhere true
worriors past & present have fought. He’s never refused
or backed away from any challenge. He,like the great Arturo
Gatti bring to boxing fans exciting & memorable fights worthy
of any venu!!
Cotto is a warrior, and their is no doubt about that. I feel bad for the man because he lost to a man with loaded gloves, and another man who refuses to take a simple blood test. I think it would be a mistake for him to fight Paul Williams especially at this stage in his career.
Cotto has had some tough loses, I personally think he never officially rebounded from that Margarito beating, probably cause Margarito defintely cheated in that fight. He is still an elite fighter and one of my favorite. He should NOT be moving up in weight, but hey, a victory would put him right back on the map and lead to a possible matchup with Paul Williams.
Cotto is a warrior, even when Margarito cheated him from greatness, still he was professional in defeat. I hope he kills Yuri!!! Yuri is naturally bigger and has a lot of skill but I want to see the Puerto rican warrior back on top!!!
Cotto would never fight Paul Williams or Sergio Martinez. I can see him retiring after this fight win or loose. What would make me angry is if he wins the title from Yuri and turns around and rematches Pacquiao at 154.
Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez would dismantle Yuri Foreman.
As part of Yuri’s management camp, believe me when i say he will win. We challanged everyone…On the way up, no name fighter wanted to fight him..They didnt want to be made a fool of. This is foremans time. He will be fighting a great fighter. But, it is foremans time…It will happen
ok if it’s like that Cotto can fight Paul Williams at 154 and that would be a mismatch like the Cotto vs.Foreman fight. Cotto shouldof fight Berto and Foreman shouldof fight Winky. Not no Welterweight fighter vs. a L.Middleweight fighter that a big differents in the ring.
@ fluck mayflucker
If you made any kind of sense I could reply properly. Shame your using your ass to speak through.
Cotto has fought some tough competition over the years, and even had his life put in jeopardy by Margarcheato. So, he deserves, some softer touches to help him to regain his confidence. A big money fight, where he can be honored and look good in front of tons of his fans, may rejuvenate him. But, guys like Williams and Martinez may start licking their chops, if he takes the belt. He’s still a good scalp to have, for any of the lesser known opponents, in that division. So, he may have to maneuver (meaning choose his fights) a bit more carefully, at JMW.
@big tone: very interesting, very possible scenario. @ the fans, cotto is a great fighter but he lost fair and square. most of cottos ko wins came at 140. He probly wont knock out foreman, but get the decision unless foreman uses that speed and does the old in and out. yankee stadiums a good venue, taking boxing back to the hey day.
Give the guy a break. He lost to a guy with loaded glooves – Margarito, and also to a suspected PEDs user – Pacquiao.
I watched the Clottey fight, and Cotto won that one no doubt.
Miquel deserves this fight for what he’s given us as fight fans..
Like I said before Bob Arum is a mad scientist he’s putting Cotto in place to grab one of the 154lbs. belts(WBA) for the future. Test run to see how he fills Yankee stadium up with fans and Pac at Dallas Cowboy stadium to see more or less what Pac can bring in as well then merge both those numbers he can then gauge what a re-match would do if it were to happen. The promotion would be Pac going for his eighth title in another weight with Cotto being Champ at a higher weight ie:HE WONT BE WEIGHT WEIGHT DRAINED. REVENGE!
This is going to be safety net fight for TopRank if the Pac vs PBF fight falls through the second time around.
This fight might not be deserving for you… I’m not really a big cotto fan but I think I’m going to go there and watch since I live close to NYC. I don’t care if cotto got beaten twice… It is exciting to see cotto fight. He won’t waste my hard earned money.
To be in the yankee stadium or any other place… Your worthiness to be there is measured if you can fill the place with people. I think cotto is worthy enough to be in the Yankee Stadium. Muchos boricuas en Nueva York!
Would u rather watch a guy trying to connect or punch the other guy while the other guy is running all night to avoid breaking a nail but winning with amateurish style of fighting of sneak punching with smirk on his face or a real fight with both guys trying to pulverize each other to the pulp until only one is left standing. A ballerina or a reggea. U choose. Choose wisely coz itll coz 60 bucks of ppv.
U are referring to the new stadium. The other one was historic. Cotto was a history when he fought pacman as well as his other victims. The game in boxing is if u wanna stay decently popular try to avoid fighters like pacman or u’ll retire too soon. Or they’ll accused u of a washed up because they cant believe this small asian is unbelievably beating the best of the best. Ask Mayweather how he kept money flowing to his pockets while his mouth is doing the fighting instead of his fists.
Cotto is new yorks champ. And the stadium will be filled for him.
cotto fanbase is in newyork. I take your point(cris williams0 that foreman although a champ but not a tough enough by not fighting the boxer as you say are best(Angulo, Martinez, Kirkland, Cintron and Paul Williams).Looks like Cotto will win easy against yuri foreman.Go for the belt cotto!
Cotto has a huge fan base in NY and will probably fill Yankee Stadium, which is why the fight belongs there.
Even though, Manny is overrated, and Margarito cheated..that’s two losses against game opponents. Cotto should not be written off just yet. I mean, Pacquiao has THREE losses, and a draw, and according to these boxing execs who have probably never sparred a single round…Manny’s the best thing since the wheeel. Some think he’s better than Floyd who has NO LOSSES!!!! Regardless of his recent tough luck, I think boxing owes him a modecum of gratitude, for giving it’s fans multiple inspiring and entertaining fights. Anyone who thinks he’s not worthy to fight in a place that has more Puerto Rican fans than the Island itself…is an idiot.
cotto should not fight there?? and you should not be a writter. cotto is an elite fighter he deserves anything good.
Miguel Cotto is a fearless warrior. He may not be the fastest, most talented (although nowhere near the least), but any fight involving this man absolutely belongs in NYC. I’m from NYC, and when Zab, who is from BK came out and said that he has more Puerto rican fans than Cotto, I knew he committed career suicide. Cotto is a great fighter, because he fears nobody, and backs down from nobody.
Dont count Cotto out. When Pacquiao lost to Morales, he could have been counted out but he redeemed himself. Cotto is no exception.
Mayweather and other welterweights he didn’t fight yet cannot be sure they won’t get defeated by the puertorican superstar.
Yes as boxing fans, we deserve to see those matches.
the whole world knows cotto got cheated
twiice how stupid of you to even put a heading like that cotto is still the best boxer out there these cowards have to cheat to beat him please people arent stupid they know what going on in boxing that why cotto deseves to be in yankee stadium or any other stadium
I agree with pete but its the Promotors fault! top rank Golden boy ect!
Boxing is a funny game isn’t it? All the fights we want to see won’t happen, yet we get fed these fights that are okay but not great.
We want Bradley v Hatton, Khan v Maidana, Valero v Marquez, Williams v Pavlik, Mayweather v Pacquiao, John v Lopez v Gamboa, Hopkins v Dawson, etc, etc
Not Clottey v Pacquiao, Jones v Hopkins or Cotto v Foreman… we are just not that interested.