By Michael Feliciano: NEW YORK — In a third division and under the new management of head trainer Emanuel Steward, Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KOs) prevailed on Saturday night beating Yuri Foreman (28-1, 8 KOs) in round seven to claim the WBA super welterweight title at a strident Yankee Stadium.

Then he beat him again in round nine. Let me explain.

The open air stadium was electric as the lights danced over the thousands in attendance. It was a perfect setting for the nocturnal sport of boxing.

Cotto, who was fighting for the first time at 154lbs, was received with thunderous applaud as he approached the ring as the challenger from the visitor’s dugout. Foreman, who resides in Brooklyn, NY, was met with his share of cheers as well and at this point, anything was possible.

The opening bell rang and Cotto was in immediate pursuit. His jab was connecting on the significantly taller Foreman who was in constant movement attempting to box from the outside. The early rounds were all Cotto and his pressure kept his opponent on the move.

By the middle rounds, Foreman soon found himself up against a new adversary; his knee.

The prospective Rabbi took a terrible slip in round seven twisting his right knee which was covered by a brace. It was so bad, that it seemed certain he would not be able to continue. But, after a couple of minutes of rest, Foreman did the unthinkable and chose to continue limping around the ring.

Then he slipped again.

Cotto capitalized and pounced on Foreman attacking him with multiple combinations and by then, it was all but over. It was nothing less than the heart of a Champion that drove Foreman to continue fighting on what was essentially one leg. But without the physical ability to be effective in the ring, heart is at a loss.

Then, in the middle of round eight, as Foreman was taking more punishment than he was giving, a white towel flew into the ring from Foreman’s corner. The fight was over.

At least, everyone seemed to think so considering that a white towel is the universal symbol for conceding a defeat in boxing and in general for that matter. And to think, it used to be a sponge.

The new champion raised his hand in victory as the ring quickly filled up.

But in the opposite corner, Foreman was insisting that he was ready, willing and able to continue which was enough for referee Arthur Mercante Jr. to kick everyone out of the ring and give Foreman another shot. There truly is a first time for everything.

Foreman took advantage of the opportunity and came out swinging with all he had surviving the rest of round eight. But the damage was done. His knee was in pain and Cotto was in complete control.

By the end of round nine, Foreman was getting hit so much and his knee was so wilted that the referee had no choice but to intervene and call the fight off, this time for good.

With this win, even though it was not against a top tier fighter, Cotto has turned over a new page in his career or at the very least, keeps the book wide open. Now he can face Manny Pacquiao in rematch or even Mayweather Jr. should the Pacquiao-Mayweather super fight get axed again.

Whatever is in store for Cotto’s career, the doubt that’s been hovering over him for almost two years should dissipate.

To be perfectly clear, Miguel Cotto isn’t back. He was here all along. It is us who leave our champions forgetting them when they fail to live up to superhuman expectations. And it is us who once again find ourselves back in their corner when redemption is on the horizon.

But on Saturday night, the three division world champion Miguel Cotto demonstrated why he is far from being simply dismissed and concurrently reminded us why his name his chanted boomingly in the night.