I didn?t want to get too hasty after watching it live, but after watching it again Sunday, I?m still miffed at how the whole Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman bout transpired.
Cotto earned a TKO victory in the ninth round, dropping Foreman with a left to the body. But that really wasn?t the story of the bout.
That occurred in the seventh round when Foreman slipped, and it appeared his knee simply gave out on him. It was about halfway through the round so if the fight had ended after that round, all would still be good.
But it didn?t. Why? I?ll never know.
Here is a guy who has never had much pop in his punches. He uses his legs more than any boxer currently plying the trade. And now he can?t move against a determined seek-and-destroy power puncher. What in the world is going on here?
It was great that Foreman wanted to fight. He?s supposed to, and he earned mad respect from people who had never heard of him before. But the corner and especially referee Arthur Mercante Jr. did not do their jobs Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.
The confusion began in the eighth round as a hobbling Foreman was having no success of getting out of the way of Cotto?s attack. And then the towel was thrown into the ring. Immediate thought: fight?s over, Cotto wins.
OK, I?m wrong on that one. Throwing in the towel does not equal game over, but it?s not for the reason Mercante didn?t stop it.
He said the corner didn?t throw in the towel when it clearly did. After 3-4 minutes of everyone thinking the fight was over, Mercante ruled the fight must continue and kept giving mini-pep talks to Foreman. Say wha?
Anyway, it all became moot in the first minute of round nine as Cotto caught Foreman with perfect left hook to the liver to earn another world championship.
– Cotto looked good under trainer Emanuel Steward. I wouldn?t say great, but he boxed and moved better and threw a solid jab that disrupted Foreman all night. Good to see Cotto still has some life in those legs. Worried it might be fool?s gold because though Foreman can move with the best of them, he was never going to touch up Cotto and test him mentally. He was up 6-1 before the slip so he was en route to victory one way or another. Smart money has to be Cotto-Antonio Margarito II in Puerto Rico, right?
– Foreman caught Cotto with some good right hands and fought about as good a fight as he could, but he?s simply not in the class of Cotto. Game effort from Foreman but nothing to make me think we should want to see him again.
– Roy Jones Jr. was back in the commentating position, and he was incredible. He understands the sport so well and isn?t afraid to give his opinion. I hope it?s more than a one-off deal because it would be great to have Jones on HBO and Antonio Tarver on Showtime.
