DID YURI FOREMAN EVEN BELONG?
New York, NY– It was a night in 2009 that nobody expected would occur. Yuri Foreman, an Israelite living in Brooklyn, NY, won the WBA 154 lb. crown from an uninspired Daniel Santos. Earlier tonight, Foreman initially looked like a guy that couldn’t spell fight if you put the five letters before him. Challenger Miguel Cotto, damaged goods in the minds of many, now with Emanuel Steward training him, an intangible that paid off big time as Cotto looking rebuilt and or re-tuned, took it to the aspiring Rabbi at the opening bell.
A SLOWER BUT EFFECTIVE COTTO
Using the double left jab, followed by an occasional right, Cotto won the first round. In the second, Cotto faked a left and threw a right which rocked Foreman. Being two down didn’t change the champ’s strategy as he continued to run in round three. Although he landed a decent right, Foreman was exposed here as a boxing novice.
FIGHTING FOR HISTORY IN THE BRONX
Spitting out his mouthpiece on more than one occasion, once after a body shot, Foreman kept running and Cotto, although not in a spectacular manner, was controlling the action after nine minutes.
FOREMAN COMES ALIVE IN ROUND FOUR
As Foreman came off the stool for round four, he had the look of a perplexed boxer. That confusion was soon cast aside as Foreman started landing right hands on Cotto in the first 90 seconds. Although he may have won the round, (I didn’t think so) Foreman seemed to be coming apart at the end of the fourth after going down on a slip and sporting a bloody nose.
YURI SHOWED HE HAS STONES!
Foreman, the naturally bigger man, decided to “hook with a hooker” at the midpoint of round five, and Cotto the hooker, his shot was far more telling. Now leaning in towards the shorter man, Foreman wasn’t doing much as Cotto threw and landed a greater number of shots with authority. Not a great three-minute stanza, but it’s now four zip Cotto.
YURI BEGAN TO FALL APART
Foreman came out “squared up” with each shoulder side by side, negating his height and reach advantages, and started running. Three minutes later, Foreman was still running. If you didn’t know it by now, Yuri is not a fighter talented enough to deal with the ascending in weight Puerto Rican.
LEG SIMPLY GAVE OUT!
With a minute gone in the seventh, Foreman just collapsed. Wearing a knee brace on the right leg, all of a sudden Foreman looked like a kitchen table on three legs. Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. allowed him five minutes to recover, why I don’t know, but Foreman steps back into action less than a minute later.
BLOOD WAS IN THE WATER
Landing big shots to the head and body, the stalking Cotto could smell the blood in the water. With round seven coming to an end, it was clear Foreman would not be pulling any rabbits out of the hat. Victory was Cotto’s; only question was how would it end?
THE TOWEL JESTURE STOPS FIGHT…
Still squared up, Foreman didn’t fare much better in round eight. With knee problems evident, the Foreman corner threw in the towel at the 1:12 mark. The fight was over! Or was it?
BIZZARRO TYPE OF SCENARIO
Referee Mercante, upon learning that the towel that was thrown in was not from the Foreman corner, (turned out it was) restarted the fight some three minutes later. Regardless, with the footwork of a lame racehorse, Foreman loses round eight.
THE END INDICATED YURI DID BELONG!
A few seconds into round nine; the inevitable was at hand as Cotto, breezing along sans any doubt, landed a left hook to the body that deposited Yuri on his butt. The fight was over, again, and this time officially at 42 seconds of round nine. Cotto gets a B+, Foreman, he acquits himself well overall. Foreman drops to 28-1, 8 KOs, while Cotto grabs a belt in his third weight class, 140, 147, and now 154 lbs., 35-2, 28 KOs. The winner will fight the #2 contender, unbeaten southpaw Austin Trout before the end of 2010.
Pedro Fernandez