Im preparing for Miguel Cotto at his best. Foreman said

The rich grass of the Yankees’ playing field in the background almost glowed. Those involved in the fight who sat facing the throng of reporters were so happy that this fight is happening that they almost shined as much as the lush greenery of the infield. Both competitors looked eager as did their teams. Both saw the storied Stadium as their field of dreams.

The Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto fight will be a series of firsts; for Cotto, 34-2 (27 KOs), it will mark his first foray into the 154 pound class and his third weight division. For Foreman, 28-0 (8 KOs, 1 N/C), it is his first defense of the crown he took off of Daniel Santos’ head back in November of 2009. It will be the first time either man has fought outdoors. It is also the first title of any kind, baseball, football, or boxing, to be held at the new Yankee Stadium. It is also the first such fight since Muhammad Ali successfully defended his heavyweight title against Ken Norton on September 28th, 1976 in the House That Ruth Built currently being torn down across the street. Bob Arum promoted that fight.

Arum, and his Top Rank Promotions, started the drums beating for his June 5th WBA World Junior-Middleweight Title fight between Champion Yuri Foreman and Challenger Miguel Cotto.

Miguel Cotto vs Yuri Foreman: The Stadium Slugfest

Former WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s) has been in several huge wars in the past two years and has lost two out of his last four fights. Next month on June 5th, the 5’7” Cotto will be stepping up in weight to take on World Boxing Association junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) in pursuit of his WBA title at Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx, New York. Many people see this as a move for Cotto to get another big money fight against Manny Pacquiao, who stopped Cotto last year in a 12th round TKO in November.

There’s really not much else to help explain the sudden interest in Cotto fighting a little known, non-popular fighter like Foreman. Not only that, the junior middleweight division isn’t a popular one with boxing fans and only has one or two relatively popular fighters in the entire division. There’s really not much point in the short Cotto moving up in weight unless he’s doing it to pick up Pacquiao bait in the form of the WBA title.