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The Champ Is Here!

Foreman-Cotto, Saturday night

by
Marc Tracy
June 04, 2010
Miguel Cotto (L) and Yuri Foreman (R).(Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Miguel Cotto (L) and Yuri Foreman (R).(Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Guys! It’s tomorrow night! A little before midnight—and well after sundown—at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, the Belarus-born Orthodox Jewish boxer Yuri Foreman will take on challenger Miguel Cotto in a junior middleweight (154 pounds) title bout. The fight will be broadcast live on HBO.

Who’s going to win? Well, Vegas says Cotto: The Puerto Rican sensation, last seen losing in a 12-round decision to pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquaio, is a 2-5 favorite, while Foreman is 2-1 underdog. Cotto is undoubtedly the more accomplished fighter; Foreman has going for him that he is a bit bigger than Cotto, who traditionally fights at welterweight.

Some pre-fight reading:

• Kevin Iole, one of the most influential boxing writers, profiles our man. [Yahoo! Sports]

• The Wall Street Journal profile. [WSJ]

• Remember the bar mitzvah conflict? [NYT]

• Foreman’s wife speaks. [Fanhouse]

• A goy explains that Foreman really could pull this one off. [Jewcy]

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.