All three judges at ringside gave Pacquiao the edge, including one judge giving him every round 120-108.  The scorecard here at ringside gave Margaritio one round. “It’s hard I really did my best to win the fight. He was strong and a very tough fighter,” commented Pacquiao. “I can’t believe that he was as strong as he was.”

Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO’s) won his 12^th straight fight and admitted that Margarito, (38-7, 27KO’s) was strong enough to hurt him when he was in the ropes in the middle rounds. He motioned to referee Laurence Cole several times in the 11^th round to stop the fight as Margaritio’s face was battered and a bloody mess.

“There was no way I was going to quit,” commented three-time champion Margarito after the fight. “I’m a Mexican. We fight until the end,” he said.

It was the second straight win for Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium before a crowd of 41,734, many Margarito supporters.  Earlier this year, in March, he easily handled Joshua Clottey taking a 12-round unanimous decision, a seventh title and the welterweight championship.

As for a potential showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at 154, a fight that has been anticipated and talked about, again Pacquiao left that answer to his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. As for continuing his career, Mayweather or not, Pacquiao would not rule it out of the question.

The popular Congressman of the Philippines said, “I have another job after this. I’m going back to the Philippines to do my job as a public servant.”

“He was really fast and I was going- good until I got cut,” said Margarito.  His trainer Robert Garrcia also said he never considered stopping the fight and it would continue until the end. Garcia also saw first hand as to why Pacquiao is indeed the best pound-for-pound fighter.

Said Garcia “Manny is the best fighter in the world.  He is just too fast, Very, very quick.”

By the 10th round it became a boxing clinic for Pacquiao who continued to throw the right hook and pound the face of Margarito.  In between rounds it became obvious that Margarito was fighting for redemption, proving that his year suspension from the ring from using illegal hand wraps was all in the books.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

But Pacquiao wasn’t the center of attention, even if he is going for an unprecedented eighth title in another division at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Texas. Margarito returns to the ring after sitting out the past year due to a suspension from using tainted hand wraps in a title fight with Shane Mosley.

Margarito was recently denied reinstatement by the California State Athletic Commission. They were the governing body that imposed the suspension based on allegations and further investigation of the gloves, and wraps that Margarito used after he lost the WBA welterweight title to Mosley in Los Angeles.

So with Nevada, also out of the picture, Texas granted Margarito another chance. Top Rank was looking to keep their champion Pacquiao busy who also doubles up as a congressman in the Philippines. There is a sentiment that Pacquiao will easily win this fight. Of course, Margarito thinks otherwise as he also fights for his credibility.

“Everything is in the past and now I am in the present,” said Margaritio at the podium with an array of his Mexican supporters cheering in the gallery. “I want to thank Manny for taking this fight. It’s time to show everyone that I am still very good,” he said.

And nothing else said about one of the major mistakes made by a fighter. You have to know that your hands are being wrapped the wrong way, or that something such as plaster is being put under the wraps. Margaritio will claim innocence, so will his disposed trainers who have been handed a lifetime suspension in the states.

“You have to know, every fighter knows what’s going on but you have to give a second chance,” was the way Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach put it. Roach is respected as the best boxing trainer in the business. So he should know what goes under the boxing gloves.

But boxing goes on, and so does the mega fight that the business surly needs. Both fighters are promoted by Top Rank. Pacquiao is the major draw in boxing and once again goes for history as he awaits the hopeful showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. that could happen in the spring.

“When Floyd runs out of money, the fight will happen,” said Roach with a chuckle about the on and off again fight with Mayweather. “We will have a good training camp and go with the plan to defeat Margarito.

Said Pacquiao, (51-3-2, 38 KO’s) who returns to Cowboys Stadium for a second fight, after easily defeating Joshua Clottey back in March, defending his WBO welterweight title, “Sure he’s a cheater but I am looking for an interesting and exciting fight. He has the capability to give a good show and he is a fighter that is impressive and a talented fighter.”

Fighters like Miguel Cotto, the former welterweight champion and current super welterweight title holder can vouch how powerful Margaritio is. Cotto was pounded and dethroned by Margarito out in Las Vegas in July 2008. Cotto’s face a mess from a Margarito pounding that had everyone discounting Cotto’s ability and bragging about Margarito’s power.

So give Margarito the benefit of doubt. The three-time world champion (38-6, 27 KO’s) from Tijuana Mexico was going about his business. Or for the lore of glory went with the plan and did what the trainers asked. Boxing, not like baseball and other sports is at fault because there is no regulation with a national commissioner.

In the meantime we wait for a fight in November, though not having the implications that a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight will have. Margarito will return to the ring and get his share of accolades and criticism from the expected crowd of 50,000 in Texas.

Are we to accept Margarito again as a great fighter? Pacquiao will eventually tell the story on November 13^th.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

Now ask an astute boxing fan who holds the heavyweight title and it becomes a guessing game. There are four different champions that represent alphabet soup organizations known as sanctioning bodies. The WBC, WBA, IBF, and WBO, they did not exist when the old stadium hosted its last boxing card. A television audience was not a priority for promoters but getting people to fill the Stadium was.

Jack Dempsey defeated Jack Sharkey before a Yankee Stadium crowd of 77,283 in 1927.  No HBO cable or pay- per-view telecasts then, or for Ali, Norton, and the other prominent heavyweights such as Rocky Marciano and Archie Moore that fought there. They were known more from back page newspaper headlines that no longer exist unless tragedy hits the sport.

When there was a big time fight at Yankee Stadium it got attention. From 1923 to 1976 there were 49 professional boxing cards that made Yankee Stadium as famous as Ruth, DiMaggio, Gehrig, and Mantle hitting a baseball.

So here we are, Saturday evening, at the new billion dollar Yankee Stadium, pro boxing again in the new House that Ruth Built. Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 Ko’s) the three-time champion as a welterweight moves up to 154 and challenges Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) for the WBA Super Welterweight championship.

Bob Arum of Top Rank who promoted that last card at Yankee Stadium is expecting about 30,000 enthusiastic boxing fans Saturday night in the Bronx. The cost of a ticket is much higher than the one purchased for Ali-Norton and HBO will telecast the fight   They, are calling this “Stadium Slugfest” and back then all they had to do is say that Ali and Norton were fighting for the heavyweight championship.

And at about 11:15pm, after an under card that begins at 6:45 PM, Cotto the popular fighter from Caguas Puerto Rico and Foreman, from Brooklyn, the first Orthodox Jewish fighter to hold a championship will enter a ring set up on a stage in right-center field.

It will be history again at Yankee Stadium. When they built this new palace in the Bronx it was always the intention of the Yankees organization to stage memorable pro boxing events again.  They also are committed to having football on their turf and this Fall, Army and a bowl game will be played there.

Madison Square Garden wanted Cotto-Foreman when this fight was first discussed a year ago.  It has always been Cotto time in New York, at the Garden this time of year.  He has defended his title four times in the month of June on the eve of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The schedule was available again for Cotto at the Garden and he, along with his promoter Arum were welcome to come back. Arum though has been thinking bigger. The Stadium was a proper venue when the idea came to the table.  Arum got over 40,000 fans to attend the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey welterweight title fight earlier this year at the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas Texas.

This fight certainly will lead to more at the new ball yard in the Bronx. The Yankees with their 27^th World Series championship christened the Stadium last November. Now, after Saturday night, the past becomes present and truly we can say boxing has returned where it belongs.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

The fights that night will be the first bouts fought in a Yankee Stadium ring since September 28, 1976 when Muhammed Ali won a 15 round decision over Ken Norton. Forty-five boxing shows were held at the venue during its first 36 years of existence, but the June 5^th show will only be the second in more than a half-century (June 26, 1959).  The names of boxing legends that fought at the Bronx venue include Joe Louis, 11 times, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Jack Dempsey.

Miguel Cotto, the challenger on June5, held a Spanish language press conference on Wednesday, May 19, to help promote the event. Cotto expressed his pride when asked to describe his feelings of boxing in this historic site, “It’s a legendary place. It’s very emotional for me. If we give a good performance our names will be connected to the greats of the past.”

Without denigrating his upcoming opponent, Cotto expressed confidence that his preparation will be sufficient to ensure him a victory in the bout, “I’m prepared for this fight. I have great plans. I’ve worked for the past 7-8 weeks. We will try to implement what we have learned [of Yuri Foreman].” When asked if fighting at 154 pounds will be more difficult than his previous championships, 140 and 147 pound weights, Cotto responded, “I feel very well. I don’t think it’ll be a big difference.”

Cotto has headlined shows at Madison Square Garden in mid-June during four of the past five years as part of the festive events held during the week preceding the National Puerto Rican Parade on Fifth Avenue. Cotto, a native of Caguas asked if he formulated this tradition. He said the idea was that of his promoters, Top Rank.

Cotto was asked if his new trainer, Emanuel Steward, will make a difference in the bout. The former champ said of the legendary and experienced trainer of many champions, “Who wouldn’t be happy to have him in his corner?” Steward explained to reporters his methods of training his new fighter, “We use a lot of music and dancing to improve his balance. It’s been fun. He’s like a new boxer.”

The two boxers are both 29 years old, but Cotto has much more experience, especially competing against highly rated boxers. Although the two never faced one another, Foreman fought on the undercard of three shows headlined by Cotto.

As the New York Yankees are part of the promotion, Jason Zillo, the director of media relations for the team was asked to comment on the fight being held at the new home of the Yankees. He stated, “This is a facility that should not be dormant when the Yankees are on the road or during the winter and early spring months. This stadium can transcend the sport of baseball. There are endless opportunities here and I know our ownership will pursue them.”

The fight against Foreman, for the title, will also see Cotto move up in weight and there will be many story lines. Cotto will have famed trainer Emanuel Steward in his corner for the first time, the fight will see the return of boxing to Yankee Stadium for the first time since Muhammad Ali defeated Ken Norton by a 15-round decision on September 28, 1976 at the original Yankee Stadium.

And more importantly, Cotto needs to make a statement. He wins and perhaps there is an opportunity to become a player once again in the welterweight division. Though during the past year, Cotto a three-time world champion and veteran of 16- world championship fights has expressed an interest of taking on two more opponents and then contemplate retirement.

“A tough fight,” said Cotto (34-2 0,27KO’s) about his opponent, the 29-year old Foreman (28-0, 8KO’s) the first Orthodox Jew to win a world championship in nearly 70 years. “I am mentally blocked about Pacquiao and thinking about Foreman,” he said.

The boxing world seems to think Cotto may have lost his punch after losing the WBA welterweight title to Antonio Margarito two years ago at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  A battered Cotto saw right uppercuts and a bloodied nose in the third round slow his pace before the fight was stopped by his corner after 10 rounds.

Later it was revealed that Margarito fought with tainted hand wraps under his gloves when Mosley defeated him for the title that Margarito defeated Cotto for.However the prevailing opinion is that Margarito used illegal hand wraps in the Cotto fight. Margarito was suspended for a year and Cotto stayed silent about the hand wrap issue. Regardless his performance was not Cotto like, neither was it a dominant win at Madison Square Garden last June when he successfully defended his WBO welterweight title against Joshua Clottey in a controversial and close 12-round split decision.

“Where he goes after this fight, you have to ask him,” was the comment from Bob Arum of Top Rank the promoter of Cotto and also Pacquiao. “He is still a world class fighter, has tremendous popularity and can still have an impact. It is a question of what he does against Yuri.”

The popularity of Cotto is still dominant, especially in New York City. Madison Square Garden has always been the venue for him fighting there and successfully defending his titles four times in the month of June on the eve of the National Puerto Rican Day parade.

And with the popularity of Foreman, who presents a real challenge for Cotto, this fight could see a crowd in excess of 35,000 at the new “House That Ruth Built” in the Bronx. HBO will also televise the fight on their network as Cotto wants fans to see him fight without shelling out a $50 dollar pay-per-view fee.

“Defending against Cotto is a dream come true,” said Foreman who is expected to also draw a good contingent of Jewish fans to the stadium. Arum plans to stack the undercard with fighters from every ethnic group, including 21-year old Christian Martinez, 4-0, a New York City Golden Gloves champion  and promising junior welterweight who was born and raised minutes away from the new stadium.

The fight is being billed as “Stadium Slugfest” or as Lonn Trost Chief Operating Officer of the Yankees said, “Battle in the Bronx” or “Battle of the Boroughs.”  The first of many prestigious fights at the new stadium is what Trost is hoping for.  There is the possibility that will happen, except Cotto may not be in the plan if he indeed decides to hang up the gloves soon.

“It’s a great honor to have my first title defense at Yankee Stadium and join the names of such fighters as Benny Leonard, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, and to represent Israel and the Jewish people,” said Foreman.

Except this may not be a legendary fight, more so. historic as boxing returns to Yankee Stadium with anticipation.

Email Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

Though one question was answered, as it seems Cotto, (34-1, 27KO’s) has overcome his loss to Antonio Margarito last year that left him battered after 11 rounds/ It was a rough fight from the beginning, as expected, with the only knockdown coming from a Cotto punch late in the first round.

Clottey, (35,3, 21 KO’s) who gave Cotto the cut in the third round, attributed to a head butt, may have indeed been the winner if it weren’t for that 10-8 first round that went to Cotto  that caused Clottey to briefly hit the canvas.. And the final two rounds went to Cotto with one judge at ringside having 114-113 for Clottey, two others 115-112 and 116-111 for Cotto. This writer gave the fight to Clottey 114-113.

After the nasty cut continued to pour blood from the left eye, Cotto had to resort to another strategy. He continued to punch well, landing 723 punches to the 622 of Clottey, but the challenger in the ropes many times was able to take the punishment and land a few power punches of his own.

It was the onslaught of punches from Cotto that continued to show how resilient of a fighter Clottey is.  The native of Ghana, now residing in the Bronx, also had to overcome a pro Cotto crowd at the Garden. Most of the 17,734 were Cotto fans waving the Puerto Rican flag, screaming for their fighter throughout the fight, though this was the first time a Cotto fight at the Garden failed to sell out.

And if Top Rank promoter Bob Arum hadn’t consoled Clottey immediately after the fight, then perhaps this could have been the last fight for Clottey. Disappointed and annoyed about the final decision Clottey immediately said, “That’s it, I’m done with boxing, I can’t take it anymore.”

To which Arum, who promotes both Clottey and Cotto, embraced Clottey and said to him, “a magnificent fight and you have to continue.”  By all means Clottey deserves a return bout, and after listening to Arum and getting over the disappointment, Cottey asked for one.

But Clottey may have to wait as Arum is looking to put Cotto in the ring next, possibly with Manny Pacquio considered the best pound-for pound fighter at 147.  Said Clottey, “They robbed me. He was running and I was chasing. I threw the hardest punches.”

Hand it to Cotto though, because after the cut he fought like a champion.. Even in the ninth and tenth rounds the cut got worse, of which Cotto said, “The cut made me fight harder but I felt like that I was winning all the way”

But there were some tactics from Cotto that haven’t been seen. Perhaps his new trainer, Joe Santiago, who replaced Cotto’s uncle Evangelista, was a reason why Cotto in the fifth round was a different fighter. In the corner with Clottey he spun his opponent around and Clottey, fell face first on the canvas.

The result was some time for Clottey to recover after hurting his right knee but he was able to recover by continuing to fight at his pace. “The referee had to do something,” said Clottey who also complained that Cotto used low blows many times, also Cotto hit Clottey in the back of his head late in the fight which also got no warning from referee Arthur Mercante Jr.

Now Arum has to look at the future for Cotto.  The Pacquiao fight is what he would like to do and Cotto will evaluate the options.  There is also a possible return bout with WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley, and Cotto, from what has been often heard would like that chance again against Margarito..

But Margarito is still serving a one-year suspension for fighting with tainted hand wraps under his gloves which now appears to have been responsible for Cotto’s only loss. “I will see what the company says,” was the response from Cotto about getting Margarito again.

Clottey deserves a return bout and it may have to wait, and his courageous effort showed he is indeed one of the top three welterweights.  As for Cotto,: who admitted that Clottey was a tough opponent, it is time for some rest and maybe some readjustments with his new trainer and without cut man Miguel Diaz who he also dismissed.

“We made a few mistakes,” admitted Cotto who may still have to prove that he is in the company of other great Puerto Rican boxing champions such as Wilfredo Gomez and Felix Trinidad.  “Everybody will get better,” he said.

CALDERON GETS A DRAW: The co-feature on the Garden card saw junior flyweight champion Ivan Calderon (32-0-1, 6KO’s) of Guaynabo Puerto Rico earn a split decision of his 12-round fight that went to the judges scorecard after six rounds because of an accidental head butt. Challenger and opponent Rodel Mayol (25-3, 1, 19KO’s) of the Philippines caused the nasty cut on the forehead of Calderon.

As a result of the fight being halted after six rounds the technical rule of the championship bout becomes a decision for the judges. One judge had it even, one for Calderon and the other to Mayol and as a result Calderon retained his title.

“I was coming in and he would go down low and that’s when I got hit in the head,” said Calderon/. The butt came in the fourth round and another one moments later. It was the fourth defense of his title.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com