NEW YORK (AP) — Orthodox boxer Yuri Foreman’s first title defense appears to be a go for Yankee Stadium on June 5.
A scheduling conflict with a bar mitzvah at the year-old stadium has been worked out, setting the stage for Foreman (28-0) to face former welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (34-2) for the the WBA junior middleweight crown, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told the Associated Press on March 4.
Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost told AP that team executives had to approve the deal.
"We have a preliminary agreement with them. Nothing has been signed or finalized," he said. "We do plan, if things go well, to have it on June 5."
With the Sabbath ending at sundown, the bout is expected to begin at 11:30 p.m. to accommodate the observant Foreman, a Belarus native now living in New York and studying to be a rabbi.
Foreman and Arum both agreed to meet the bar mitzvah celebrant, Scott Ballan, the son of the lead bond lawyer for the financing of the $1.5 billion stadium, the AP reported. The entire family will be guests at the fight.
The boxing card will be the first at the new Yankee Stadium. The old stadium hosted some classic bouts, including Joe Louis’ knockout defeat at the hands of the German Max Schmeling in June 1936 as the Nazis were rising to power. Louis would avenge the loss two years later.
