Miguel Cotto vs. Yuri Foreman: Round-by-Round Live Blog and Results

Big time boxing returns to a site that has seen so much history over the decades. Except this time it's the new version of Yankee Stadium set to host a 154-pound title fight between champion Yuri Foreman and Miguel Cotto.

Bleacher Report is proud to bring you coverage of the big event, live from Yankee Stadium. Refresh often for the latest happenings.

All times are listed by eastern time.

10:11 - We're less than five minutes away from the televised portion of tonight's card. Fans are sitting in the right-center bleachers and from the foul pole on the first base side down past first base. It will be interesting to see what the attendance numbers look like.

10:12 - Michael Buffer has announced that Iran Barkley, Tommy Hearns, Tyson Beckford, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Ivan Calderon and Manny Pacquiao are all in attendance.

10:25 - Vanes Martirosyan vs Joe Greene

Tonight's co-feature is another 154-pound clash featuring two undefeated fighters. Martirosyan is 27-0 with 17 KOs, while Greene is 22-0 with 14 knockout victories. It's a long ring walk here at Yankee Stadium as Martirosyan comes out to Eminem's "Not Afraid."

10:31 - Michael Buffer does the ring intros and we are all set for action.

10:32 - Rd. 1 - Greene looks a little hyper, but he settles down as Vanes circles. Martirosyan tries some hooks and forces Joe to clinch. Greene's high guard is picking off some shots. Right by Vanes and a left from Joe. Both men go low, but Greene goes too low and the ref pauses the action. Vanes tries some late shots to steal the round.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Martirosyan

10:35 - Rd. 2 - Jabs both ways, mostly ineffective. Vanes goes to the body. Nice left upstairs makes Vanes fight. After a clinch, Vanes tries to bounce straight back and gets whacked with a right upstairs. Greene shakes his head and manages to block about four straight punches.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Greene

10:39 - Rd. 3 - Greene comes forward and is immediately grabbed, then he's chased back by a left hand. Both men just miss straight shots. Greene flurries in response to a single shot and is held again. Martirosyan throwing numerous punches into Joe's gloves. Vanes lands a right that makes the crowd "ooh" a bit. Vanes mixes up the body and head attack. He complains about another low shot but the ref says fight on.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Martirosyan

10:42 - Rd. 4 - Martirosyan is winning on activity right now. Greene has to find a way to let his hands go. He corners his man but can't land anything flush. Martirosyan fires back in the middle of the ring. More wrestling makes the fans a little restless. Now Greene gets hit below the belt and the ref calls time again. The round peters out without much else of consequence.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Martirosyan

10:48 - Rd. 5 - One-two from Martirosyan and Greene tries to answer. Vanes has turned stalker a bit more now. He just misses a wild right along the ropes. Greene scores with a left, his best punch in a while. Joe is proving a bit more elusive in this frame, but he still may not be busy enough. Greene slips down, and no one lands much in the final ten.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Greene

10:52 - Rd. 6 - Martirosyan lands a few light jabs. Greene shows off some flashy moves that the crowd enjoys. Nice looping right from Vanes. Greene comes back with a left and immediately eats several shots coming back. Martirosyan is very close to landing some bombs. Both fighters tumble over each other right before the bell.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Martirosyan

10:56 - Rd. 7 - Greene paws with multiple jabs. Vanes occasionally remembers to return to the body. He showboats a bit after just missing a huge right. Greene is struggling to get off. He tries to move in again only to see Vanes dance away. One-two from Martirosyan upstairs. 

Tylwalk: 10-9 Martirosyan

11:00 - Rd. 8 - Plenty of juking and feinting for 20 seconds. Greene has to turtle to avoid punishment along the ropes. Vanes sneaks in a right hand as both men throw. Joe finally lands a one-two. Nice right hand by Vanes as he comes forward. Greene is just being forced to play too much defense right now.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Martirosyan

11:04 - Rd. 9 - Spike Lee got a nice crowd reaction when he was shown between rounds. This still looks like a feeling-out process at times even though we're nine rounds in. The ref tells Greene he did not get hit low this time. He's trying to make it a fight, but nothing much is happening right now. Martirosyan lands a right along the ropes that forces a clinch, and Greene has to stay frosty to avoid more.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Martirosyan

11:08 - Rd. 10 - I don't think the fans here are going to be too upset that this is the last round. Martirosyan chases Greene back across the ring. Joe lands a nice right hook; he needed a lot more of that. Vanes swings and misses and gets clinched. The ref stays busy with more grappling. Lots of bouncing around without punching. Vanes finally tries a flurry, perhaps out of obligation. His next shot lands clean, and Greene goes down. He's back up right away, but that was likely the proverbial nail in the coffin.

Tylwalk: 10-8 Martirosyan

11:13 - Replay showed that the last shot that hit Greene connected in the back of his head, but the damage is done now as we await the scores.

11:14 - The judges score it 96-93 twice and 98-91, all for the winner, Vanes Martirosyan.

11:17 - Three anthems to get through before the main event: Puerto Rican, Israeli and U.S.

11:25 - Still enough time to get some commercials in on the big video board, apparently...

11:31 - Miguel Cotto vs. Yuri Foreman

It's time to get down to business for the main event. Cotto comes to the ring first to a very warm reaction from the fans on hand in Yankee Stadium. The former two-division champ is 34-2 with 27 KOs, but he was battered in both losses and questions remain about whether he can still recapture his old form.

Foreman walks out to traditional Israeli music. He has a smaller but still vocal fan contingent in the house. The WBA light middleweight titleholder is 28-0 with 8 KOs, but he has never faced anyone with Cotto's resume.

Michael Buffer does the introductions in his usual classy style, and we're all set for action.

11:40 - Rd. 1 - Cotto strikes first with a stiff jab. Foreman flashes quick hands, but he is retreating early. Now he flurries and makes Cotto cover up. Right hand by Miguel. He misses another right but scores with a short left hook. Cotto closes in with some light body shots. Yuri tries to settle behind his jab.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

11:44 - Rd. 2 - Foreman aggressively works his jab. He's bouncing around and staying very patient. Cotto stalks and tries the body. A left knocks Foreman off balance for a second. Foreman turns the heat up a bit with both hands. Nice exchange along the ropes; both men landed but Yuri's head snapped back more.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

11:48 - Rd. 3 - Yuri picks up the pace again. He's doing a lot of lateral movement. Foreman tries to sneak around and almost gets caught with a left hook. Both men throw hooks in close. Cotto steps inside with shorter shots when Foreman throws. The ref halts the fight to replace Yuri's mouthpiece. Cotto has to be happy with those three rounds.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

11:53 - Rd. 4 - The first true exchange of the bout sees both men land solid shots. Foreman jabs and lands a straight right. Both men are letting their hands go now, but Cotto is surprisingly better on defense. Power shots miss both ways, and Foreman slips down - correct call by the ref. Cotto goes body-head and eats a counter. Closer round but I still like Miguel there.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

11:57 - Rd. 5 - Nice hooks fly in both directions. Nasty left by Cotto in the midst of an exchange. Foreman gets tagged by another left while he's trying to throw. Yuri is having problems dodging any left hands. Cotto blocks a flurry. Foreman needs to find a way to let his hands go.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

12:01 - Rd. 6 - Foreman tries to get his jab going again. Another exchange of hooks goes Cotto's way. Miguel pushes Yuri away from a clinch. Foreman goes low for the first time in a while. The crowd wants more sustained action. Foreman tries to make it rough inside. Wild swing and a miss by Cotto. More wild misses by both fighters before the bell.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

12:05 - Rd. 7 - Cotto prevails again in an exchange thanks to his shorter punches. The fighters get tangled up along the ropes, and Foreman comes up limping. He says he's good to go; Cotto senses weakness and tries to close the show. Foreman slips down again, and his right knee really looks weak. Cotto peppers him along the ropes; he fires back but eats a huge uppercut. Miguel fires away again along the ropes.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

12:10 - Rd. 8 - If nothing else, this is a tremendous show of heart by Foreman. Cotto is hitting him with both hands early on. He really can't miss with his left. Yuri takes two jabs and his knee almost buckles. Foreman's corner throws in the towel... but after several minutes and the ring filling with various parties, Buffer announces that the fight is not over. And the fight is back on! There's about a minute left in the frame. Cotto is still deadly with the left hook. Foreman almost stumbles down again. Yuri looks like he is clinching just to stay up.

Tylwalk: 10-9 Cotto

12:15 - Rd. 9 - We'll see how Foreman's knee holds up. He's basically fighting on one leg right now. Cotto hits him with a left to the body, and he's down. Foreman can't continue, and the fight is over for real this time.

The winner by TKO at 0:42 of Round 9... and new WBA super welterweight titleholder... Miguel Angel Cotto.

Post-fight:

Cotto tells Max Kellerman that he simply followed the plan Emanuel Steward laid out for him in camp. He says that even after Foreman started to come on a bit in the fourth round, he just followed instructions and everything worked out.

Asked about Foreman's knee, Cotto says he felt sorry, but he had a job to do and had to keep going. He thought it was over after the confusion in the eighth round when he saw the towel thrown in.

Miguel says he is back, and he is going to rest and then go over "the big names" with Top Rank.

Max turns to Foreman, who says he had trouble getting into his rhythm. He feels he had a chance in the fight until he slipped for the first time.

Yuri says the reason he wears a knee brace has to do with an old injury. Once the knee gave out, it caused him a great deal of pain, and even having time to walk it off didn't help.

Foreman says he had no thoughts of quitting, which gets him a round of applause from the fans still in Yankee Stadium. Kellerman suggests that he may have won more fans tonight with his courage than he did during all of his previous fights.

Fittingly, Kellerman also speaks to referee Arthur Mercante Jr. he says the reason he allowed the fight to continue is that the towel came in amidst a good exchange from both fighters and he didn't think the action needed to be halted at that point. He says the fans paid to see a fight, and it was a good one until the first slip.

Mercante says he did not know who threw the towel at the time but did learn that someone from Foreman's corner did it after the fact.

Max says the ref probably interpreted the rules correctly in the end but wonders if he was worried about the fighters' ability to get going again after a few minutes of confusion and the need to clear the ring. Mercante says he wasn't concerned because both men are champions and were clearly game for the fight.