Growing up in New Jersey, Yankee Stadium holds a special lure, even though I grew up closer to Philadelphia and cheered for the Phillies. The Yankees may have been the rival team, but for years they were the team I wished we had. Let’s be real. Who wouldn’t want to be able to brag that their team has 27 championships? So when I first heard that they were going to hold a fight at the New Yankee Stadium, I couldn’t wait to go.

Yankee Stadium known for its legends (Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, even fighters like Ali) was bound to produce a night that would not be soon forgotten. But who knew it would produce such a strange night.

I should have known. The signs were there from the first fight, the first fight to be held in that new stadium. Super Lightweights Jonathan Cuba and Christian Martinez have the distinction of being the first to fight there. The first two rounds seemed normal enough, but the end of the third round saw nothing but confusion. Cuba went down at the bell, got up, and survived the count. Then referee Sparkle Lee signaled the two to continue fighting, which they did. Once Lee realized that the round was over she broke them apart, and the fighters went back to their corners.

Now that seems like a minor mistake. Or was it? I’ve never been superstitious, but maybe it was an omen.

Now enter the second omen. Just as the televised portion of the fight got underway, the king of the boxing writers, Bert Sugar, entered the stadium floor and sat directly in front of me. When I told him that he was the reason I write, he told me that I was in trouble. But I wasn’t in as much trouble as the main event.

I still didn’t see the signs. Everything looked normal. The Cotto fans were chanting and waving Puerto Rican flags. The Foreman fans were waving Israeli flags. They may have been chanting too, but it is hard to out yell Cotto’s fans. You could feel the anticipation and excitement in the air. No other sport produces entrances like boxing. Even in that outdoor stadium, the sound of the fans was deafening.

Then the fight began. The first round was typical. The real question for me was whether or not Cotto would have trouble with all of Foreman’s movement. Would we see the old Cotto? He quickly showed that he could control the round. He was landing his jab. He was showing off his footwork. He even stumbled Foreman in that first round.

The first three rounds were what a lot of people expected, at least what the Cotto fans expected. But Foreman did not get that belt from sheer luck. Although Foreman can be a slow starter, he is a great boxer. He uses his two strengths: speed and footwork. In the fourth round, it started to come together for Foreman. He remembered his right hand, and he was able to stun Cotto with it. But then it all turned for Foreman. Foreman went down at the end of the round. He slipped. Maybe that was sign of things to come too.

But it was really the seventh round that signaled the end for Foreman. Foreman slipped again, and his knee turned an ungodly direction. Arthur Mercante, Jr. gave Foreman time to walk it off. At that point, Foreman proved to everyone in that stadium and to everyone watching that he has the heart of a champion. Foreman chose to continue. He was forced to slug it out with Cotto. He lost his ability to move.

Now there is nothing too strange about any of this. Fighters suffer injury and fight on. As the eighth round began, it was obvious that Cotto would have little trouble winning this fight. And then the towel came flying into the ring. Joe Grier jumped in the ring, followed by pretty much everyone else that might come into the ring at the end of a fight. And what does Arthur Mercante do? He clears the ring and tells them to continue.

Now this is strange. If Foreman’s corner hadn’t thrown in the towel, his action would have been totally acceptable. But Foreman’s corner did want the fight stopped, and Mercante overruled them. Haven’t we heard time after time that a fighter’s corner should be looking out for their fighter’s best interest? Everyone seems to be congratulating Mercante for ignoring the corner. What a great decision to let the champion fight for another minute and a half, only to be dropped by Cotto’s left hand in the beginning of the ninth. But what if Foreman had gotten seriously injured in those final seconds? If they had carried Yuri Foreman out on a stretcher, would Max Kellerman and countless writers have said that Mercante made the right decision?

Foreman had proved himself in the seventh round when he elected to continue to fight. He had nothing left to prove. Foreman is a champion, and I hope to see more of him in the years to come.

And Cotto proved that will not go quietly into the night. He too is a fighter, a fighter to be reckoned with.

And I will not forget this night. I don’t think anyone that was there will forget it.