Yankee Stadium pushed for Cotto-Foreman bout

NEW YORK (AP) — Jewish boxing champion Yuri Foreman hopes to defend his title at Yankee Stadium in June — unless a bar mitzvah gets in the way.

The 154-pound champion would fight former welterweight titleholder Miguel Cotto on June 5 at the ballpark in the Bronx, promoter Bob Arum told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Arum has been hoping to bring a fight to Yankee Stadium for years.

“The Yankees want to make a deal, we know we can make a deal, they’re just working through a problem at Yankee Stadium,” Arum said. “But you wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

He’s not kidding.

“They’ve leased out some lounges for this bar mitzvah and part of the deal was for a half hour or so, they could use the big screen in center field to show pictures and all that sort of stuff,” Arum said, laughing. “Obviously you can’t do that if there’s fights going on.”

Ramping up the irony, Foreman is studying to become a rabbi.

Arum said he’s hopeful that something can be worked out, perhaps by giving the families holding the bar mitzvah credentials for the fight. If the conflict can’t be resolved, Foreman would defend his WBA junior middleweight belt on June 12 at Madison Square Garden — the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York City.

Top Rank president Todd duBoef has said that he has the arena, where Cotto has fought some of his most thrilling bouts, on hold for that date.