By Jon Lane
This release from the Yankees:

On Thursday, September 10 at noon, Yankee Stadium will host a press conference on the field to announce the upcoming boxing match between Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao, taking place on November 14, 2009, at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. Gates will open at 11:00 a.m. to the public for the free event, with the press conference slated to begin at noon.

Pacquiao, in my view, is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game. His last fight he knocked out Ricky Hatton in the second round and before that battered Oscar De La Hoya into retirement via a ninth-round KO.

The original Yankee Stadium hosted 30 championship bouts beginning with Benny Leonard’s lightweight title defense against Lou Tendler on July 24, 1923. Fifteen years later, Joe Louis famously knocked Max Schmeling in the first round to earn some redemption, one of eight title bouts Louis fought at the House that Ruth Built.

The last fight at Yankee Stadium was Muhammad Ali’s unanimous-decision defeat of Ken Norton in 1976. Here’s hoping a new tradition soon begins at the new place.