Gamer
11-02-2010, 07:56 PM
c/p By Chris Robinson
October must have been pretty torturous for HBO’s unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman. Accustomed to traveling the globe on a constant basis covering the sport that he loves, Lederman had to turn his attention to his other job as pharmacist in New York this past month just to keep himself occupied as there hadn’t been any HBO dates reserved for boxing in the past five weeks.
Now that November is upon us Lederman can breathe a little easier with the knowledge that a full plate of boxing is on his horizon for five of his next six weekends. Starting with this weekend’s junior welterweight bout between Zab Judah and Lucas Matthyse in Newark, New Jersey, Lederman will be traveling to such locales as Dallas, Atlantic City and Las Vegas as he will be taking in contests such as Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito, the rematch between Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams, Marco Maidana’s challenge of Amir Khan and more.
For a man who is as honest and caring about the sport of boxing as you will find, it is quite the life to live. I recently caught up with Harold to get all his thoughts on what the upcoming weeks of his life will entail and his opinion on all of the fighters he will be witnessing first hand.
This is what the modest judge had to say…
Remembering Cowboys Stadium…
“Well the atmosphere was fine. All the fans were enthused. There were 51,000 people there live. But unless you were sitting in the first couple of rows it is very, very difficult to see. I just felt that out of the 51,000 people that 45,000 were watching the fight on this humungous screen above the ring. The place is so big that I don’t see how anybody in the cheap seats can see the fight. It’s too big.”
Manny Pacquiao exceeding expectations…
“There’s no question, the guy has done an amazing job moving up in weight. To beat bigger guys like De La Hoya, he certainly has looked good, that’s for darn sure. Every time he fights he is very accurate, he is very quick, he gives you angles. Joshua Clottey was a very hard puncher and he beat him easily. He keeps moving up and doing very well. He has far exceeded the expectations, that’s for sure.”
Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams II…
“It was an outstanding fight between a good boxer in Paul Williams and a very good puncher and ring technician in Sergio Martinez. The question is can Sergio Martinez, at his age, keep putting on great performances like he’s been doing? He’s getting a little bit older and certainly Paul Williams throws a million punches. Martinez’ style, which is getting in and getting out, is definitely for a younger guy and here he’s taking on Paul Williams. It’s not going to be easy and on the other hand Williams is going to have to do a lot to offset Sergio Martinez. It’s a very interesting fight.”
The atmosphere in Atlantic City…
“It’s real good. To tell you the truth, I think they are going to get a good crowd for Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams. People liked the first fight and I think they will turn out well for the second one. It’s a mixed crowd. You have a lot of people from Philadelphia, you have a lot of people coming from New York, you have people from as far away as Boston. It’s real good, especially when the weather is warmer. We hope the weather will still be bearable on November 20th when they fight in Atlantic City. I think Atlantic City needs a new hero to replace Kelly Pavlik and before him, Arturo Gatti. It could be a big shot in the arm for Atlantic City and they need somebody to pull in people. Of course they have a lot of money coming from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.”
Boxing in Las Vegas…
“It’s like I’m always there, like a second home to me. They do it very, very well. They gear it up for boxing, especially the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. They seem to be really all set up for the big fights. This is like old hat to them and they do a real good job at what they do. They do really good marketing jobs and bring in a mass amount of people from all over the world. Especially the high rollers and a real good boxing crowd too. It’s a really good place for boxing. There’s no questions that Las Vegas is great because of the restaurants, entertainment, and everything else that attracts people.”
Killing time before HBO’s November 27th triple header…
“To me I usually hang around the press room and see what’s going on. I like that. I like to hang around with the press guys and the fight guys. Everybody seems to be around the press room in Las Vegas, especially when you have a big fight like Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis. Andre Berto underneath and Celestino Caballero underneath. They have some huge names on this show. The press room is going to be very interesting for this fight. I’m sure people want to know if Freddy Hernandez is going to be competitive with Andre Berto and whether Jason Litzau is going to be competitive with Caballero.”
The greatness of Juan Manuel Marquez…
“He is an absolutely fabulous fighter. I loved his two fights with Juan Diaz, he looked sensational. When you go back everybody remembers him for his great fights with Manny Pacquiao. He gave Pacquiao more trouble than anybody else in the world. Certainly he is a tremendous fighter the question is, can he keep on going? He’s getting a little bit older and Rafael Marquez has gotten a lit bit older because he has a tough fight coming up too against Juan Manuel Lopez. They are two great fighters, they are both brothers and there is no question Juan Manuel is one of the top fighters to come out of Mexico. I really believe he belongs in everybody’s top ten as far as great Mexican fighters go.”
Amir Khan’s ambitions in boxing…
“Everybody is talking about Amir Khan and how far he can go in boxing. Amir Khan is something special. He’s tall, real fast, real slick, good boxer, good puncher and his skills are tremendous. He shows why he was the great amateur that he was and without question he is certainly has done very well with Freddie Roach in his corner. I really was impressed [by his fight against Malignaggi]. I like Paulie. I think he’s one of the better boxers in boxing. He has real fast hands, tremendous boxing ability and Amir Khan wasn’t bothered by it at all. Amir Khan is a tremendous prospect in boxing. He’s in a great division and he may be the best one out there.”
Vividly recalling Marcos Maidana…
“Marcos Maidana, to tell you the truth, he is a heck of a banger. I vividly recall his knockout over Victor Ortiz. That was an absolutely sensational fight. I mean he got knocked down, he got up and he made Victor Ortiz quit. I think very, very highly of Victor Ortiz. I like Marcos Maidana. He’s a good puncher, he has a lot of heart and he has that ability to come back when you think he’s hurt and that’s something that all great fighters have. He comes backs and he tows em’ out. I’m looking forward to seeing him and Amir Khan. It’s two great fighters, two big punchers. And maybe Amir Khan has better skills but I tell ya, if he does have a bad jaw like people say, we are going to find out because Maidana can punch.”
October must have been pretty torturous for HBO’s unofficial ringside judge Harold Lederman. Accustomed to traveling the globe on a constant basis covering the sport that he loves, Lederman had to turn his attention to his other job as pharmacist in New York this past month just to keep himself occupied as there hadn’t been any HBO dates reserved for boxing in the past five weeks.
Now that November is upon us Lederman can breathe a little easier with the knowledge that a full plate of boxing is on his horizon for five of his next six weekends. Starting with this weekend’s junior welterweight bout between Zab Judah and Lucas Matthyse in Newark, New Jersey, Lederman will be traveling to such locales as Dallas, Atlantic City and Las Vegas as he will be taking in contests such as Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito, the rematch between Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams, Marco Maidana’s challenge of Amir Khan and more.
For a man who is as honest and caring about the sport of boxing as you will find, it is quite the life to live. I recently caught up with Harold to get all his thoughts on what the upcoming weeks of his life will entail and his opinion on all of the fighters he will be witnessing first hand.
This is what the modest judge had to say…
Remembering Cowboys Stadium…
“Well the atmosphere was fine. All the fans were enthused. There were 51,000 people there live. But unless you were sitting in the first couple of rows it is very, very difficult to see. I just felt that out of the 51,000 people that 45,000 were watching the fight on this humungous screen above the ring. The place is so big that I don’t see how anybody in the cheap seats can see the fight. It’s too big.”
Manny Pacquiao exceeding expectations…
“There’s no question, the guy has done an amazing job moving up in weight. To beat bigger guys like De La Hoya, he certainly has looked good, that’s for darn sure. Every time he fights he is very accurate, he is very quick, he gives you angles. Joshua Clottey was a very hard puncher and he beat him easily. He keeps moving up and doing very well. He has far exceeded the expectations, that’s for sure.”
Sergio Martinez vs. Paul Williams II…
“It was an outstanding fight between a good boxer in Paul Williams and a very good puncher and ring technician in Sergio Martinez. The question is can Sergio Martinez, at his age, keep putting on great performances like he’s been doing? He’s getting a little bit older and certainly Paul Williams throws a million punches. Martinez’ style, which is getting in and getting out, is definitely for a younger guy and here he’s taking on Paul Williams. It’s not going to be easy and on the other hand Williams is going to have to do a lot to offset Sergio Martinez. It’s a very interesting fight.”
The atmosphere in Atlantic City…
“It’s real good. To tell you the truth, I think they are going to get a good crowd for Sergio Martinez and Paul Williams. People liked the first fight and I think they will turn out well for the second one. It’s a mixed crowd. You have a lot of people from Philadelphia, you have a lot of people coming from New York, you have people from as far away as Boston. It’s real good, especially when the weather is warmer. We hope the weather will still be bearable on November 20th when they fight in Atlantic City. I think Atlantic City needs a new hero to replace Kelly Pavlik and before him, Arturo Gatti. It could be a big shot in the arm for Atlantic City and they need somebody to pull in people. Of course they have a lot of money coming from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.”
Boxing in Las Vegas…
“It’s like I’m always there, like a second home to me. They do it very, very well. They gear it up for boxing, especially the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay. They seem to be really all set up for the big fights. This is like old hat to them and they do a real good job at what they do. They do really good marketing jobs and bring in a mass amount of people from all over the world. Especially the high rollers and a real good boxing crowd too. It’s a really good place for boxing. There’s no questions that Las Vegas is great because of the restaurants, entertainment, and everything else that attracts people.”
Killing time before HBO’s November 27th triple header…
“To me I usually hang around the press room and see what’s going on. I like that. I like to hang around with the press guys and the fight guys. Everybody seems to be around the press room in Las Vegas, especially when you have a big fight like Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis. Andre Berto underneath and Celestino Caballero underneath. They have some huge names on this show. The press room is going to be very interesting for this fight. I’m sure people want to know if Freddy Hernandez is going to be competitive with Andre Berto and whether Jason Litzau is going to be competitive with Caballero.”
The greatness of Juan Manuel Marquez…
“He is an absolutely fabulous fighter. I loved his two fights with Juan Diaz, he looked sensational. When you go back everybody remembers him for his great fights with Manny Pacquiao. He gave Pacquiao more trouble than anybody else in the world. Certainly he is a tremendous fighter the question is, can he keep on going? He’s getting a little bit older and Rafael Marquez has gotten a lit bit older because he has a tough fight coming up too against Juan Manuel Lopez. They are two great fighters, they are both brothers and there is no question Juan Manuel is one of the top fighters to come out of Mexico. I really believe he belongs in everybody’s top ten as far as great Mexican fighters go.”
Amir Khan’s ambitions in boxing…
“Everybody is talking about Amir Khan and how far he can go in boxing. Amir Khan is something special. He’s tall, real fast, real slick, good boxer, good puncher and his skills are tremendous. He shows why he was the great amateur that he was and without question he is certainly has done very well with Freddie Roach in his corner. I really was impressed [by his fight against Malignaggi]. I like Paulie. I think he’s one of the better boxers in boxing. He has real fast hands, tremendous boxing ability and Amir Khan wasn’t bothered by it at all. Amir Khan is a tremendous prospect in boxing. He’s in a great division and he may be the best one out there.”
Vividly recalling Marcos Maidana…
“Marcos Maidana, to tell you the truth, he is a heck of a banger. I vividly recall his knockout over Victor Ortiz. That was an absolutely sensational fight. I mean he got knocked down, he got up and he made Victor Ortiz quit. I think very, very highly of Victor Ortiz. I like Marcos Maidana. He’s a good puncher, he has a lot of heart and he has that ability to come back when you think he’s hurt and that’s something that all great fighters have. He comes backs and he tows em’ out. I’m looking forward to seeing him and Amir Khan. It’s two great fighters, two big punchers. And maybe Amir Khan has better skills but I tell ya, if he does have a bad jaw like people say, we are going to find out because Maidana can punch.”