During Thursday?s final press conference for tonight?s WBA junior welterweight bout between champion Amir Khan and interim titlist Marcos Maidana, I crossed paths and was able to gather some insight on the fight from beloved Harold Lederman. Serving as HBO?s unofficial ringside judge for nearly 25 years, Lederman is a fan favorite because of his enthusiasm for the sport as well as his unmistakeable delivery.
Taking place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Khan-Maidana is a fight full of intrigue on many levels and the kind of clash that boxing needs during these trying times. Maidana?s brute strength and crippling power will surely fill the air with some definite suspense as he pursues Khan, a fighter who has seen his star status rise to new heights since hooking up with trainer Freddie Roach following his horrible knockout loss to Breidis Prescott over two years ago.
<--- Slideshow: Images of Marcos Maidana?s time in Las Vegas
While Lederman is quick to notice the talent of Khan he isn?t fully sold on the British star and needs to see what happens later tonight to give an accurate assessment of his future. During our conversation Lederman spoke about the difference between Khan and other stars in the sport who come from harsh backgrounds, the reasons why he feels Roach is such a tremendous trainer, Maidana?s 2009 upset over Victor Ortiz and the danger he presents tonight.
In his own words, this is what Lederman had to day?
Covering another big fight in Las Vegas? “They know how to do it. It comes with experience. I guess the last 25 years all of the big fights have been out here and when you keep doing it over and over and over again it becomes very routine and they have it down to a very unique science. They set up their press conferences very well, their weigh ins very well and everything is very organized. It’s a pleasure to be at a fight here. Everything goes very smooth and you don’t have the troubles that you have in other places. They always appoint good officials and they work with you. You can expect a good fight and it should go the right way.”
Mixed feelings on Amir Khan? “Well, Amir Khan could be the next superstar in boxing or he could be overhyped. It’s hard to tell. He might be riding the coattails of Manny Pacquiao with Freddie Roach. As I said, I’m really not 100% sure. Having seen him a few times I have mixed feelings because of the fact that everything came very early to him and he’ s not the hungry fighter that so many hungry fighters are. He didn’t come from Los Mochis, Mexico or the Hill District of Pittsburgh or Harlem. On the other hand, when he was 19 years old a biography came out about him, which was ridiculous. He runs around with the same entourage as Ricky Hatton and you have to wonder if he can overcome all of this and focus and just fight. On the flip side he has tremendouis natural ability. He wins fights because he’s long, lean, has decent hand speed and a decent punch. “
Thoughts on the Prescott loss? “You always wonder whether he got caught cold or does he have a lousy jaw? Wladimir got knocked out viciously by Corrie Sanders and look at how he’s come back. Sometimes you can overcome these things. You don’t know what goes on in a guy’s mind. Sometimes he comes out and thinks it’s going to be an easy fight and he gets caught. Keith Thurman is a great prospect right now and you saw what happened to him two fights ago. He almost got knocked out with the first punch of the fight and he came back and whacked the guy out in the second round. These things just happen. In Amir Khan’s case he got caught bigtime by Breidis Prescott very early in the fight but seems to have forgotten it. He doesn’t talk about it, he doesn’t dwell on it. He came back and stopped yelling that he wants a rematch and he just keeps on winning. It’s in the past and now we’ll see when he gets in with a big puncher like Maidana whether he can take a punch. Saturday night is going to show us a lot. So we’ll see. If he gets staggered or knocked down by Maidana there may be more to the Prescott fight than we think.”
Freddie Roach, a student of the game? “There’s no question that Freddie’s a good trainer. He seems to be a student of the game. I watch him and I get the impression that he’s not any more successful than Buddy McGirt because he holds the pads better. I mean Buddy McGirt fought much guys than Freddie Roach fought. What makes Freddie Roach a good trainer is that he studies tapes, he studies hard and he prepares his fighter’s well. He also gets good people around his fighters. He has strength and conditioning coaches and he brings in nutritionists and all the other things that give his fighters the edge. That makes them a little bit better. He’s taken a lot of great guys with a lot of great natural ability and really increased upon what they could do by bringing in a lot of trainers and doing a lot of studying.”
Freddie?s fighters? “Pacquiao always knows what to expect and all of Freddie’s fighters know what to expect. You saw with Julio Jr. Not a lot of us thought much of Julio Jr. but look at what he did to Duddy. He knew exactly what to do and he took John Duddy apart because he was ready. That’s the thing about Freddie Roach, he really gets his fighter’s ready. I’ve watched him and I’ve seen him in the corners and he knows what he’s doing. His fundamentals as a trainer are really good. But it’s that little bit extra that he does. He’s a real student. He studies tapes and knows what to expect from the opponents and he gets his fighters ready. By the time they walk into the ring they know what to expect and they aren’t afraid. His fighters are ready to take on whoever they have to take on. He gives them that confidence that trainers like Ronnie Shields and Buddy McGirt don’t know how to do. There guys absolutely can’t duplicate what Freddie does. Freddie has also been very lucky. Guys who side with him are very good fighters.”
Maidana back again? ?He?s a dangerous guy. There?s no question, he can crack. It was an interesting night. Victor Ortiz was certainly the favorite going into that fight I think and Victor was good too. Marcos Maidana is a very dangerous. It?s sort of funny that he has managerial problems and promotional problems, a lot of the things that distract fightes. He hasn?t been terribly active since the Victor Ortiz fight. He never really capitalized on that big win. He started to go downhill but through it all he?s stil with Universum. He?s back again in a big fight. It just goes to show that the guy is a very good fighter and it just goes to show that he could resume his career where it stopped in the Victor Ortiz fight. This was a guy who should have capitalized on the Victor Ortiz win. Now he?s got to come back and I hope he has his head on straight. If he everything settled in his personal life I think he could be a top notch force in boxing and there is no doubt that he could win this fight by knockout. If Amir Khan doesn?t take a good punch, Marcos Maidana is going to knock him out. And that?s all there is to it.?
Stay tuned for the second part of my interview with Harold Lederman where we discuss different aspects of a possible April 16th Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight…
For a picture by picture look at Marcos Maidan?s time in Las Vegas for the Khan fight please check out Maidana in Las Vegas
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
