Harold Lederman was moaning during his Sunday afternoon New York State Boxing Hall Of Fame speech about how jokers like to refer to him “as the second best fight judge in the family.” Of course the pharmacist/HBO Unofficial Fight judge was referring to his daughter, Julie who ranks among the world’s best fight scorers. My Pal Hal may drop further in the family rankings what with Julie romantically involved with young Southern California boxing judge Max DeLuca. If Julie and Max marry, Harold may become the third best boxing judge in the clan. (But please don’t tell Happy Harold I said this.) Which reminds me that no review of the NYS Boxing HOF’s inaugural class would be complete with mentioning Lederman’s obsession with giving housecats boxing names and how he tweaked Floyd Mayweather Jr. from the podium at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach, Queens. “Today,” Lederman began his rap, “I am an immortal. “On May 5, we’ve got Mayweather versus Miguel Cotto and I have to say two things about Mayweather. “One, Floyd is not the greatest fighter who ever lived, Sugar Ray Robinson is. And, two, Floyd has never fought in New York and you can’t say you’re the greatest fighter who ever lived if you didn’t fight in New York.” On the feline front, boxing mad Lederman said he named a white cat “Bimstein” after the famed trainer, Whitey Bimstein. Then he had a cat named “Spitbucket.” Finally, Lederman and wife Eileen took in a small kitten. “That cat was so small so we called him “Eight Ounce Reyes.” As I revealed in this space some months ago, Lederman has been battling prostate cancer. You wouldn’t have know it the way Lederman looked and sounded this weekend as he attended the memorial service for scribe/historian Bert Sugar and then his own induction. In my next life, I hope I can learn to love boxing as much as Harold does. He’s boxing kid in the candy shop. ([email protected])
