Los Angeles — WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon has been asking for big fights with big names for big purses. ?I want to get paid,? or ?I want the big fight,? seem to be the most common ideas streaming from the consciousness of boxers.
Unfortunately, unless a boxer hits the jack pot and gets picked out of the blue for a prime time, lucrative match-up, they have to work at marketing themselves into a viable commodity for the major boxing networks and opponents.
Every fighter has to start somewhere.
De Leon is not journey man and holds an alphabet championship, but he has not won over the hearts and minds of the fans, and in recent times there have been murmurings about a rift between Team De Leon and his promoter Golden Boy.
All that aside, every fighter must take their first step towards the promised land of triple digit paychecks and Golden Boy Promotions has offered De Leon just that, a first step.
Eric Gomez, vice president and matchmaker of Golden Boy, informed Boxing Confidential that Daniel Ponce De Leon has been offered a bout with young WBC featherweight champion Jorge Linares of Venezuela.
?We are in discussions,? said Gomez. ?We made an offer to Ponce De Leon for a fight with Linares. HBO likes the fight and is interested. There are no specifics at this time, but we did make Ponce De Leon an offer.?
Gomez informed Boxing Confidential that like every fighter a tick north and south of the super featherweight class, De Leon is interested in a fight with Manny Pacquiao. Obviously De Leon will not win the Manny Lottery at this point in time, but a victory over Linares would be a step in the correct direction towards high paydays and spotlight fights.
