ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Weren’t many folk to interview at the weigh-in for Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Daniel Ponce De Leon on HBO Saturday, but there are still some tidbits and HBO’s unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman “weighed in” (get it?) on a variety of upcoming HBO events.
Among the tidbits: It was a four-dick weigh-in. Four different fighters didn’t make weight on their first try and stripped naked to do so, including YURIORKIS GAMBOA! I don’t know what it is about me going to weigh-ins and men getting naked, but it makes me feel icky.
Another tidbit: This isn’t a featherweight fight, ever-so-technically. There was an agreement to allow a weigh-in of 127 pounds by both parties. Top Rank’s Lee Samuels said it wasn’t because anyone was having trouble making weight; it’s just that, for non-title fights, boxers sometimes agree to come in a little over the limit.
That’s the end of the tidbits, actually. Read on for Lederman’s wisdom on many fights through the fall and winter, from Gamboa-De Leon itself to Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz to Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III.
Gamboa-De Leon:
“Daniel Ponce De Leon is tough. I mean, he moved up to 130 and gave Adrien Broner a real good fight. He?s not a ?30 pounder. You can look just at him and know he?s not a ’30 pounder. But he?s dropped back down to 126, his natural weight, he can punch, he?s got a good record. I think he can give Gamboa a little bit of trouble, especially if he can cut off the ring. The probem is that Daniel Ponce De Leon is not the fastest guy I?ve every ssen in my life. Yuriorkis Gamboa is very fast. Ponce De Leon has got to cut off the ring, go to the body, slow the guy down, hopefully get him out of there because Yuriorkis Gamboa is not an easy guy to beat. He’s not an easy guy for any featherweight in the world right now. He?s a terrifically talented guy, he can punch, he?s got those great legs and he uses the ring as well as any featherweight you?ve ever seen.
