Many said he was too crude, a fighter with only a big punch and little skill. He would never be a champion.
They were wrong, as Chihuahua, Mexico’s Daniel Ponce De Leon proved all the critics wrong so far.
A southpaw slugger who specializes in the knockout (28 of his 30 wins are be knockout, with only one loss on his ledger), De Leon most recently completed his third WBO super bantamweight title defense with an eighth round stoppage of Al Seeger last October.
De Leon landed the main event against Seeger after Golden Boy Promotions stablemate Juan Manuel Marquez’s opponent, Jimrex Jaca, could not enter the U.S. in time for the HBO PPV doubleheader due to visa problems.
Before that, De Leon nearly decapitated Sod Looknongyangtoy in the first round of their rematch (the first one went the distance, with De Leon getting off the canvas to outpoint the tough and then undefeated Thai fighter.)
De Leon’s only loss was against his current WBA counterpart, Celestino Caballero, who also dropped and outpointed De Leon in February of 2005.
After the loss, he was written off by almost every boxing expert, and by potential opponents who claimed in unison that ”anyone can outbox De Leon.” What all of these people failed to see was that Caballero is almost a freak of nature, being nearly six feet tall and owning an amazing reach for a 122 pound fighter.
Subsequently, his opponents did try to outbox De Leon, only to find out that they were unable to keep the ultra-aggressive fighter at bay long enough to accomplish what Caballero had done in their bout.
So after silencing the critics, De Leon’s future looks bright, as mega fights versus the likes of WBC super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez, undefeated Rey Bautista, or bantamweight king Rafael Marquez are all possible.
First up is a proposed unification match-up vs Israel Vazquez.
”Last week, Eric Gomez called, telling us that an offer for De Leon to face Israel Vazquez was in place, with the fight to take place on Mosley’s February 10th HBO date at the Mandalay Bay in Vegas,” said Joe Hernandez, who trains / advises De Leon. ”But May 5th would be better to face Vazquez as it is the bigger fight date (De La Hoya-Mayweather. We are only waiting for the offer to be accepted by Sycuan Ringside Promotions (Vazquez’ co-promoter) for either date. There’s also the possibility of facing the WBO’s number one challenger, Sergio Medina, if HBO approves that. No mention was made of the Filipino, Rey Bautista (which Boxrec.com lists as DeLeon’s next opponent for March of 2007 in the Philippines),” concluded Hernandez.
”Vazquez is a hard fight,” said De Leon. “He is very experienced and a very good champion, but I’m ready, always in shape, and have no problems making the weight limit. I want to fight anyone, and I would also like the May 5th date, as the money should be better there.”
What about Bautista?
”If the pay is good, I would do it, but I’d rather have it made here (the U.S.) instead of the Philippines, as once again, the money is here. Gomez did not mention anything about Bautista or Caballero,” concluded the WBO titlist.
Frank Espinoza, who manages Israel Vazquez, could not be reached for comment regarding the aforementioned matchup.
Other news sources, including Mexico’s premier sports publication, ESTO, and Los Angeles’ La Opinion newspaper, have reported that there is talk about Rafael Marquez possibly facing Vazquez in 2007, leaving the proposed De Leon vs. Vazquez fight in question.
Either way, De Leon looks to have a busy 2007, with the big fights right at his doorstep.
Not bad for a ”crude” slugger.
