For
featherweight Daniel Ponce de Leon, his 10th year as a professional
was one he'd rather forget. Yeah, he made some money as he appeared on HBO
twice in 2011 but he was 0-for-2 in a pair of bouts against Adrien Broner and
Yuriorkis Gamboa. The awkward, hard-hitting southpaw is looking forward to a
much more productive 2012 as prepares to face Omar Estrella this weekend in
Ensenada, Mexico.
“A year of a lot of experience,” is how he described the past year, through his
friend, Marco Lopez, before his training session last week at the Maywood
Boxing Club.
But
by “experience,” does he really mean “disappointing”?
“There
was a fight [against Broner] where I thought I got robbed, number one, and then
the one with Gamboa that was up in the air; anything could've happened,” he
recalled. “But I feel very comfortable. I feel complete because I gained a lot
of experience.”
There's
no doubt which outing was the most bitter. “The Broner fight because I felt I
won that fight and the people know I won. So hopefully, we can get a rematch
with that fight.” The Broner fight was contested at junior lightweight and since
then, Ponce de Leon has moved back down to featherweight. The goal for him and
those who handle his career is very simple as he heads into the last stretch of
what has been a productive career.
“Try
to get him a big fight and the fight I've been wanting to make for years is the
Jhonny Gonzalez fight,” said Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez.
Gonzalez holds the WBC featherweight strap. “Back when Jhonny was with us and
they were both champions, we were trying to make that fight for the longest
time. We made a significant offer for Jhonny last year when he had captured the
title. They turned it down. That's the goal; that's one of the fights. I think
it'll be a terrific fight. I think that's it's a fight that the Mexicans will
get behind; it can sell. It'll be exciting and if it's not him, any of the other
champions, everybody else.”
One
change that Ponce de Leon has made in the background is picking up the services
of the respected Frank Espinoza, who will guide his career from this point
forward. “I was alone for four years, so I felt I needed someone to back me up
and guide me and Frank's doing a good job and now he's going to help me,” said
Ponce, who has a record of 41-4 with 34 knockouts to his credit.
Espinoza,
whose current roster already includes the likes of IBF bantamweight titlist
Abner Mares, Carlos Molina, Antonio Orozco, Luis Ramos and Ronny Rios, believes
that Ponce de Leon has one more run in him at the world-class level.
“I feel he does,” said the manager, best known for guiding Israel Vazquez and
Martin Castillo in the past. “I thought the last fight that he had was a
competitive fight. Gamboa did win the fight but the fight before that with
Broner, Ponce won that fight but it went the other way. So I still think
there's a lot left with him. It still seems as though he has a lot of power. He's
still young and he still has the passion for the sport.” And his vision mirrors
Gomez’s, in regard to Ponce de Leon's future. “We want to get him some fights,
get him back on track again. After coming off two losses, we want to get him
some wins. The plan is, down the line, hopefully in 2012, we're trying to
possibly get a fight with Jhonny Gonzalez. That's a fight we want or an Orlando
Salido. Anybody at 126, I think that's where he should be.”
Ponce
de Leon is now 31 (an age where you're not exactly old- but not exactly young
either) and according to those around him, he still has the same energy and
focus toward the sport. Lopez, who is a daily presence around the fighter,
says, “I see that he's very motivated and he loves what he does. I was with him
in his last training camp in Mt. Baldy for seven weeks together, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week and what I saw from him is that he's one of the most
disciplined fighters- probably the most disciplined fighter- I've ever known.
He's on schedule as far as his training, his motivation, everything. He's very
disciplined, a very hard worker.”
The
reality is that Ponce de Leon needs a strong work ethic. His success in this
business has come as a result of getting everything out of very limited,
natural talent. Roy Hobbs he ain't. It's not unusual for him to be back to the
grind in the gym a week or two after earning six figures in his previous fight.
He may not be great but he's a pro. He says, “I have even more passion [for
boxing] because all these years have served as experience and good paydays
motivate me even more.”
Ponce
de Leon’s goal for the New Year is very simple.
“To win this belt,”- the bout versus Estrella this weekend is for a regional
WBC title- “and then after that, go for a world title and fight a Salido or a
Jhonny Gonzalez.”
HOME
CANVAS
This
fight is taking place at the Bodega Del Boxeo in Ensenada, a bit of a road game
for Ponce de Leon.
“It's
a concern,” admitted Espinoza, who just recently inked his charge. “I'm not too
happy about going to Ensenada. It was changed from Tijuana but it's still in Mexico
and Omar's from Tijuana. He's Erik Morales' fighter. But yeah, I did feel
uncomfortable going over there to face him. I accepted the fight but with the
condition that we have a fair playing field.”
Gomez
explained to Maxboxing, “The agreement we made with both sides and we talked to
the commission and they were sensitive with the concerns that Ponce had and his
team, we agreed on neutral officials, all the officials being from California.”
NO
APPEAL
Just
a day before their appeal with the IBF was scheduled, Golden Boy Promotions
dropped its case over the December 10th contest in Washington D.C.
between Amir Khan and Lamont Peterson. On Friday, the WBA had ordered an
immediate rematch between the two. Golden Boy would eventually send out this
press release:
Due to the fact that there was only to be partial
representation of fight officials who were involved with the December 10, 2011
Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson bout at tomorrow’s scheduled appeal hearing of
the fight’s outcome before the IBF, Golden Boy Promotions and Team Khan have
decided to withdraw their appeal and focus their full attention on Amir’s next
fight.
Golden Boy Promotions and Team Khan are
pleased to have been vindicated by the WBA’s recent decision to mandate an
immediate rematch and still hopes that Peterson will honor earlier statements
in which he asserted that he would be happy to agree to a rematch. In that
vein, Golden Boy Promotions and Team Khan have announced they would agree to a
50/50 split of worldwide revenues derived from a rematch (including those
derived from the United Kingdom) should Peterson agree to participate and hope
that this will be both financially and professionally satisfying to Peterson
and his team.
Here's
my take on this whole situation: I think Golden Boy got the distinct feeling
that the IBF was not going to rule in their favor but had already gotten what
they wanted from the WBA (which was, at the very least, to line up an immediate
title shot for Khan one way or the other). I've always felt that unless both
the WBA and IBF mandated rematches, Peterson would not have taken an immediate
return bout versus Khan. However, Golden Boy and Khan are offering the terms
they spoke of in that press release- well, they'd have to think long and hard
about it (although it's not clear what the purse splits would be in regard to
the rules in these situations with the WBA and IBF).
MATTY-ICE
Speaking
of junior welterweights, Lucas Matthysse is taking a stay-busy fight in his
home country of Argentina, which has been moved back to February 10th.
“It
had something to do with the government down there where they're going to be
fighting in [Matthysse]’s hometown [Puerto Madryn, Chubut] and I think they're
going to participate in the show, might be some revenue. So it made sense to
move it,” explained Gomez. Imagine that; a fighter from Argentina who actually
fights in his home region and doesn't just wait around for HBO dates.
As
for what bigger fights could be in his future, Gomez stated, “One of the fights
we've discussed with him- and both sides are willing to do it - is Humberto
Soto. It would be a terrific fight. Both are very, very exciting fighters and
that's a fight we've discussed and we just gotta get them in position. Get them
the opportunity to either fight for a title or fight one of the big names.”
Sign
me up for that one. Regarding Soto, it's becoming now-or-never. I mean, didn't
he leave Top Rank for Golden Boy for the opportunity to be in significant
match-ups?
JR.
WELTER FLURRIES
More
on this tomorrow but Main Events announced that the new co-feature on Saturday
night in Philly on NBC Sports Network will be a heavyweight bout between
Maurice Byarm and Bryant Jennings. A suitable replacement for Eddie Chambers (who
was to have faced Sergei Liakhovich) was not found...Looking at the WBA rankings
at 140 pounds, Khan is rated number two between the top-rated Jhoan Perez and
Soto, who is rated third. Their “regular” champion is Marcos Maidana, who faces
Devon Alexander on February 25th in a welterweight fight...Super
middles Adonis Stevenson and Jesus Gonzalez will square off on Feb. 18th at the Bell Centre in Montreal for the number two spot in the IBF...Bernabe
Concepcion will not be facing Gary Russell Jr. on Feb. 11th as it
seems he's having some contractual issues with his side...Great to have ABC’s “Pan
Am” back...The Colts are making a lot of moves. I mean, they're doing
everything short of going back to Baltimore...Is Shaq really serious when he
says Andrew Bynum is the best big man in the league over Dwight Howard?...
