HONESTY: Lederman lashes his score for the 2006 bout between Vernon Forrest and Ike Quartey (won controversially by Forrest on points)
Photo: ED MULHOLLAND/GETTY IMAGES
WHAT is inescapable is that the longer we live the more departures we have to endure. Exits are never pleasant. There is no perfect way to say goodbye. The reward for getting older is offset by watching friends and colleagues leave us before we are ready to see them go. The passing of Harold Lederman, who died on May 11 at the age 79, is particularly difficult. His legacy will be forever linked to HBO, for whom he was their unofficial boxing judge, a position he held from 1986 until they discontinued boxing in 2018. But it was as a goodwill ambassador that Lederman was truly special to me. When HBO was in its heyday Lederman enjoyed celebrity status, yet there were no airs about him, no image he tried to portray. He simply enjoyed going to the fights and talking about boxing and, boy, was he good at talking about boxing. HBO knew how much he loved his gig and that worked against Harold during negotiations. He was forced to maintain his day job as a pharmacist to support his family. Lederman and I were very close. I attended all of his family events and he mine. There would be the frequent phone conversations and the teasing that accompanied it. After an HBO event in which he had rendered a decision, Lederman could expect a phone call from me saying “Harold, what fight were you watching?” And to be Harold’s friend was like having a public relations agent because of the kind words he would say about you to others.
A winner of both the Broadcast and Good Guy award from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Lederman had a feeling he was in line for the Long and Meritorious Service award, too. Yet it was me who ended up winning the award in 2014. As I gave the acceptance speech my eyes wandered into the crowd and there was Harold looking back at me, smiling and clapping proudly, happier for me than I was for myself. In 2016, Lederman received boxing’s ultimate honour when he was enshrined into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota. To say that it was long overdue is an understatement, but the IBHOF had been internally debating for years which category to place Lederman in, the Non-Participant for his 30 years of being an official judge from ringside, or the Observer for the 30 he had served at HBO. Ultimately it was decided to put him on the ballot in the former category. A glance at his assignments makes one understand why, having judged fights involving Emile Griffith, Roberto Duran, George Foreman, and Muhammad Ali among many others. During that time, Lederman, who had worked his way up the ranks from the amateurs, established himself as the premier judge in the world.