Lederman signs, extends HBO contract three more years

HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman has informed RingTV.com that he has signed a contract with the network that will take him into the year 2016.

The deal means that Lederman, 72, will have been with the network for three decades.

"I signed a new, three-year contract with HBO. I signed it, and I've already been there for 27 years," said Lederman. "That will bring me up through to 30 years when the contract ends on Dec. 31, 2016."

Lederman's most recent appearance was this past Saturday's Top Rank tripleheader in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, which was headlined by unbeaten featherweight Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia's eighth-round unanimous technical decision victory that dethroned Orlando Salido as WBO beltholder. The Boxing After Dark card also featured Kazakhstan-born WBA middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin's seventh-round stoppage of junior middleweight Gabriel Rosado, and a controversial split-draw between Puerto Rican WBO junior lightweight beltholder Roman "Rocky" Martinez and  Mexico's Juan Carlos Burgos.

Lederman scored it 117-111 (or nine to three in rounds) for Burgos (30-1-1, 20 knockouts).

"I thought he just put on a strong body attack and that he just swept the last three rounds," said Lederman, before the official decision was rendered. "He's got the fight won on my card by a whopping six points."

But while ringside judge Weleska Roldan also scored it 117-111 for Burgos, judges Tony Paollilo and John Signorelli scored it, 116-112 for Martinez (26-1-2, 16 KOs), and, 114-114, respectively.

RingTV.com had it for Burgos, 115-113.

Before the verdict was announced, Lederman's scouting report described the officials collectively as "relatively new New York judges." Paolillo had worked seven world title fights compared to just two for Roldan and zero for Signorelli.

Roldan, who scored Zab Judah's disputed victory over Lucas Matthysse in favor of Matthysse, 114-113, was called "an outstanding young judge" by Lederman, who added, "I like her a lot."

Lederman was vocal and adamant in his disagreement with the final verdict.

"Sometimes, either you understand it, or you don't. Like I said previously, Waleska Roldan is an outstanding judge. I just think that she's just one of the best young judges around. She had the exact same score that I had," said Lederman.

"As far as Paollilo, I just don't understand it. There's no question that Burgos carried this fight. You just couldn't miss it. John Signorelli, a draw, he just gave too many rounds to Rocky Martinez than he deserved."

Photo by Chris Farina, Top Rank

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com