Inducted on November 10, 2005
Harold Lederman (born January 26, 1940, in The Bronx, New York, USA) is a celebrated boxing judge and analyst. He began his career as a boxing judge in 1967 and joined the cast of HBO World Championship Boxing in 1986, where he has been ever since.
Education and career
Lederman attended Columbia University and upon graduation earned a license from New York’s State Athletic Commission to judge title fights on June 26, 1967. He judged (by his count) over a hundred title fights in every corner of the globe, all the while maintaining his pharmacy practice in New York. In 1986, HBO executive producer Ross Greenburg invited Lederman to join HBO’s boxing show World Championship Boxing as an “expert commentator”.
Lederman retired from active judging in 1999 but remained with the HBO show as “unofficial ringside scorer.” His voice can be heard when official HBO commentator Jim Lampley introduces him with the line, “…and now the rules with our unofficial ringside scorer, Harold Lederman,” after which he reads the rules of the fight (often beginning by saying “Ok, Jim…”) and occasionally the rules for scoring fights to the audience and cuts back to Jim. During the fight, after the 3rd, 6th and 9th rounds and immediately after the fight, while waiting for the official scores, Lampley will have Lederman tell the fans what his unofficial card looks like, often calling it the Lederman card. HBO also runs a graphic at the beginning of each round with his preceding round’s score.
Family life
Lederman is married with two daughters and lives in Orangeburg, New York. His daughter, Julie Lederman, has followed her father into the business as a ring side judge. When not commentating, Lederman can be frequently found as an ordinary spectator at ringside in boxing events in the Northeast. His expertise on boxing still commands frequent interviews from boxing press.[1] [2]
Appearances
In 2012, Lederman served as Master of Ceremonies for the Ring 10 Veterans Boxing Foundation 2nd Annual Fundraiser.[1][2]
Awards and honors
- 1997: inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame
- Inductee, Rockland County, New York Sports HOF
- Marvin Goldberg Award, Bna’i Br’ith Max Kase Sports Lodge (outstanding contribution to boxing)
- 2006: “Good Guy Award”, Boxing Writers Association of America
References
- Judging record of Harold Lederman on Boxrec [3]
- Harold Lederman interview on YouTube by Goossen Tutor Productions
- Harold Lederman’s classic ‘Ok Jim’ on YouTube from HBO