Harold Lederman Passes Away From Cancer, 79-Years-old

[Ruthless-RKO]

Harold Lederman, best known as the unofficial scorekeeper for HBO Boxing, passed away at the age of 79-years-old.

Veteran promoter Lou DiBella confirmed that Lederman passed away after a long battle with cancer.

Lederman began his career as a boxing judge in 1967 and joined the cast of HBO World Championship Boxing in 1986. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the class of 2016. In 2006 he received the "Good Guy Award" from the Boxing Writers Association of America.

He earned a license from New York's State Athletic Commission to judge title fights on June 26, 1967. He judged over a hundred title fights while maintaining his pharmacy practice in New York. In 1986, HBO executive producer Ross Greenburg invited Lederman to join HBO's World Championship Boxing.

During his run on HBO, Lederman would often detail his scorecard during fights and HBO would run graphics after every round to reveal Lederman's scoring of the action.

Lederman retired from active judging in 1999, but remained with the HBO Boxing crew until the very end of the network's run with sport. In 2018, HBO made an unexpected decision to drop boxing after 45-years of showcasing the sport on their network.

His daughter, Julie Lederman, followed in his footsteps and also became a boxing judge.

[SenorPipino]

A household name to those of us who faithfully watched HBO boxing for the past several decades.

Whether or not you agreed with Lederman's assessment of a fight, plenty fans looked forward to those moments when Jim Lampley would say "Let's go to our unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman and see how he has it. Harold...."

Another terrific loss to the boxing world coming just a day after the passing of Smokin' Bert Cooper.

RIP gentlemen.

[Ruthless-RKO]

In 33 years as a judge, Lederman scored more than 100 world championship prizefights on six continents (they've yet to hold a title fight on Antarctica.) He announced his retirement as an active judge on Dec. 23, 1999.

Lederman was best known as the unofficial ringside judge for HBO Boxing. He began his association with the network in 1986 and worked as the "unofficial" judge for HBO's presentation of “World Championship Boxing,” “Boxing After Dark” and HBO Pay-Per-View. For the past few years, he has served as host of the enterprising HBO Sports digital feature, “Hey, Harold.”

At HBO, he has scored more than 1,000 fights in his iconic three-decade-plus career on the air.

Last year, HBO made a decision to drop boxing from the network.

Peter Nelson, executive vice president of HBO Sports, reacted to the sad news.

“Harold Lederman had a lifelong love affair with the sport of boxing. Over the past fifty years he was universally respected and celebrated by the many people who make the sport what it is. Harold was happiest when seated ringside, studying the action and scoring the fight. When he joined HBO Sports in 1986 he added a new and critical component to live boxing coverage.," Nelson said.

"Viewers embraced his unique style and his command of the rules while his broadcast colleagues relished his enthusiasm and boundless energy. He was an historian and walking rulebook. He always had time for you whether you were a heavyweight champion or just a spectator looking to say hello. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Eileen and daughters Julie and Iris. There isn’t a person in the sport who won’t miss our Harold Lederman.”

[Ilya Muromets]

[oogiebe]

That totally sucks! A great contributor to the sweet science! RIP Harold.

[Ruthless-RKO]

[Ruthless-RKO]

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Veteran broadcaster Jim Lampley started at HBO in 1988 and worked with Lederman until the very end of the network's run with boxing
“It was one of the greatest privileges of my broadcasting career to work with Harold Lederman, whose unique humanity and lifelong love of boxing brought joy to the hearts of millions of fans, show after show after show," Lederman said.

"They waited for his moments, they were thrilled by his insights, they gloried in imitating his voice. No one in the sport had more friends, because no one in the sport was more deserving of friends. As deeply saddened as I am by his passing, I am equally deeply joyful that he made it to the final bell on December 8. Nothing was more important to the legacy of HBO Boxing, so in that we can all take solace. Now his scorecard is complete.”

Lederman was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2016. His daughter Julie Lederman followed in his footsteps and became a boxing judge.

[tiny_acres]

I agreed with his scoring far more than any other official in the sport.
He was definitely a legend. He will be missed

[jujigatame]

RIP

He got it right a lot more than most, and his voice was always a distinctive part of any HBO broadcast.

[squiggy]

Oh, damn. Yes, he was a legend.
What was the fight, just came to mind, where they were trying out some wet-behind-the-ears young scorer, and there was a controversial knockdown call. Afterward, Lampley I think it was spent like 3 or 4 minutes trying to get the kid to come down on one side or the other about whether it was a blown call, and he just hemmed and hawed, "um, well, you could look at it that way, if you, uh, I mean..." Then they asked Letterman for input and he was like, "Jim, that was a knockdown, plain and simple."

[Best Coast]

RIP amigo!! Great guy!!

[sturm vogel]

When nothing left to score the count ends.

Farewell friend.

[kbackup408]

Harold Lederman was an icon, he left his mark on this beautiful sport!

[Paci]

Rip, Harold.

[nobleart1978]

"OK Jim... I have it 6 rounds to zero Pernell Whitaker "

Loved Harold's upbeat New York accent and his enthusiasm for the sport that came through the TV .

I'm glad to say I have many fights with him on dvd doing his inter round scoring.

Sad news about his passing. RIP Harold.

[SenorPipino]

Had that unmistakable nasally, New York accent.

Always ripe for imitation.

Howard Cosell without the attitude.

[Enlightened-One]

RIP Harold Hederman. The sport of boxing and its fans will miss you.