Ponce De Leon Will Head To 130, Likely in November

By Francisco Salazar

Daniel Ponce De Leon will move up to 130 pounds and likely return to the ring in November, manager Frank Espinoza told Boxingscene.com last week.

No word on who the former two-division world title holder will face in his next bout.

Ponce De Leon has not fought since being stopped in the ninth round at the hands of Abner Mares on May 4th in Las Vegas, NV. Ponce De Leon would lose the WBC featherweight title to Mares.

There were discussions Ponce De Leon was to face the winner of the August 17th bout between Takashi Miura and Sergio Thompson. Miura would win a brutal 12 round unanimous decision that saw him hit the canvas once.

Should Ponce De Leon (44-5, 34 KOs) be successful in his scheduled return to the ring, he could return to the ring again in February. That would give Miura plenty of time to recover and train for a title defense against Ponce De Leon, if both sides come to terms.

Ponce De Leon is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, while Miura is promoted by Akihiko Honda.

“We are open to fighting Miura and have no problem going to Japan if a fight is made,” said Espinoza, who was inducted into the WBC Legends of Boxing Museum in Pomona, CA on Sunday.

Ponce De Leon owns and trains out of his own gym in the Los Angeles suburb of Montebello. He is a member of the Tarahumara indigenous tribe that resides in the rural areas within the state of Chihuahua, Mexico.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since last September and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. He also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper and Knockout Nation. He could be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on twitter at FSalazarBoxing