By Jake Donovan

It’s not a matter of if Daniel Ponce de Leon will enforce his mandatory status against previous conqueror Juan Manuel Lopez, but when he will elect to do so.

Ponce de Leon could find himself fighting for a title a lot sooner than he and his handlers anticipated being the case. With the news of plans being pushed back at least a year in regards to Lopez squaring off with Yuriorkis Gamboa, the rest of the featherweight division is no longer on hold, now able to line up for title shots two at a time.

If he has his way, Ponce de Leon could possibly wind up no worse than second in line for another crack at Lopez. If not him, then Gamboa will certainly do.

“At this time I would like to have one more tune-up fight and then I’ll be ready for either one,” Ponce de Leon stated, shortly after dispatching Sergio Medina in seven rounds last Saturday in Veracruz, Mexico.

A title shot was already in Ponce de Leon’s hip pocket going into the night, with the Medina fight serving as little more than means to stay busy.

An added bonus was that it came on the undercard of a homecoming for wildly celebrated Mexican welterweight contender Saul Alvarez, with upwards of 20,000 in attendance.

While Alvarez was presented with a less-than-cooperative opponent in Lovemore N’Dou in a fight that wasn’t as entertaining as his handlers hoped for, Ponce de Leon (41-2, 34KO) gave his countrymen plenty of reason to cheer. The featherweight contender floored Medina three times before forcing a stoppage right before the bell to end the seventh round.

Considering the magnitude of the event and that he extends his win streak to seven straight, Ponce de Leon had every reason to celebrate.

Instead, he views the night as just another day in the office.

“I felt good and was satisfied with my performance,” he states, adding that the additional exposure hardly registered. “It was just another fight in my career. I wasn’t fazed by being on the show. I’m thankful that a lot of people in Mexico had the chance to see my fight.”

Those who did turn in saw a new and improved Ponce de Leon, one far removed from the caveman image many in the game have conjured up whenever his name is mentioned.

The win makes seven straight since getting blitzed by Lopez live on HBO more than two years ago. More so than the loss, the fight itself served as a major wake-up call, realizing that being blessed with fight-altering power won’t always be enough on its own to carry him.

“For that fight (against Lopez), I was full of confidence. I realized that I can’t overlook anyone. I realize I had to work on my boxing skills. To that point, I was just a slugger, not a boxer.”

His handlers are pleased with his career progress since then.

“Since his last loss, he’s made a lot of progress, not only from being a slugger, but also becoming a true boxer-puncher,” notes his manager, Mark Hernandez. 

So confident was Ponce de Leon in his newfound ability that he had no issue in accepting on short notice a fight that would serve as his most significant among his current win streak.

As Golden Boy Promotions was filling out the undercard for the September pay-per-view event between Shane Mosley and Sergio Mora, there were grumblings from anyone with an opinion on the event that it would take a strong supporting cast to entice any sort of interest.

The inclusion of Alvarez (who went on to stop Carlos Baldomir via highlight reel knockout in six rounds) was a huge step in the right direction, but the one that created industry-wide buzz was the inclusion of a featherweight eliminator between Ponce de Leon and Antonio Escalante.

It mattered little that he couldn’t get in a full training camp for the fight considering how late in the game the opportunity came; Ponce de Leon saw it as the perfect opportunity to prove he was worthy of a second crack at a title run.

“Even though it was on short notice, it wasn’t a fight I had to think too much about. For me, it was a chance to show everyone – including myself - where I am at.”

Where he wound up was in the driver’s seat after handling Escalante with frightening ease. A single right hand flattened the Texan, knocking him out in less than three rounds.

With the win came concerns surrounding the title aspect of the fight – that a Ponce de Leon victory would mean a rematch with a man who already stopped him inside of one round just two years ago.

As recent evidence has indicated, that was long enough ago to where it no longer serves as means for handicapping a fight, but instead merely a storyline for whenever they meet again.

“I think I’ve shown how far I’ve come since that fight. I knew when I would fight Escalante that I would once again get to face JuanMa as long as he was still the champ.

“Well, JuanMa is the champ. If the fight comes in 2011, I will be ready.”

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.