-Sam Taub-

 
Every year, when it comes time to nominating and issuing awards to folks other than the actual boxers, many fans do not know who these coveted awards are named after, and in this article we hope to change that for at least one award, the Sam Taub Award.

The recipient of this year's Sam Taub Award is definitely worthy of recognition, as well as a brief explanation -for those who may not know- as to the merits of  Sam Taub. Mr. Taub's credentials were impeccable and the same holds true of this year's recipient.

Sam Taub was a native New Yorker, born in New York's Lower East Side, and raised on Mott Street in Chinatown. His birth date was September 10, 1886, and he lived eight years short of a century,  until July 10th, 1979. Mr. Taub's began his 60-plus years in the boxing game as a newspaperman for New York’s Morning Telegraph, starting as an assistant to the secretary of the publisher. Shortly thereafter he become an assistant to the legendary Bat Masterson in the paper’s sports department. By the end of his 20-year stint with the Telegraph, he had become its Sports Editor. He then moved on to join the radio business.

He broadcast some of the first boxing bouts on the then-infant radio medium in 1924. He hosted The Hour of Champions program every Sunday for 24 years from the studios of WHN in New York. He presented Gentleman Jim Corbett’s last interview before his death in 1933, and Sugar Ray Robinson’s first interview. He joined “color man” Angelo Pelange on radio’s Friday Night Fights and became a household name with his catch-phrase “Take it away, Angelo!”

Taub became the first person to announce a major televised fight: the April 4, 1941 Lou Nova-Max Baer bout. In all, he reportedly had seen 12,000-15,000 fights, and broadcast around 7,500 of them (as well as broadcasting some 800 wrestling matches). His last broadcast was the July 16, 1947 Rocky Graziano-Tony Zale bout.

He was also associated with The Ring Magazine almost from its 1922 inception until his death in 1979. His last “Up and Down Old Broadway” column appeared in The Rings September issue.

With the possible exception of Nat Fleischer, he won more awards from the boxing community than anyone else, including the James J. Walker Award in 1958 for “Long and Meritorious Service to Boxing.” He was a charter member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, which was founded in 1925, and its recording secretary until 1978. He was installed into the Ring Magazine’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 1978.

He considered the Jack Dempsey-Luis Angel Firpo bout the "most thrilling" he had seen; then the Dempsey-Gene Tunney “Long Count bout; and Sonny Liston’s two KO's of Floyd Patterson.

-Harold Lederman-

The recipient of this year's award is none other than HBO's "unofficial judge" Harold Lederman. The affable Lederman, who has never shied away from a good boxing chat or an autograph request by a fan, may well be one of the most recognizable voices in the sport of boxing since Howard Cossell, yet few know his face as HBO refuses to show him on camera.

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 in the New York area. 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 the "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, usually after the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 11th rounds of a ten or twelve round fight, 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.

It never ceases to amaze us how the guy whose face remains a blank to most fans, is often called upon to clarify the most difficult calls and/or situations that present themselves during the course of a broadcast. With his experience as a judge and his overall knowledge of the game, Harold always comes through with the right answer, setting the "visible crew" straight, embarrassingly so sometimes. Do you see something wrong with that picture? I do.

Why HBO's reluctance to make Lederman a bona fide part of the "visible team?"  Surely is not a budget issue, after all, look how much money they paid Roy Jones, Jr., a guy who at least half of the viewing audience couldn't even understand? Should I go on?  With Merchant removed from most shows, the "visible team" needs new blood, energy, someone with a brain who is not afraid to call it as he sees it, and I can't think of a better man to provide all of the above coupled with experience and integrity. (Please note that when I say energy we am not referring to Kellerman's histrionics).

We believe that if given the opportunity Lederman could easily become one of the most charismatic commentators in the sport. He would definitely be a plus to the network as well as to the sport he loves so much.

Harold is a recipient of the following awards:

• 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

All of us at BRC congratulate Harold Lederman for being the recipient of such an honorable award and respectfully ask the powers that be at HBO to reconsider their position and allow Harold Lederman to become part of the "visible team." 

4-4-2009