Panamanian Harmodio Cedeño honored for over 60 years in boxing world
By Gabriel F. Cordero
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 01 May 2024
Harmodio Cedeño, a boy from the legendary Chorrillo neighborhood in Panama City who learned about the world of boxing in the strange boxing nights of the once legendary “Neco de la Guardia” gym in el Chorrillo, at the time a fundamental part of the development of boxing, basketball and wrestling in Panama were honored last Saturday, April 28, in the last event of the five-year government called "Perfect Hook", a project of the Panamanian Government to safeguard children and adolescents in alliance with the Diego Victoria promotion company.
Daniel Alonso, the Panamanian boxing historian, says that perhaps Cedeño could have entered boxing fully when he witnessed amateur boxing in the now-defunct “Pascual Ciela González” Gym in Marañón and in the late 1950s Cedeño was already a well-known judge in amateur boxing at the time of the leading clubs such as Panama and Cinquantenario.
Alonso comments that Harmodio Cedeño debuted as a professional boxing judge on the night of March 18, 1962, at the National Gymnasium where Ernesto Pinder, Marcos Layne and Clyde Thomas, among others, fought, although his debut appears in boxrec in April 1963.
Cedeño between 1963 and 2022 was in more than 60 world championship fights with Roberto Durán, Sugar Ray Leonard, Virgil Hill, Luisito Espinoza, Donald Curry, Davey Moore, Claude Noel, Kaokor Galaxy, Julian Jackson, Gerrie Coetzee, Rocky Locridge, Santos Laciar, Arturo Frias, Jung Koo Chang, Mike Weaver, Marvin Jhonson, FIdel Bassa, William Joppy, Ernesto “Ñato” Marcel, Livingston Bramble, Jaime Rios, Eloy Rojas, Victor Galindez, Ernesto Pinder, Kid Pambelé, Hilario Zapata, Joel Casamayor, Julio Cesar Vasquez, Rigoberto Riasco, Robert Daniels, Esteban de Jesus, Pepermint Frazer, Eusebio Pedroza and Alexis Arguello among many others in countries such as the United States, South Africa, Japan, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Argentina, England and Thailand.
He was a judge of the historic professional debut of a legend, Wilfredo Gomez, which ended in a draw in 6 rounds in November 1976 and of the first fights for the WBA light flyweight title between Jaime Ríos and Rigoberto Marcano in 1975 and then in 1976 of the first for the title. WBC super bantamweight between Rigoberto Riasco and Phillip Waringe Nakayama.
He has been president of the Association of Professional Boxing Judges and Referees and of the long-standing Panama Boxing Commission.
Cedeño, 87 years old, charismatic, responsible and passionate about boxing, has now been on the Panama Boxing Commission for nearly 63 years and has already received the honorary distinction of the Dr. Elías Córdoba medal (former WBA president) among many other distinctions for his extraordinary years of contribution to development. of Panamanian and world boxing.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Gabriel F. Cordero.
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