# Daniel Ponce de León

Daniel Ponce de León (born July 27, 1980) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014. He was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO super bantamweight title from 2005 and 2008, and the WBC featherweight title from 2012 to 2013. As an amateur, de León won a bronze medal in the flyweight division at the 1999 Pan American Games, and was a member of the 2000 Mexican Olympic team in the featherweight division.He was trained by Vicente Juárez.

## Early life

Daniel is a Tarahumara Amerindian, raised in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range. Out of five brothers he was the only one to survive, due to the harsh conditions in his tribal area, the Sierra Madre.

## Amateur career

Daniel was a Mexican National Amateur champion and a bronze medalist at the 1999 Pan American Games. He then went on to represent Mexico at the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he was defeated in the first round by Ukraine's Volodymyr Sydorenko.

### WBO junior featherweight champion

On October 29, 2005 he defeated Sod Kokietgym by unanimous decision, handing Looknongyangtoy his first career loss. He has defended his WBO junior featherweight title eight times against Gerson Guerrero, Reynaldo Lopez, Sod Kokietgym twice, Al Seeger, Gerry Peñalosa, Rey Bautista and Eduardo Escobedo. Ponce de León's first loss was a unanimous decision loss to Celestino Caballero on February 17, 2005.
Ponce de León retained his title against Eduardo Escobedo on December 8, 2007 via unanimous decision, as part of the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.–Ricky Hatton fight. On June 7, 2008 Ponce de León was defeated by technical knockout in the first round by Juan Manuel López, losing his WBO Super Bantamweight title.
De León was the headliner of a sold out Golden Boy show and inched closer to another world title shot by knocking out Puerto Rican, Orlando Cruz. Daniel defeated Cornelius Lock on May 1, 2010 the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Shane Mosley in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on HBO PPV to retain his WBC Latino featherweight title.

### Super featherweight contention

On March 5, 2011, De Leon moved up to the super featherweight division to face undefeated prospect Adrien Broner. The fight was expected to be a showcase bout for the younger and larger Broner, however, De Leon proved to be more competitive than anticipated as Broner was awarded a highly disputed ten round unanimous decision.

### WBC featherweight champion

In an upset, Ponce de Leon emerged victorious over WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez, coming away with an eighth-round unanimous technical decision victory before a sold-out crowd at Saturday night's Showtime-televised event at the MGM Grand.
The bout ended when a nasty gash emerged over the right eye of Gonzalez (52–8, 45 KOs), of Mexico City, after which it was determined that Gonzalez could not continue, they went to the scorecards and he won via: 79–72, 79–72, 77–74, all for Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon fought Abner Mares in the Mayweather-Guerrero undercard on May 4, 2013 and got knocked down in the second and ninth rounds en route to a TKO loss at 2:20 of the ninth round, losing his WBC featherweight title in the process.

## Professional boxing record

| 52 fights | 45 wins | 7 losses |
| By knockout | 35 | 4 |
| By decision | 10 | 3 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 52 | Loss | 45–7 | Miguel Roman | TKO | 9 (10), 1:50 | Jun 7, 2014 | Estadio de Béisbol, Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Mexico | For vacant WBC–USNBC Silver super featherweight title |
| 51 | Loss | 45–6 | Juan Manuel López | TKO | 2 (10), 2:42 | Mar 15, 2014 | Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan | For vacant WBO International super featherweight title |
| 50 | Win | 45–5 | Joksan Hernandez | UD | 10 | Nov 16, 2013 | Grand Oasis, Cancún, Mexico | |
| 49 | Loss | 44–5 | Abner Mares | TKO | 9 (12), 2:20 | May 4, 2013 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Lost WBC featherweight title |
| 48 | Win | 44–4 | Jhonny González | TD | 8 (12), 2:36 | Sep 15, 2012 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Won WBC featherweight title; Unanimous TD after González was cut from an accidental head clash |
| 47 | Win | 43–4 | Eduardo Lazcano | UD | 10 | May 4, 2012 | The Joint, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Won vacant WBC–USNBC super featherweight title |
| 46 | Win | 42–4 | Omar Estrella | KO | 6 (12), 1:31 | Jan 21, 2012 | La Bodega del Boxeo, Ensenada, Mexico | Won vacant WBC–USNBC featherweight title |
| 45 | Loss | 41–4 | Yuriorkis Gamboa | TD | 8 (12), 1:24 | Sep 10, 2011 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | Unanimous TD after de León was cut from an accidental head clash |
| 44 | Loss | 41–3 | Adrien Broner | UD | 10 | Mar 5, 2011 | Honda Center, Anaheim, California, U.S. | For vacant WBO Inter-Continental super featherweight title |
| 43 | Win | 41–2 | Sergio Manuel Medina | TKO | 7 (10), 2:59 | Dec 4, 2010 | Estadio Universitario Beto Ávila, Veracruz, Mexico | |
| 42 | Win | 40–2 | Antonio Escalante | KO | 3 (12), 2:40 | Sep 18, 2010 | Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 41 | Win | 39–2 | Cornelius Lock | UD | 10 | May 1, 2010 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBC Latino featherweight title |
| 40 | Win | 38–2 | Orlando Cruz | KO | 3 (12), 2:37 | Feb 20, 2010 | El Plaza Condesa, Mexico City, Mexico | Won vacant WBC Latino featherweight title |
| 39 | Win | 37–2 | Roinet Caballero | UD | 12 | Sep 5, 2009 | Roberto Durán Arena, Panama City, Panama | |
| 38 | Win | 36–2 | Marlon Aguilar | UD | 12 | Apr 25, 2009 | Arena Miguel Canto Solis, Cozumel, Mexico | Won vacant WBC-NABF featherweight title |
| 37 | Win | 35–2 | Damian Marchiano | KO | 4 (10), 1:41 | Nov 1, 2008 | Gymnasio Manuel Bernardo Aguirre, Chihuahua City, Mexico | |
| 36 | Loss | 34–2 | Juan Manuel López | TKO | 1 (12), 2:25 | Jun 7, 2008 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | Lost WBO super bantamweight title |
| 35 | Win | 34–1 | Eduardo Escobedo | UD | 12 | Dec 8, 2007 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBO super bantamweight title |
| 34 | Win | 33–1 | Reynaldo Lopez | KO | 5 (10), 2:39 | Sep 28, 2007 | Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California, U.S. | Retained WBO super bantamweight title |
| 33 | Win | 32–1 | Rey Bautista | TKO | 1 (12), 2:30 | Aug 11, 2007 | ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California, U.S. | Retained WBO super bantamweight title |
| 32 | Win | 31–1 | Gerry Peñalosa | UD | 12 | Mar 17, 2007 | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBO and IBA super bantamweight titles |
| 31 | Win | 30–1 | Al Seeger | TKO | 8 (12), 1:43 | Oct 21, 2006 | Williams Convention Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S. | Retained WBO super bantamweight title; Won IBA super bantamweight title |
| 30 | Win | 29–1 | Sod Kokietgym | KO | 1 (12), 0:52 | Jul 15, 2006 | MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | Retained WBO super bantamweight title |
| 29 | Win | 28–1 | Gerson Guerrero | KO | 2 (12), 1:50 | May 27, 2006 | Home Depot Center, Carson, California, U.S. | Retained WBO super bantamweight title |
| 28 | Win | 27–1 | Sod Kokietgym | UD | 12 | Oct 29, 2005 | Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona, U.S. | Won vacant WBO super bantamweight title |
| 27 | Win | 26–1 | Phillip Payne | TKO | 7 (12), 0:57 | Jun 24, 2005 | The Show Palace, Oceanside, California, U.S. | Won vacant WBO–NABO super bantamweight title |
| 26 | Win | 25–1 | Ricardo Barajas | KO | 2 (10), 2:13 | Apr 29, 2005 | Entertainment Center, Laredo, Texas, U.S. | |
| 25 | Loss | 24–1 | Celestino Caballero | UD | 12 | Feb 17, 2005 | Avalon Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Julio Gamboa | KO | 4 (10), 2:04 | Nov 19, 2004 | Desert Diamond Casino, Tucson, Arizona, U.S. | Retained WBO–NABO super bantamweight title |
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Emmanuel Lucero | KO | 3 (12), 2:51 | Oct 22, 2004 | County Coliseum, El Paso, Texas, U.S. | Won vacant WBO–NABO super bantamweight title |
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Carlos Contreras | UD | 10 | Jun 11, 2004 | Sundance Square, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | |
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Anthony Martinez | TKO | 7 (10), 1:15 | Apr 17, 2004 | Activity Center, Maywood, California, U.S. | |
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Ivan Alvarez | TKO | 5 (10), 2:02 | Mar 19, 2004 | Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Cesar Figueroa | TKO | 6 (10), 2:12 | Feb 26, 2004 | Sports Arena, San Diego, California, U.S. | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Jesus Salvador Perez | TKO | 1 (10), 2:45 | Jan 16, 2004 | Dodge Arena, Hidalgo, Texas, U.S. | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Carlos Duran | TKO | 3 | Nov 20, 2003 | Mexico | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Marcos Badillo | KO | 3 (8), 1:58 | Sep 18, 2003 | Santa Ana Stadium, Santa Ana, California, U.S. | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Francisco Tejedor | TKO | 1 (8), 3:00 | Aug 28, 2003 | Marriott Hotel, Irvine, California, U.S. | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Missael Nunez | TKO | 4 (6), 1:14 | Jul 19, 2003 | Activities Center, Maywood, California, U.S. | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Trinidad Mendoza | TKO | 2 (10) | Feb 22, 2003 | Plaza de Toros México, Mexico City, Mexico | Retained WBC Youth bantamweight title |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Idelfonso Martinez | TKO | 3 (10) | Aug 17, 2002 | Santa Ana Star Casino, Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico, U.S. | Won WBC Youth bantamweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Manuel Castro | KO | 1 (10), 1:31 | Aug 2, 2002 | Centro de Espectaculos Corona, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Julio Cesar Avila | TKO | 2 (10) | Jun 29, 2002 | Arena México, Mexico City, Mexico | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Miguel Ramirez | KO | 1 | Feb 23, 2002 | Mexico | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Terry Evans | KO | 2 | Dec 15, 2001 | Ensenada, Mexico | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Victor Manuel Barreto | KO | 1 (10), 1:44 | Nov 23, 2001 | Salon Flamingos, Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Mexico | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Diego Andrade | KO | 4 | Nov 2, 2001 | Gimnasio Rodrigo M. Quevedo, Chihuahua City, Mexico | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Julio Luna | TKO | 5 (6), 0:46 | Sep 1, 2001 | Don Haskins Center, El Paso, Texas, U.S. | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Jesus Jimenez | TKO | 1 (4), 2:45 | Jul 21, 2001 | Feather Falls Casino & Lodge, Oroville, California, U.S. | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Ernesto Rivera | TKO | 3 | May 18, 2001 | Estadio de la Victoria, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Victor Rodriguez | TKO | 1 (4) | May 1, 2001 | Mexico | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Servando Solis | TKO | 1 (10) | Mar 31, 2001 | Poliforo Juan Gabriel, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico | |

## Exhibition boxing record

| 1 fight | 0 wins | 0 losses |
| Non-scored | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 1 | — | 0–0 (1) | Marco Antonio Barrera | — | 6 | Nov 20, 2021 | Inn of the Mountain Gods, Mescalero, New Mexico, U.S. | Non-scored bout |