- Azumah Nelson
Infobox Boxer
name= Azumah Nelson
realname=Azumah Nelson
nickname=The Professor
Zoom Zoom
weight=Featherweight Super featherweight
nationality= flagicon|GhanaGhana ian
birth_date= Birth date and age|1958|7|19|mf=y
birth_place=Accra ,Ghana
death_date|=
death_place|=
style=Orthodox
total=47
wins=39
losses=6
draws=2
no contests=0
KO=28|Azumah Nelson (born
September 19 ,1958 ) is a former boxer and three-time world champion. A native ofGhana .Nelson also has endured personal loss: His wife of many years died during the 1990s of
cancer .Professional career
Nelson's professional boxing debut, in 1979, did not cause much furor, except in Ghana, where he was known because of his family ties. Internationally, Nelson lacked the recognition for such an event to be given its due importance. With the years, however, all of that changed because he garnered world wide fame as a boxer.
He beat
Billy Kwame inAccra by a decision in eight to mark his professional debut. In his third fight, he fought onMarch 3 of 1980, he knocked outHenry Sadler in the ninth round to win Ghana's regional 126 pound title. OnDecember 13 of that year, he knocked outJoe Skipper in round 10 to add theAfrica n continent's belt to his Ghanaian regional championship.1981 was a productive year for the young fighter. He beat
Bozzou Aziza in his first fight abroad; held inTogo , and then he beat Miguel Ruiz in his firstUnited States fight, held inCalifornia . He added theCommonwealth of Nations ' Featherweight titleFact|date=September 2007 with a five roundknockout of Brian Roberts.Despite all his early achievements and being undefeated in 13 fights, Nelson was virtually unknown outside Ghana. Because of this, he was a decisive underdog when he challenged WBC world Featherweight champion
Salvador Sanchez onJuly 21 of 1982 at theMadison Square Garden inNew York . Despite losing that fight by a knockout in round 15, Nelson's stock as a boxer rose after that fight, and he established himself as a deserving leading contender in the eyes of many fans. Further, Nelson was put at a significant disadvantage when his custom mouthpiece was stolen and he had to make due with a makeshift one purchased from a store and cut to his mouth with a knife, leaving him in pain for the whole fight. Sanchez died almost two months after this fight, suffering a car accident inMexico City . Sanchez-Nelson was Salvador Sanchez's last fight.In his next fight, Nelson knocked out fringe contender
Irving Mitchell in eight rounds.Nelson won all four of his fights in 1983, and he began 1984 by beating
Hector Cortez by decision onMarch 9 in Las Vegas. Then, onDecember 8 of that year, he became boxing royalty by knocking outWilfredo Gómez in round 11 to win the WBC world Featherweight championship. Behind on the three judges' scorecards, Nelson rallied in that last round to become champion inPuerto Rico .Nelson held on to that title for three years. He could not fight for 9 months after the Gómez bout, but when he returned, he retained the title in Miami with a fifth round knockout of
Juvenal Ordenes in September 1985, and then in October of that year, he retained it again with a first round knockout ofPatrick Cowdell inBirmingham ,England . The Cowdell knockout in particular became a highlight film material: Cowdell was left frozen on the canvas by Nelson's knockout punch.In 1986, he retained the title two times, beating future world champion
Marcos Villasana and formerBarry McGuigan challengerDanilo Cabrera (once again, in Puerto Rico).In 1987, Nelson retained the title against
Mauro Guitierrez , by a knockout in round six, and in a rematch with Villasana, once again, by decision. After the second fight with Villasana, Nelson abandoned the WBC's World Featherweight title.Nelson began 1988 by fighting former
Julio César Chávez rival Mario Martinez for the vacant WBC's world Jr. Lightweight title. He beat Martinez by decision in 12 rounds onFebruary 29 at Los Angeles to become world Jr. Lightweight champion, and then he defended the title with a knockout in round nine against former world champLupe Suarez and with a knockout in three overSydney Del Rovere .He proceeded in 1989 by beating Martinez in a rematch, by knockout in round 12, and then fighting
Jim McDonnell , with exactly the same result. The fight with McDonnell, fought inLondon , was considered one of the fights of the year by many boxing magazines, and McDonnell was widely praised by critics for his stand against Nelson. McDonnell suffered four knockdowns before the fight was stopped by refereeJoe Cortez .On
May 19 ,1990 , Nelson tried to join the exclusive group of three division world champion boxers by challenging world Lightweight championPernell Whitaker , but he was handled his second career loss, when Whitaker won a 12 round unanimous decision to retain the title. For his next fight, he went toAustralia to meet the former world Featherweight champion, Puerto Rico'sJuan Laporte . He beat Laporte by a decision in 12 to retain the world Jr. Lightweight title.In 1991, he had only two fights. In
Spain , he beatDaniel Mustapha by a knockout in round four of a non-title bout, and then, in Las Vegas, he retained the title with a controversial draw in twelve against multiple time world championJeff Fenech in 12 rounds. Many ringside observers and boxing writers felt Fenech had deserved to win that night, and an immediate rematch was signed and set forMarch 1 of 1992.Back in Australia, Nelson defeated Fenech by a knockout in round eight of their sequel, and then he retained the title with a 12 round decision over former world champion
Calvin Grove onNovember 7 .On
February 20 ,1993 , the world travelling champion defeated future world championGabriel Ruelas by decision in 12 in front of 120,000 fans (most of whom had come to watch Julio César Chávez defend his world title againstGreg Haugen in the evening's main event) inMexico . The 120,000 fan tournout is the largest turnout ever for a boxing event. Then, onSeptember 10 , he began his four fights series with future world championJesse James Leija by retaining the title with a draw as part of the Chávez-Whitaker fight's undercard in San Antonio. Originally announced as a winner, Nelson found out minutes later when Leija was being interviewed that the correct outcome was a draw, giving Leija a rematch. The fight's announcer had accidentally mixed the scorecards and announced nelson the winner. Even though the decision was changed to draw, Nelson still kept his title.On
May 7 ,1994 , he and Leija met for the second time: That time around, the announcer was right when he announced Leija was winner and new world Jr. Lightweight champ. That was Nelson's only bout in 1994.Leija quickly lost the title to Ruelas, who defended against Nelson on
December 1 ,1995 , and Nelson recovered the title in his rematch with Ruelas by knocking him out in round five.His first defense took place almost a year later, when he and Leija had their third bout. Nelson retained the title with a six round knockout. As had become his common practice, that was the only time Nelson fought in 1996.
In 1997, Nelson lost his title to
Genaro Hernandez when beaten on points in twelve rounds. He was almost disqualified when he accidentally hit Hernandez in the throat after the bell to finish round seven and Hernandez lay on the floor for several minutes. However, Hernandez chose to continue, allowing Nelson to lose by the more honorable way of the judge's decision.In 1998, he lost to Leija in their fourth and final bout for the widely unrecognized IBA Jr. Lightweight title, but Nelson figured out his best days in boxing were over, and he retired. He stayed in retirement until announcing a "return" fight (and third meeting) with former rival Jeff Fenech sixteen years after their rematch. Nelson, 49, and Fenech, 44, fought in Australia on June 24, 2008, with Jeff Fenech winning a majority decision in what was, according to most accounts, an uninspiring affair.
Nelson gained national hero status in Ghana. He is widely recognized by boxing fans and critics as the greatest fighter ever to come out of this coastal African nation. He was selected to the
International Boxing Hall of Fame onJanuary 8 ,2004 . He was inducted onJune 13 .Nelson had a record of 39 wins, 7 losses and 2 draws, with 28 knockout wins.
Amateur career
Nelson had a stellar amateur career, compiling an Amateur Record of 50-2.
See also
*
List of WBC world champions External links
*
* [http://www.wbcboxing.com/WBCboxing/Portal/cfpages/contentmgr.cfm?docId=118&docTipo=8 WBC Hall of fame]
* [http://www.portphillipleader.com.au/article/2008/06/20/37456_plv_news.html Melbourne newspaper Port Phillip Leader article on Azumah Nelson fight with Jeff Fenech]
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