Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958) is a
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
ian former
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the
WBC featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...
title from 1984 to 1987 and the WBC
super-featherweight
Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a weight division in professional boxing, contested between and .
The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although first founded by the New Yo ...
title twice between 1988 and 1997. He also challenged once for the
unified WBC and
IBF
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...
lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
titles in 1990. At regional level he held the
ABU
Abu or ABU may refer to:
Places
* Abu (volcano), a volcano on the island of Honshū in Japan
* Abu, Yamaguchi, a town in Japan
* Ahmadu Bello University, a university located in Zaria, Nigeria
* Atlantic Baptist University, a Christian university ...
, and
Commonwealth featherweight titles between 1980 and 1982. Widely considered one of the greatest African boxers of all time, he is currently ranked as the 31st greatest
pound for pound
Pound for pound is a ranking used in combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or mixed martial arts, of who the better fighters are irrespective of their weight, i.e. adjusted to compensate for weight class. As these fighters do not compete direc ...
boxer of all time by
BoxRec
BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing.
The objective of the site is to document every profess ...
.
Amateur career
Nelson competed at the
1978 All-Africa Games and
1978 Commonwealth Games, winning gold medals in
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...
at both events. He was awarded Amateur Boxer of the year by the
Sports Writers Association of Ghana
The Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) is professional body in Ghana that includes as sports journalist, analysts, commentators and recognized sports associations in Ghana. The Association holds the SWAG night every year where the best sp ...
(SWAG) that same year.
Professional career
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
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...
when, on short notice, he challenged
WBC featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...
champion
Salvador Sánchez on 21 July 1982 at the
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in
New York.
Nelson lost the fight by fifteenth-round knockout.
Featherweight champion
Nelson won all four of his fights in 1983, and he began 1984 by beating Hector Cortez by decision on 9 March in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. Then, on 8 December of that year, he became boxing royalty by knocking out
Wilfredo Gómez
Wilfredo Gómez Rivera[Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...](_blank)
.
Super-featherweight
Nelson began 1988 by defeating
Mario Martinez by a split decision over 12 rounds in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
to win the vacant WBC
super featherweight
Super featherweight, also known as junior lightweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight division in professional boxing, contested between and .
The super featherweight division was established by the New York Walker Law in 1920, although firs ...
title. Nelson was dropped in the 10th round of their encounter and the decision was not well received.
On 1 December 1995, defeated world champion
Gabriel Ruelas
Gabriel Ruelas, (born on July 23, 1970 in Yerbabuena, Jalisco, Mexico), is a Mexican former professional boxer.
Professional career
Ruelas turned pro in 1988 and in 1993 challenged WBC Super Featherweight Title holder Azumah Nelson, losing a ...
in the fifth round to claim the title.
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 the
Lineal & WBC titles to Genaro Hernandez when beaten on points in twelve rounds.
Legacy
The
Azumah Nelson Sports Complex
Azumah Nelson Sports Complex, also known as Kaneshie Sports Complex, is a multi-use stadium in Accra, Ghana. The stadium was originally built during the era of the Supreme Military Council under General Acheampong in the 1970s. It was used mo ...
at
Kaneshie
Kaneshie is a suburb in the Accra Metropolitan district, a district of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The name was derived from a word in the Ga-Adangbe , that is "Kane Shie Shie", meaning "under the lamp" referring to its beginnings as a nig ...
in
Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
was named after him.
Biography
In 2014 the biography of Azumah Nelson was published. Written by
Ashley Morrison
Ashley Malcolm Morrison is an Australian/British sports commentator, broadcaster, writer, and documentary filmmaker.
Early life
Born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, he grew up in Purton, near Swindon. He was educated at Stowe School, Buckingham an ...
it was titled "The Professor - The Life Story of Azumah Nelson" () was published by Strategic Book Publishing.
Personal life
Nelson has a son, Azumah Nelson Junior, whom Nelson is training as a boxer.
In July 2018, Azumah organized a fight night to celebrate his 60th birthday at the Bukom Boxing Arena. This event brought together fighters from highly rated gyms in the country to fight contenders in their divisions. Some dignitaries including Nii Lante Vanderpuiye and
Nii Amarkai Amarteifio who are two former sports ministers, Ian Walker the
British High Commissioner to Ghana and Peter Zwennes the president of the Ghana Boxing Authority, graced the occasion. In all there were five bouts, three of which were won by knockout.
Professional boxing record
See also
*
List of featherweight boxing champions Championship recognition
Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921
Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ...
*
List of super featherweight boxing champions
This is a list of Super featherweight boxing champions, as recognized by boxing organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA).
* The World Boxing Council (WBC), established in 19 ...
*
List of WBA world champions
*
List of WBC world champions
This is a list of WBC world champions, showing every world champion certificated by the World Boxing Council (WBC). The WBC is one of the four major governing bodies in professional boxing, and certifies world champions in 18 different weight cla ...
References
External links
*
Azumah Nelson - CBZ Profile
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Azumah
1958 births
Boxers at the 1978 Commonwealth Games
Featherweight boxers
Super-featherweight boxers
Lightweight boxers
Living people
International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
World boxing champions
World Boxing Council champions
African Boxing Union champions
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Ghana
Boxers from Accra
Ga-Adangbe people
Ghanaian male boxers
Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing
African Games gold medalists for Ghana
African Games medalists in boxing
Competitors at the 1978 All-Africa Games