Azumah Nelson (born 19 July 1958, affectionately known as the Professor) is a Ghanaian former professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 2008. He was a two-weight world champion, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title from 1984 to 1987 and the WBC super-featherweight title twice between 1988 and 1997. He also challenged once for the unified WBC and International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight titles in 1990. At regional level, he held the ABU, 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 69th greatest pound for pound boxer of all time by BoxRec.

Career Nelson competed at the 1978 All-Africa Games and 1978 Commonwealth Games, winning gold medals in featherweight at both events. He was awarded Amateur Boxer of the year by the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG) that same year.

However, Nelson was virtually unknown outside Ghana. Because of this, he was a decisive underdog when, on short notice, he challenged WBC featherweight champion Salvador Sánchez on 21 July 1982 at the Madison Square Garden in New York. Nelson lost the fight by a 15th-round technical 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. Then, on 8 December of that year, he became boxing royalty by knocking out Wilfredo Gómez in round 11 to win the WBC featherweight championship. Behind on the three judges' scorecards, Nelson rallied in that round to become champion in Puerto Rico.

Super-featherweight champion

Nelson began 1988 by defeating Mario Martinez by a split decision over 12 rounds in Los Angeles, to win the vacant WBC super-featherweight title. Nelson was dropped in the 10th round of their encounter, and the decision was not well received.

On 1 December 1995, he defeated world champion Gabriel Ruelas in the fifth round to claim the title.

His first defense took place almost a year later, when he and Jesse James Leija had their third bout. Nelson retained the title with a sixth-round knockout. That was the only fight Nelson had in 1996, as had become his custom.

In 1997, Nelson lost the Lineal and WBC titles to Genaro Hernandez, when he beaten on points after 12 rounds.

Legacy The Azumah Nelson Sports Complex at Kaneshie in Accra was named after him.

Biography In 2014, a biography of Azumah Nelson, written by Ashley Morrison and titled The Professor – The Life Story of Azumah Nelson (), was published by Strategic Book Publishing.

Personal life Nelson has six children. He is currently married to Priscilla Boakye Nelson.

In July 2018, Azumah organized a fight night to celebrate his 60th birthday at Bukom Boxing Arena. This event brought together fighters from highly-rated gyms in the country to fight contenders in their divisions. Some dignitaries, including formers sports ministers Nii Lante Vanderpuiye and Nii Amarkai Amarteifio, the British High Commissioner to Ghana Ian Walker, 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

NoResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes46Loss Jeff FenechMD1024 Jun 200845Loss38–5–2 Jesse James LeijaUD1211 Jul 199844Loss38–4–2 Genaro HernándezSD1222 Mar 199743Win38–3–2 Jesse James LeijaTKO6 (12), 1 Jun 199642Win37–3–2 Gabriel RuelasTKO5 (12), 1 Dec 199541Loss36–3–2 Jesse James LeijaUD127 May 199440Draw36–2–2 Jesse James LeijaSD1210 Sep 199339Win36–2–1 Gabriel RuelasMD1220 Feb 199338Win35–2–1 Calvin GroveUD127 Nov 199237Win34–2–1 Jeff FenechTKO8 (12), 1 Mar 199236Draw33–2–1 Jeff FenechSD1228 Jun 199135Win33–2 Daniyal Mustapha EnninKO4 (10)16 Mar 199134Win32–2 Juan LaporteUD1213 Oct 199033Loss31–2 Pernell WhitakerUD1219 May 199032Win31–1 Jim McDonnellKO12 (12), 5 Nov 198931Win30–1 Mario MartínezTKO12 (12), 25 Feb 198930Win29–1 Sidnei Dal RovereKO3 (12), 10 Dec 198829Win28–1 Lupe SuarezTKO9 (12), 25 Jun 198828Win27–1 Mario MartínezSD1229 Feb 198827Win26–1 Marcos VillasanaUD1229 Aug 198726Win25–1 Mauro GutierrezKO6 (12), 7 Mar 198725Win24–1 Danilo CabreraTKO10 (12), 22 Jun 198624Win23–1 Marcos VillasanaMD1225 Feb 198623Win22–1 Pat CowdellKO1 (12), 12 Oct 198522Win21–1 Juvenal OrdenesTKO5 (12), 6 Sep 198521Win20–1 Wilfredo GómezKO11 (12), 8 Dec 198420Win19–1 Hector CortezUD109 Mar 198419Win18–1 Kabiru AkindeleKO9 (15)25 Nov 198318Win17–1 Alberto CollazoTKO2 (10), 23 Sep 198317Win16–1 Alvin FowlerTKO2 (10), 17 Aug 198316Win15–1 Ricky WallaceUD1012 Feb 198315Win14–1 Irving MitchellTKO5 (10), 31 Oct 198214Loss13–1 Salvador SánchezTKO15 (15), 21 Jul 198213Win13–0 Mukaila BukareTKO6 (10)26 Jun 198212Win12–0 Charm ChiteuleTKO10 (15)28 Feb 198211Win11–0 Kabiru AkindeleKO6 (15)4 Dec 198110Win10–0 Brian RobertsTKO5 (15)26 Sep 19819Win9–0 Miguel RuizTKO4 (10)18 Aug 19818Win8–0 Don GeorgeKO5 (10), 2 May 19817Win7–0 Aziza BossouPTS86 Mar 19816Win6–0 Joe SkipperTKO10 (12)13 Dec 19805Win5–0 David CapoPTS104 Oct 19804Win4–0 Abdul Rahman OptokiTKO8 (12)2 Aug 19803Win3–0 Henry SaddlerTKO9 (12)1 Mar 19802Win2–0 Nii NuerTKO3 (8)2 Feb 19801Win1–0 Billy KwamePTS101 Dec 1979

See also List of featherweight boxing champions List of super featherweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of WBC world champions

References

External links

Azumah Nelson - CBZ Profile