An African Boxing Legend: Azumah "The Professor" Nelson

Azumah Nelson is an sterling example of the men who make boxing a truly international sport. While most of the promotional money remains in the United States, some men from obscure corners of the globe, cross continents and oceans, establish themselves, and scale the heights of pugilistic greatness on talent alone. Most of the men who do this come from Latin America, making the journey of Ghana's Azumah Nelson all the more impressive.

Born in 1958, Nelson turned pro in 1979. Standing a mere 5'5", he won Ghana's featherweight (126lbs) title in only his third professional bout. He then went on to win the British Commonwealth featherweight title in his 10th fight. However, Nelson was largely toiling in obscurity. Fighting in Africa was not a path to fame and fortune, but Nelson got his chance to break out when his undefeated record of 13-0 landed him a shot at Salvador Sanchez's WBC featherweight title in 1982. Unknown fighters with good paper records are often the bread and butter of a WBC champion's feast, and having had only one obscure fight in America, no one knew the mettle of Nelson when he was selected as a late substitute for Sanchez. Nelson gave the vastly more experienced Sanchez (43-1-1) all he could handle in a competitive bout before finally falling in the 15th and final round. Although he suffered his first TKO loss, his performance against the fearsome Sanchez raised Nelson's stock. He lost the fight, but won the campaign for international recognition.

World Featherweight Champion

Nelson won his next six bouts, five of them in the United States. This earned him a 1984 shot at Sanchez's former rival Wilfredo Gomez, again for the WBC featherweght title. Gomez boxed and used side-to-side movement, while Nelson came on behind a close guard and thudding jab. In Round 11, Nelson hurt Gomez with an overhand right, followed up and put Gomez on the canvas. Gomez failed to meet the 10 count, and Nelson won his first world tile by TKO. Nelson defended his title six times (not including an unsanctioned bout in Ghana, where the WBC belt was not at stake) in three years. All his opponents were solid, top flight journeymen with respectable, winning records, but none were of truly world class caliber. In 1988, Nelson went looking for more challenging pastures by moving up to super featherweight (130lbs) and winning the vacant WBC title on points in a bout with Mario Martinez. Nelson defended this title 4 times in 2 years, including a rematch with Martinez (this time winning by TKO), but once again against solid, respectable but unspectacular journeymen. Nelson had defended his featherweight and super featherweight titles 11 times, and had gone undefeated for five year. While his opponents had a combined record of 301-32-11, not a on of them since Gomez would ever win a world title. However, all that was about to change.

Seeking to become a three weight division champion, Azumah Nelson moved up to lightweight (135lbs) in 1990 and challenged the great defensive wizard of the late 20th Century, Pernell Whittaker. Only 5 1/2 years into his professional career, "Sweet Pea" Whittaker was already laying the groundwork for a legendary career. He had been the 1984 Olympic Lightweight Gold Medalist, and was defending as the unified WBC-IBF Lightweight title. Whittaker's brilliant boxing skills and the step up in weight proved too much for Nelson; despite having a point deducted in the 12th, Whittaker scored a clear points victory, handing Nelson his second defeat.

Having lost his lightweight tile bid, Azumah Nelson still held his WBC super featherweight title, and had to defend it in Australia against his mandatory challenger, NABF titlest Juan de la Porte. He secured his position as the dominant man at 130lbs with a solid points victory over de la Porte.

In 1991, Nelson finally had to defend his title against a truly worthy challenger: 3 division champion Jeff Fenech of Australia. Nelson started out well enough, but he was shut down by Fenech's dogged pressure. The fight was scored a very controversial draw. They fought a rematch the next year, and this time Nelson improved on his performance, knocking out Fenech in the 8th Round. The spectacular win was declared the "Upset of the Year" by The Ring magazine.

The Nelson-Leija-Ruelas Round-Robin

Nelson defended his title against the capable Calvin Grove, and then moved on to what would begin a back-and-forth contest with two other men that would last for five and a half years. For the 22 year old Gabriel Ruelas, the 1993 fight was a first shot at a world title. Ruelas looked like a typical scalp on Nelson's resume: while he had a solid winning record, Ruelas had not done anything noteworthy yet. However, Ruelas had some great stuff in him, and the bout was on the undercard of the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Greg Haugen fight in Mexico City, in front of a crowd of 120,000 people. The Mexican rose to the challenge and gave Nelson all he could handle before the mammoth, super-charged crowd of his countrymen. Nelson eeked out a Majority Decision win (two scorecards narrowly for Nelson; one for a draw), and just as Nelson himself had done years before, Ruelas had established himself in defeat through his impressive performance.

Nelson went to Texas later that year, defending his title once again on the undercard of a Julio Cesar Chavez fight (this time Chavez fought Nelson's former rival Pernell Whittaker). Nelson's opponent was NABF titlest Jesse James Leija, who held him to a draw. A rematch was ordered, and the two men fought again in 1994. This time Nelson lost a lopsided decision, suffering his third career defeat. After 12 defenses over nearly 6 years, Azumah Nelson had finally lost his WBC super featherweight title.

Leija turned around and defended his newly won title against none other than Gabriel Ruelas, and lost it. Ruelas, now the newly-crowned champion, made his first defense a rematch against none other than Azumah Nelson. The two men fought in December 1995, and Nelson proved that even at the age of 37 he was still a very dangerous man: he knocked Ruelas down in the 1st and 4th Rounds, with the fight being stopped in the 5th. He had won his belt back, and in a resounding fashion.

Nelson went on to secure his place in the division in a rubber match with his rival Jesse James Leija. Meeting in Las Vegas in 1996, Nelson was ahead on points when he stopped Leija on cuts in the 6th Round, triumphantly avenging his previous defeat.

Nelson had stopped both Leija and Ruelas, but his rally and third title reign would prove to be short-lived. In 1997, he fought Mexican-American Genaro Hernandez. Hernandez was a former WBA super featherweight champ and a tough customer. Although the scoring of the fight was truly bizarre (one judge had Nelson losing by an incredible 8 points, but another had him winning by a point!), and the fight was almost stopped in the 7th when Nelson hit Hernandez in the throat, no one disputed the verdict. Hernandez won Nelson's title by Split Decision.

Almost 40 years old in a weight division where fighters get old at 30, some would have said it was time for Nelson to hang up the gloves. However, there was some unfinished business out there with Jesse James Leija. Their three fight record was one win, one loss, and one draw. A tie-breaking fourth encounter was in order, although it was perhaps ill-advised for a man of Nelson's age. Nonetheless, "The Professor" came out for one final go at Leija. This time Leija handed him a solid points loss.

Azumah Nelson retired with a record of 38-5-2 (28 KOs). Originally known as Azumah "The Zoom" Nelson, he had earned his moniker "The Professor" through a career of handing out boxing lessons to his opponents. He is a national hero in his homeland of Ghana, and internationally recognized as the greatest boxer to ever come out of that very pugnacious country. In 2004 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, although perhaps a bit too early. Hall of Fame status is for retired fighters, and Nelson has recently announced he is coming out of retirement. Nelson has agreed to fight a rubber match with old rival Jeff Fenech in June 2008 in Fenech's native Australia. However, neither man has fought in this decade, so the bout can be viewed as more of a "dinosaur exposition" than a legitimate comeback on the part of either man.

Sources: boxrec.com; old fight footage on YouTube; The Ring Magazine, WBCboxing.com