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Azumah Nelson Record

38-6-2
Total Fights46
Wins38
Losses6
Draws2
No-Contests0
Title Wins3
Title Defenses17
Title-Fight KOs12
KO Wins27
KO Losses1
Azumah Nelson Record & Stats
Azumah Nelson's Record
Azumah Nelson's boxing record and career infographic

      Featured Opponents

      What is Azumah Nelson's boxing record?

      In a professional boxing career spanning 28 years and six months, Azumah Nelson fought 46 times with 38 wins, 6 losses, and 2 draws.

      Nelson retired from professional boxing with a record of 38-6-2, which included three world-title wins and 17 successful title defense fights at two weight classes — featherweight and super-featherweight. He had a 58.7% knockouts-to-fights ratio with 27 of his total 46 fights being knockout wins, 12 of which were in title fights. The only knockout loss in Nelson's career was a 15th round TKO loss to Salvador Sánchez in a featherweight title fight.

      His last fight was a 10-round majority decision defeat to Jeff Fenech on June 24, 2008.

      Some of Nelson's best fights and notable victories include wins over two Hall-of-Famers (Jeff Fenech and Wilfredo Gómez), Gabriel Ruelas, Jesse James Leija, and Juan Laporte.

      #DateAgeOpponentResVia
      46Jun 24, 200849Jeff FenechLossMD
      45Jul 11, 199839Jesse James LeijaLossUD
      44Mar 22, 199738Genaro HernándezLoss *SD
      43Jun 1, 199637Jesse James LeijaWin *TKO6
      42Dec 1, 199537Gabriel RuelasWin *TKO5
      41May 7, 199435Jesse James LeijaLoss *UD
      40Sep 10, 199335Jesse James LeijaDraw *SD
      39Feb 20, 199334Gabriel RuelasWin *MD
      38Nov 7, 199234Calvin GroveWin *UD
      37Mar 1, 199233Jeff FenechWin *TKO8
      36Jun 28, 199132Jeff FenechDraw *SD
      35Mar 16, 199132Daniyal Mustapha EnninWinKO4
      34Oct 13, 199032Juan LaporteWin *UD
      33May 19, 199031Pernell WhitakerLoss *UD
      32Nov 5, 198931Jim McDonnellWin *KO12
      31Feb 25, 198930Mario MartínezWin *TKO12
      30Dec 10, 198830Sidnei Dal RovereWin *KO3
      29Jun 25, 198829Lupe SuarezWin *TKO9
      28Feb 29, 198829Mario MartínezWin *SD
      27Aug 29, 198729Marcos VillasanaWin *UD
      26Mar 7, 198728Mauro GutierrezWin *KO6
      25Jun 22, 198627Danilo CabreraWin *TKO10
      24Feb 25, 198627Marcos VillasanaWin *MD
      23Oct 12, 198527Pat CowdellWin *KO1
      22Sep 6, 198527Juvenal OrdenesWin *TKO5
      21Dec 8, 198426Wilfredo GómezWin *KO11
      20Mar 9, 198425Hector CortezWinUD
      19Nov 25, 198325Kabiru AkindeleWinKO9
      18Sep 23, 198325Alberto CollazoWinTKO2
      17Aug 17, 198325Alvin FowlerWinTKO2
      16Feb 12, 198324Ricky WallaceWinUD
      15Oct 31, 198224Irving MitchellWinTKO5
      14Jul 21, 198224Salvador SánchezLoss *TKO15
      13Jun 26, 198223Mukaila BukareWinTKO6
      12Feb 28, 198223Charm ChiteuleWinTKO10
      11Dec 4, 198123Kabiru AkindeleWinKO6
      10Sep 26, 198123Brian RobertsWinTKO5
      9Aug 18, 198123Miguel RuizWinTKO4
      8May 2, 198122Don GeorgeWinKO5
      7Mar 6, 198122Aziza BossouWinPTS
      6Dec 13, 198022Joe SkipperWinTKO10
      5Oct 4, 198022David CapoWinPTS
      4Aug 2, 198022Abdul Rahman OptokiWinTKO8
      3Mar 1, 198021Henry SaddlerWinTKO9
      2Feb 2, 198021Nii NuerWinTKO3
      1Dec 1, 197921Billy KwameWinPTS

      * World-title fight

      Boxing career

      Azumah Nelson (The Professor) is a 65-year old retired Ghanaian professional boxer. He was born in Accra, Ghana on July 19, 1958. He is a former two-weight-class world champion. Nelson was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2004. His professional boxing career spanned more than 28 years — from 1979 to 2008.

      Nelson made his professional boxing debut against Billy Kwame at the age of 21 on December 1, 1979, defeating Kwame via 10 round PTS. He went on to win 12 more consecutive fights after the debut, which included 10 wins via stoppage.

      He had his first world title fight at the age of 24 on July 21, 1982 after 13 professional fights, against Salvador Sánchez for the WBC and The Ring titles. He lost to Sánchez via 15th round TKO.

      Nelson has won three world titles at two weight classes. For all the details about Nelson's world title wins and defenses refer to the "Championships" section below.

      Nelson had a total of six losses in his professional boxing career.

      His last professional fight was a non-title rematch against Australian boxer Jeff Fenech on June 24, 2008. Nelson lost the fight via 10 round majority decision. It's been 15 years, 10 months, and 7 days since this fight.

      Championships

      Nelson had a total of 24 world-title fights, which includes winning three world titles and 17 successful title defenses. He won 18 of these fights, lost four, and drew in two.

      Title Wins

      Azumah Nelson fought for world titles in five fights and won three of these fights, two of these victories coming via way of stoppage. In total, he won three belts across two weight classes.

      DateOpponentDivisionTitles WonMethod
      Dec 1, 1995Gabriel RuelasSuper-featherweightWBCTKO
      Feb 29, 1988Mario MartínezSuper-featherweightWBC*SD
      Dec 8, 1984Wilfredo GómezFeatherweightWBCKO
      * Vacant title

      Title Defenses

      Azumah Nelson had 19 world-title defense fights across two weight classes — featherweight (x6) and super-featherweight (x13). He won 17 of them and lost two times.

      Following is the table of his successful title defense fights, the next section has the fights where he lost his titles.

      DateOpponentDivisionTitles DefendedMethod
      Jun 1, 1996Jesse James LeijaSuper-featherweightWBCTKO
      Sep 10, 1993Jesse James LeijaSuper-featherweightWBCSD (draw)
      Feb 20, 1993Gabriel RuelasSuper-featherweightWBCMD
      Nov 7, 1992Calvin GroveSuper-featherweightWBCUD
      Mar 1, 1992Jeff FenechSuper-featherweightWBCTKO
      Jun 28, 1991Jeff FenechSuper-featherweightWBCSD (draw)
      Oct 13, 1990Juan LaporteSuper-featherweightWBCUD
      Nov 5, 1989Jim McDonnellSuper-featherweightWBCKO
      Feb 25, 1989Mario MartínezSuper-featherweightWBCTKO
      Dec 10, 1988Sidnei Dal RovereSuper-featherweightWBCKO
      Jun 25, 1988Lupe SuarezSuper-featherweightWBCTKO
      Aug 29, 1987Marcos VillasanaFeatherweightWBCUD
      Mar 7, 1987Mauro GutierrezFeatherweightWBCKO
      Jun 22, 1986Danilo CabreraFeatherweightWBCTKO
      Feb 25, 1986Marcos VillasanaFeatherweightWBCMD
      Oct 12, 1985Pat CowdellFeatherweightWBCKO
      Sep 6, 1985Juvenal OrdenesFeatherweightWBCTKO

      Title Losses

      Azumah Nelson lost two world-title defense fights, and lost a total of two titles in these fights.

      DateOpponentDivisionTitles LostMethod
      Mar 22, 1997Genaro HernándezSuper-featherweightWBCSD
      May 7, 1994Jesse James LeijaSuper-featherweightWBCUD

      Highlights

      Nelson fought a total of 46 times during his professional career, which includes 24 world-title fights at three weight divisions. He was among the very best of his generation and put on some great performances in his fights. These five fights are the highlight of his career.

      • July 21, 1982: In his first world-title fight, Azumah Nelson loses to Salvador Sánchez via 15th round TKO. He was fighting for the WBC and The Ring featherweight titles.

      • December 8, 1984: Nelson wins the WBC featherweight title from Wilfredo Gómez, by beating Gómez via 11th round KO.

      • October 13, 1990: Nelson successfully defends the WBC super-featherweight title against Juan Laporte, winning the fight via 12 round unanimous decision.

      • March 1, 1992: Nelson successfully defends the WBC super-featherweight title against Jeff Fenech, winning the fight via 8th round TKO.

      • December 1, 1995: Nelson wins the WBC super-featherweight title from Gabriel Ruelas, by beating Ruelas via 5th round TKO.

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