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Total Fights | 46 |
---|---|
Wins | 38 |
Losses | 6 |
Draws | 2 |
No-Contests | 0 |
Title Wins | 3 |
---|---|
Title Defenses | 17 |
Title-Fight KOs | 12 |
KO Wins | 27 |
KO Losses | 1 |
Featured Opponents
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.
# | Date | Age | Opponent | Res | Via |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
46 | Jun 24, 2008 | 49 | Jeff Fenech | Loss | MD |
45 | Jul 11, 1998 | 39 | Jesse James Leija | Loss | UD |
44 | Mar 22, 1997 | 38 | Genaro Hernández | Loss * | SD |
43 | Jun 1, 1996 | 37 | Jesse James Leija | Win * | TKO6 |
42 | Dec 1, 1995 | 37 | Gabriel Ruelas | Win * | TKO5 |
41 | May 7, 1994 | 35 | Jesse James Leija | Loss * | UD |
40 | Sep 10, 1993 | 35 | Jesse James Leija | Draw * | SD |
39 | Feb 20, 1993 | 34 | Gabriel Ruelas | Win * | MD |
38 | Nov 7, 1992 | 34 | Calvin Grove | Win * | UD |
37 | Mar 1, 1992 | 33 | Jeff Fenech | Win * | TKO8 |
36 | Jun 28, 1991 | 32 | Jeff Fenech | Draw * | SD |
35 | Mar 16, 1991 | 32 | Daniyal Mustapha Ennin | Win | KO4 |
34 | Oct 13, 1990 | 32 | Juan Laporte | Win * | UD |
33 | May 19, 1990 | 31 | Pernell Whitaker | Loss * | UD |
32 | Nov 5, 1989 | 31 | Jim McDonnell | Win * | KO12 |
31 | Feb 25, 1989 | 30 | Mario Martínez | Win * | TKO12 |
30 | Dec 10, 1988 | 30 | Sidnei Dal Rovere | Win * | KO3 |
29 | Jun 25, 1988 | 29 | Lupe Suarez | Win * | TKO9 |
28 | Feb 29, 1988 | 29 | Mario Martínez | Win * | SD |
27 | Aug 29, 1987 | 29 | Marcos Villasana | Win * | UD |
26 | Mar 7, 1987 | 28 | Mauro Gutierrez | Win * | KO6 |
25 | Jun 22, 1986 | 27 | Danilo Cabrera | Win * | TKO10 |
24 | Feb 25, 1986 | 27 | Marcos Villasana | Win * | MD |
23 | Oct 12, 1985 | 27 | Pat Cowdell | Win * | KO1 |
22 | Sep 6, 1985 | 27 | Juvenal Ordenes | Win * | TKO5 |
21 | Dec 8, 1984 | 26 | Wilfredo Gómez | Win * | KO11 |
20 | Mar 9, 1984 | 25 | Hector Cortez | Win | UD |
19 | Nov 25, 1983 | 25 | Kabiru Akindele | Win | KO9 |
18 | Sep 23, 1983 | 25 | Alberto Collazo | Win | TKO2 |
17 | Aug 17, 1983 | 25 | Alvin Fowler | Win | TKO2 |
16 | Feb 12, 1983 | 24 | Ricky Wallace | Win | UD |
15 | Oct 31, 1982 | 24 | Irving Mitchell | Win | TKO5 |
14 | Jul 21, 1982 | 24 | Salvador Sánchez | Loss * | TKO15 |
13 | Jun 26, 1982 | 23 | Mukaila Bukare | Win | TKO6 |
12 | Feb 28, 1982 | 23 | Charm Chiteule | Win | TKO10 |
11 | Dec 4, 1981 | 23 | Kabiru Akindele | Win | KO6 |
10 | Sep 26, 1981 | 23 | Brian Roberts | Win | TKO5 |
9 | Aug 18, 1981 | 23 | Miguel Ruiz | Win | TKO4 |
8 | May 2, 1981 | 22 | Don George | Win | KO5 |
7 | Mar 6, 1981 | 22 | Aziza Bossou | Win | PTS |
6 | Dec 13, 1980 | 22 | Joe Skipper | Win | TKO10 |
5 | Oct 4, 1980 | 22 | David Capo | Win | PTS |
4 | Aug 2, 1980 | 22 | Abdul Rahman Optoki | Win | TKO8 |
3 | Mar 1, 1980 | 21 | Henry Saddler | Win | TKO9 |
2 | Feb 2, 1980 | 21 | Nii Nuer | Win | TKO3 |
1 | Dec 1, 1979 | 21 | Billy Kwame | Win | PTS |
* World-title fight
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.
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.
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.
Date | Opponent | Division | Titles Won | Method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dec 1, 1995 | Gabriel Ruelas | Super-featherweight | WBC | TKO |
Feb 29, 1988 | Mario Martínez | Super-featherweight | WBC* | SD |
Dec 8, 1984 | Wilfredo Gómez | Featherweight | WBC | KO |
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.
Date | Opponent | Division | Titles Defended | Method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 1, 1996 | Jesse James Leija | Super-featherweight | WBC | TKO |
Sep 10, 1993 | Jesse James Leija | Super-featherweight | WBC | SD (draw) |
Feb 20, 1993 | Gabriel Ruelas | Super-featherweight | WBC | MD |
Nov 7, 1992 | Calvin Grove | Super-featherweight | WBC | UD |
Mar 1, 1992 | Jeff Fenech | Super-featherweight | WBC | TKO |
Jun 28, 1991 | Jeff Fenech | Super-featherweight | WBC | SD (draw) |
Oct 13, 1990 | Juan Laporte | Super-featherweight | WBC | UD |
Nov 5, 1989 | Jim McDonnell | Super-featherweight | WBC | KO |
Feb 25, 1989 | Mario Martínez | Super-featherweight | WBC | TKO |
Dec 10, 1988 | Sidnei Dal Rovere | Super-featherweight | WBC | KO |
Jun 25, 1988 | Lupe Suarez | Super-featherweight | WBC | TKO |
Aug 29, 1987 | Marcos Villasana | Featherweight | WBC | UD |
Mar 7, 1987 | Mauro Gutierrez | Featherweight | WBC | KO |
Jun 22, 1986 | Danilo Cabrera | Featherweight | WBC | TKO |
Feb 25, 1986 | Marcos Villasana | Featherweight | WBC | MD |
Oct 12, 1985 | Pat Cowdell | Featherweight | WBC | KO |
Sep 6, 1985 | Juvenal Ordenes | Featherweight | WBC | TKO |
Azumah Nelson lost two world-title defense fights, and lost a total of two titles in these fights.
Date | Opponent | Division | Titles Lost | Method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 22, 1997 | Genaro Hernández | Super-featherweight | WBC | SD |
May 7, 1994 | Jesse James Leija | Super-featherweight | WBC | UD |
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.
Nelson knocked out 27 of his 46 opponents. By his last fight, his KO ratio was at 58.7%. Of his total 38 wins, 27 of them were via KO (71.1%).
Nelson's first world-title win was the WBC belt at featherweight. He defeated Wilfredo Gómez via 11 round KO to win the title.
Nelson won three world titles at two weight classes.
Nelson had a total of 19 title defense fights. He was successful 17 times and lost two times.