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Azumah Nelson (born September 19, 1958) is a
former boxer who was a three time world champion.
A native of Ghana, Nelson is not a prince: He is
not related to the Ashanti royal family. He is
from a different tribe. He is from the Ga tribe.
He used to wear a crown into the ring before his
Boxing|boxing fights.

Nelson also has endured personal loss: His wife of
many years died during the 1990s of cancer.

Nelson's professional boxing debut, in 1979, did
not cause much furor, except in Ghana, where he
was known because of his family ties.
Internationally, Nelson lacked the recognition for
such an event to be given its due importance. With
the years, however, all of that changed because he
garnered world wide fame as a boxer.

He beat Billy Kwame in Accra by a decision in
eight to mark his professional debut. In his third
fight, he fought on March 3 of 1980, he knocked
out Henry Sadler in the ninth round to win Ghana's
regional 126 pound title. On December 13 of that
year, he knocked out Joe Skipper in round 10 to
add the Africa|African continent's belt to his
Ghanian regional championship. 

1981 was a productive year for the young fighter.
He beat Bozzou Aziza in his first fight abroad;
held in Togo, and then he beat Miguel Ruiz
(boxer)|Miguel Ruiz in his first United States
fight, held in California. He added the British
commonwealth's Featherweight title with a five
round knockout of Brian Roberts (boxer)|Brian
Roberts.

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 when he challenged World Boxing
Council|WBC world Featherweight champion Salvador
Sanchez on June 21 of 1982 at the Madison Square
Garden in New York. Despite losing that fight by a
knockout in round 15, Nelson's stock as a boxer
rose after that fight, and he established himself
as a deserving leading contender in the eyes of
many fans. Sanchez sadly passed away almost two
months after this fight, suffering a car accident
in Mexico City. Sanchez-Nelson was Salvador
Sanchez's last fight.

In his next fight, Nelson knocked out fringe
contender Irving Mitchell in eight rounds.

Nelson won all four of his fights in 1983, and he
began 1984 by beating Hector Cortez by decision on
March 9 in Las Vegas. Then, on December 8 of that
year, he became boxing royalty by knocking out
Wilfredo Gomez in round 11 to win the WBC world
Featherweight championship. Behind on the three
judges' scorecards, Nelson rallied in that last
round to become champion in Puerto Rico.

Nelson held on to that title for three years. He
could not fight for 9 months after the Gomez bout,
but when he returned, he retained the title in
Miami, Florida|Miami with a fifth round knockout
of Juvenal Ordenes in September 1985, and then in
October of that year, he retained it again with a
first round knockout of Pat Cowdell in Birmingham,
England. The Cowdell knockout in particular became
a highlight film material: Cowdell was left frozen
on the canvas by Nelson's knockout punch.

In 1986, he retained the title two times, beating
future world champion Marcos Villasana and former
Barry McGuigan challenger Danilo Cabrera (once
again, in Puerto Rico).

In 1987, Nelson retained the title against Mauro
Guitierrez, by a knockout in round six, and in a
rematch with Villasana, once again, by decision.
After the second fight with Villasana, Nelson
abandoned the  WBC's World Featherweight title.

Nelson began 1988 by fighting former Julio Cesar
Chavez rival Mario Martinez (boxer)|Mario Martinez
for the vacant WBC's world Jr. Lightweight title.
He beat Martinez by decision in 12 rounds on
February 29 at Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles
to become world Jr. Lightweight champion, and then
he defended the title with a knockout in round
nine against former world champ Lupe Suarez and
with a knockout in three over Sydney Del Rovere. 

He proceeded in 1989 by beating Martinez in a
rematch, by knockout in round 12, and then
fighting Jim McDonnell, with exactly the same
result. The fight with McDonnell, fought in
London, was considered one of the fights of the
year by many boxing magazines, and McDonnell was
widely praised by critics for his stand against
Nelson. McDonnell suffered four knockdowns before
the fight was stopped by referee Joe Cortez.

May 19 of 1990, Nelson tried to join the exclusive
group of three division world champion boxers by
challenging world Lightweight champion Pernell
Whitaker, but he was handled his second career
loss, when Whitaker won a 12 round unanimous
decision to retain the title. For his next fight,
he went to Australia to meet the former world
Featherweight champion, Puerto Rico's Juan
Laporte. He beat Laporte by a decision in 12 to
retain the world Jr. Lightweight title.

In 1991, he had only two fights. In Spain, he beat
Daniel Mustapha by a knockout in round four of a
non-title bout, and then, in Las Vegas, he
retained the title with a controversial draw in
twelve against multiple time world champion Jeff
Fenech in 12 rounds. Many ringside observers and
boxing writers felt Fenech had deserved to win
that night, and an immediate rematch was signed
and set for March 1 of 1992.

Back in Australia, Nelson defeated Fenech by a
knockout in round eight of their sequel, and then
he retained the title with a 12 round decision
over former world champion Calvin Grove on
November 7.

On February 20 of 1993, the world travelling
champion defeated future world champion Gabriel
Ruelas by decision in 12 in front of 120,000 fans
(most of whom had come to watch Julio Cesar Chavez
defend his world title against Greg Haugen in the
evening's main event) in Mexico. The 120,000 fan
tournout is the largest turnout ever for a boxing
event. Then, on September 10, he began his four
fights series with future world champion Jesse
James Leija by retaining the title with a draw as
part of the Chavez-Whitaker fight's undercard in
San Antonio, Texas|San Antonio. Originally
announced as a loser, Nelson found out in his
dressing room that he was still world champion
because the fight's announcer had accidentally
mixed the scorecards and announced Leija as the
winner as a result.

On May 7 of 1994, he and Leija met for the second
time: That time around, the announcer was right
when he announced Leija was winner and new world
Jr. Lightweight champ. That was Nelson's only bout
in 1994.

Leija quickly lost the title to Ruelas, who
defended against Nelson on December 1, 1995, and
Nelson recovered the title in his rematch with
Ruelas by knocking him out in round five. 

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 his title to Genaro Hernandez
when beaten on points in twelve rounds. He was
almost disqualified when he accidentally hit
Hernandez on the back of his head after the bell
to finish round seven and Hernandez lay on the
floor for several minutes. However, Hernandez
chose to continue, allowing Nelson to lose by the
more honorable way of the judge's decision.

In 1998, he lost to Leija in their last bout,
which also turned out to be his last bout. This
bout was for the widely unrecognized IBA Jr.
Lightweight title, but Nelson figured out his best
days in boxing were over, and he retired after
that. He has stayed in retirement since.

Nelson gained national hero status in Ghana. He is
widely recognized by boxing fans and critics as
the greatest fighter ever to come out of that
coastal African nation. He was selected to the
International Boxing Hall of Fame on January 8,
2004. He was inducted on June 13.

Nelson had a record of 39 wins, 5 losses and 2
draws, with 28 knockout wins.