Ghana’s boxing legend Azumah Nelson is showing by the day that he is a true lover of boxing and he would like the name of Ghana to remain firmly on the boxing map of the world. Azumah has proved to be a selfless sportsman, who is prepared to share his vast knowledge and experience in the game for others to also reach the top.

Azumah arguably the best professional boxer the country has produced was appropriately honoured with the lifetime achievement award by the Sports Writers Association of Ghana in his hey days and now he is an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee.

The former long reigning world champion has started plans to establish an Azumah Nelson Foundation for the needy youth and he is fully prepared to reach to talented boxers around and encourage them to reach the top

Azumah has shown that boxing is in his blood. He was right in the thick of the crowd that gave Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko, the IBF Bantamweight world champion a tumultuous welcome on his arrival home after successfully defending his title against William Jose Gonzalez of Nicaragua. You can see that Azumah is thrilled that there is someone around who is brilliantly following the path he paved.

His advice to the young champion is that, he should train and fight like a contender to enable him maintain his high level of conditioning and continue winning his fights

“Many boxers can become world champions but it takes extra quality to remain a champion. Whenever you go into the gym to train, the attitude has to be that of hunger for even bigger success. You will take a lot more punishment to always get yourself in good shape” Azumah said.

An obviously grateful Agbeko thanked Azumah for his wonderful advice which he said had given him a lot of inspiration for his next fight which hopefully would take place in next March.

Meanwhile Agbeko’s success has intensified boxing activities at Bukom, the cradle of boxing in Ghana and it is hoped that with the right tutelage Ghana would soon produce a lot of talented boxers.

I recall with some nostalgia the fanfare surrounding the first ever world boxing title fight staged in Ghana in 1964, between local hero Floyd Robertson and Cuban born Sugar Ramos of Mexico. Jack Solomons, the famous English millionaire boxing promoter staged the tournament with active support from the government of Ghana.

I was then a budding enthusiastic sports journalist with the Daily Graphic and I had the privilege of covering the preparatory activities of the promoter and his able assistant Bobby Diamond prior to the big show. The very fact that I saw a millionaire at close quarters for the first time in my life excited me the most and I will never forget his usual refrain “you can ask for anything but no money” as he hosted two other sports journalists, Sports Director Ohene Djan, boxing legend Roy Ankrah and some officials of the Ghana Boxing Authority on a regular basis at the Ambassador Hotel in Accra.

A good mixer, Jack Solomons was eager to know about the people he was dealing with and what I detected was that some of the sports officials exploited the opportunity to indulge in character assassination of their colleagues much to my discomfiture. My suspicion was that ,each wanted to win the confidence of the boxing millionaire for reasons I could not fathom at the time.

The promoter had been in Ghana at least two weeks to the fight and one day in the middle of the usual back biting by the sports officials during dinner at the Ambassador Hotel, Jack Solomons broke his silence with this statement, “In this world there are two types of people, those who have been found out and those who are yet to be found out”. After uttering that profound statement the back biting stopped. The title fight came on after a couple of days with Floyd losing on a controversial points decision with the chairman of the Ghana Boxing Authority ridiculously reversing the verdict later on at a press conference and all that, but that is not the main point of discussion here.

The point I want to establish is that there are distinct kinds of people in this world.

As my Latin master at Abuakwa State College (ABUSCO) would say “alii alia putant”- different people think differently. We have some people who went through life the very hard way before reaching the top. As they grow up, they become so soft hearted that they are prepared to lend a helping hand at the least opportunity because they hate to see anybody going through the nasty experience they had’.

Then we have another kind of people who want everybody to taste the hard time they experienced “Nothing comes cheap” is their maxim. They are extremely tight fisted and don’t give a damn if you are going to starve to death, they would throw the surplus food into the dustbin with a straight face.

I am happy to report that Ghanaian boxing legend Azumah Nelson, long reigning world boxing champion in three divisions, belongs to the soft hearted group and he is prepared to assist the disadvantaged in society.

It is not just a wish. Azumah has actually established a foundation for that purpose. A school drop out, Azumah started life on a very rough path and at the ripe age of 50, he is convinced that God has done a lot for him and he has to repay society. “The champ”, as he is affectionately called by close pals, has acquired a 50-acre site at Akuse in the Eastern region of Ghana to build the Foundation’s first sports academy.

The academy will comprise a youth leadership training centre of excellence that will offer educational, vocational, and professional and sports skills development opportunities to the disadvantaged but talented youth to realize their individual potentials.

The Foundation was launched recently at an impressive ceremony at the State House in Accra and the invited guests included one of Azumah’s fiercest opponents in his heydays, Juan La Porte of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican, like many well meaning people around the globe, believes Azumah is on the right path and must be given every necessary encouragement.

The entire sporting fraternity in Ghana also strongly believes that Azumah is pursuing a worthy cause and he should be given national support. It is a fine example by a sporting hero, who would like to show to the nation his appreciation of the massive support he received on his way to stardom and would like to contribute in his own small way to let others benefit from his God given talents and sweats of his toils.

You are welcome to make a contribution to the Azumah Nelson Foundation.

Ghana boxing legend Azumah Nelson’s comeback fight against old foe Jeff Fenech in Melbourne on Tuesday June 23rd has received mixed reactions from Ghanaian boxing fans.

Azumah was declared loser on points in the ten rounder but many fans think a draw would have been a fairer result. A section of the media insist that it was a spectacular bore from two old timers who should not have been permitted to put on the gloves to fight again after nearly a decade in the wilderness.

Some die hard Azumah fans claim "the boxing professor" did enough to win as Fenech only indulged in clinches and managed to land only a few solid punches. "This is a home decision" claimed one lady boxing fan from Bukom in central Accra interviewed on Ghana television.

Some radio stations described the fight as an exhibition show and wondered how points could be awarded for an exhibition contest.

I am tempted to side with those boxing purists who hold the opinion that it was a well choreographed show and both boxers only pretended to be serious. It was an exhibition fight, pure and simple and the Ghana Boxing Authority should be lauded for distancing itself from this charade.

However from the humanitarian point of view it is the prayer of Ghanaians that both boxers would not suffer any ill effects from the few punches that hit the target and that Azumah would earn enough purse to enable him realise his ambition of setting up a fund for the needy children in Ghana.

Meanwhile the debate as to whether there should be a compulsory retiring age for boxers continues worldwide. Your contribution to the debate is welcome.

It is unfortunate that the June 24th comeback non title fight between Ghana’s Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech of Australia has been shunned by boxing authorities in the two countries.

Whilst the Australian boxing authorities have expressed concern about their 44 year old boxing idol taking a dangerous risk the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) has completely disassociated itself from the ten round contest.

GBA boss Moses Foh Amoaning has told the Ghanaian media that as far as the GBA was concerned Azumah has long retired from the ring and if he wanted to stage a come back he should have applied for a licence and go through a medical regime before embarking on his adventure. In the view of the GBA Azumah should at best go in for an exhibition bout and not real competitive showdown.

This pronouncement by the GBA has really come as shocking news to Azumah’s millions of followers in the country especially coming as it were only a couple of days to the big show. For the past three weeks there have been series of promotional TV footages in Ghana of Azumah’s two fights with Fenech and everybody is looking forward to watching the fight on TV.

The consolation is that both boxers are not bothered by the strange attitude of their respective boxing authorities and reports say they are ready to sell a good fight in Melbourne on June 24th.

This is the third encounter between the two former hard hitters. The first one in 1991 ended in a controversial draw and Azumah won the rematch in 1992 via the short route in the 11th round.

It is the prayer of all lovers of the fistic sport the two veteran pugilists will come out of the tournament safe and sound.

The large number of admirers of Ghanaian boxing legend Azumah Nelson who saw him off at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra on his way to Australia for his impending non title fight against old foe Jeff Fenech were impressed with his physical appearance that showed that at the ripe age of 50 he could still be a terror in the ring.

And the boxer himself left no doubts in the minds of his admirers by boldly predicting a seventh round victory over Fenech in his home country on June 24.

Accompanied by his manager cum father in law Yoofi Booham and trainer Dr Awudu Nelson who is also his younger brother, Azumah asked Ghanaians to pray for him for resounding victory.

This is the third fight between the two hard- hitting boxers. The first one in 1991 was a draw and Azumah convincingly won the return in 1992.