Fenech Will Go In Seven Rounds
A high-spirited Azumah Nelson left Accra last Friday for Sydney, Australia, with a strong belief that his June 24 fight with Jeff Fenech will be history repeating itself.
In a familiar ritual ahead of his crucial fights, the Terrible Terror has predicted a victory, via the short route, promising to stop Fenech in seven rounds.
Accompanied by renowned boxing enthusiast, manager and Fenech's old friend, Yoofi Boham, his trainer, Dr Awudu Nelson, and Kofi 'de Tiger' Manu, Azumah's trainee boxer who is expected to spar with the Ghanaian legend towards the fight, the boxing 'professor' made the long journey to Australia with the same vigour he had shown when the fight was first announced.
And with his almost three months of intensive training of trimming his body into shape, the optimism displayed by the African legend is reasonable enough to provide hope for a country that kept vigil to support one of Ghana's greatest sportsmen of all time when he fought actively in his youthful days.
Azumah's persona has hardly changed from the quiet and reserved nature in his old days, but the discipline that kept him afloat in an era when the dreaded Azabache Martinez, Marco Villasana, Juan La Porte, Jim McDonald and others paraded among the contenders for the world super featherweight title has almost been replicated in the build-up to the fight.
Cutting off fat from a waist line that looked alien to the once cute featherweight and super featherweight, as well as returning to a vigorous training regiment that has more than a two-hour physical involvement, Azumah has trained both heart and flesh to withstand the demanding challenges expected from 10-round showdown as welterweights.
What the Ghanaian has fought to achieve in three months might have been attained by the 44-year-old Fenech. The Aussie brawler, who drew a first fight with Azumah in 1991 and lost the second to the Ghanaian in 1992, has been actively involved in boxing, running a gymnasium and training major boxers such as Hussein Hussein, Sakio Bika, and former IBF flyweight champion, Vic Darchinyan.
Kofi 'de Tiger' Manu will also fight on the same bill.
Story by Michael Quaye