Today in Sports History: Azumah Nelson inducted into Boxing Hall of fame

On this day 13 June 2004 (Exactly 16 years ago today) Ghana’s Azumah Nelson, widely considered the greatest African boxer of all time was inducted in to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

The International Boxing Hall of Fame’s rolls swelled to 285 members with the induction of the 15-member Class of 2004.

Former world featherweight and super featherweight champ, Azumah Nelson, was enshrined in the Hall of Fame, as more than 2,000 boxing fans looked on.

A six-member presidential delegation from Ghana attended the ceremony to watch Nelson’s induction, which he called “the greatest moment in the history in the saga of African boxing.”

The soft-spoken Nelson thanked the people and the government of Ghana for helping him go from an unknown who stepped into the ring with Hall of Famer Salvador Sanchez as a late replacement on the card and battled valiantly before losing in the 15th round, to a champion at the world welterweight and super featherweight levels.

“To all who helped me from the beginning of my career … there are too many to list. At the appropriate time, I will write them all in the history of my life.”

The 2004 induction class included light heavyweight Dwight Muhammad Qawi of the United States, Former welterweight champion Carlos Palomino and bantamweight Daniel Zaragoza of Mexico. Also enshrined were promoter J. Russell Peltz and South African referee Stanley Christodoulou.