Boxing: Best African fighter

When Azumah Nelson of Ghana stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden to face the great Salvador Sanchez on short notice in 1982, he was utterly unknown. When the fight was over, even in defeat, it was obvious he was a star-to-be.

Nelson, who had fought only 13 times and once out of his native Africa, lost by a technical knockout in the 15th round of a close fight that night but won over fans worldwide.

Sanchez himself told one of his handlers, "This guy is the best I ever fought."

Nelson, who leads the World Boxing Hall of Fame's seven-man 2003 class of inductees, went on to knock out Hall of Famer Wilfredo Gomez in 1984 to win the WBC featherweight title and would hold at least one championship belt for the next 11 years.

And "The Professor" didn't take an easy road. In addition to Sanchez and Gomez, he collided with the likes of Pernell Whitaker, Juan LaPorte, Jeff Fenech, Gabriel Ruelas, James Leija and Genaro Hernandez in his 20-year career.

Without question, Nelson (39-5-2, with 28 knockouts) is the best African fighter of all time and one of the best featherweight and super featherweights ever.

"If you saw him once, you never forgot his style," said trainer Joe Goossen, who worked his corner in his final fight (against Leija in 1998) and worked in the opposite corner twice with Ruelas. "He had a beautiful brawling style when he wanted to, one-punch knockout power, and he could put on a virtuoso boxing exhibition when he wanted to.

"... He could do anything."

Nelson, now 44, is best remembered by some for his two fights against Fenech in 1991 and 1992.

They fought to a draw in the first fight, although most at ringside believe Fenech should've been awarded the decision. Afterward, Nelson said he'd been weakened by malaria symptoms and lent credence claim by scoring an eighth-round knockout in the rematch.

"When he came back healthy," Goossen said, "it wasn't even a contest."

Nelson fought Ruelas twice, once winning a close decision in Mexico City in 1993 and then stopping the Valley product in five rounds in the fight immediately after Ruelas delivered the punches that killed Jimmy Garcia in 1995.

Ruelas acknowledged Nelson's physical ability but was more impressed with his mind.

"When I fought him, he'd already fought a lot of great fighters," Ruelas said. "I would say it was his experience that made him so good. Back then, all the best fought the best. Now, you really don't have to because there are so many titles.

"He was smart. He knew what he had to do in the spur of the moment. I don't think he even needed a game plan."

Goossen worked with Nelson in the trainer's Van Nuys gym the last few weeks of his career, as the great champion approached 40.

Clearly, he had lost some of the speed and agility of his youth. However, Goossen, who has been in the business for a few decades, said Nelson had a unique air about him until the end.

"When I trained him, it was one of the few times I was in awe of the guy working out," Goossen said. "He knew every trick in the book, he had an answer to anything you could throw at him.

"He really made it an art form."

More Ruelas: Given Nelson's greatness, Ruelas' performance against him in Mexico City -- on the Julio Cesar Chavez-Greg Haugen undercard -- is an indication of how good Ruelas was.

Ruelas was only 22 when he faced a seasoned 35-year-old who had been fighting professionally for 15 years. And Don King promoted Nelson at the time, which means it would've been very difficult for Ruelas to win a decision.

Still, the fight ended in a majority decision: 115-114, 115-113, 115-115.

Ruelas still believes he won the fight. At the very least, he gave notice that he would have his moment one day. A year and a hal outpointed Leija to win the WBC junior lightweight championship.

"Gabe fought the legendary Nelson in a one-point fight on a Don King card with Don King's people. That's pretty amazing," said Goossen, who trained Ruelas at the time.

Jones watch: Roy Jones Jr., the WBA heavyweight champion, has decided to step back down to the light heavyweight division and fight WBC and IBF champ Antonio Tarver.

Isn't that exciting.

Jones goes from his sensational victory over John Ruiz to possible fights with Evander Holyfield and James Toney and then an agre with heavyweight Corrie Sanders to Tarver.

So much for the intrigue Jones brought to the heavyweight division and any momentum he had built. This fight is just another in a series of boring matchups in Jones' career.

The most interesting aspect to it might be this: How will Jones whittle down his weight from the 199 pounds at which he fought Ruiz to the 175 light heavyweight limit?

Rabbit punches: Rocky Juarez, a 2000 Olympic silver medalist, will face Danny Murillo in a 10-round featherweight bout on the Sept. 13 card in Temecula on NBC.

Also on NBC, at 1:30 p.m., 1996 U.S. Olympian David Diaz will face Juaquin Gallardo in an eight-round junior welterweight bout th Part of the card will be televised on Telemundo. At 12:30 p.m., Alejandro Barrera, the cousin of Marco Antonio Barrera, will face Harold Grey in a 10-round junior featherweight bout.

For the record: George Foreman won the heavyweight championship for a second time 21 years after he first won it, 1973 and 1994. That figure was incorrect in last week's column.

Also, Lamar Clark never fought more than one fighter at a time. He did fight multiple fighters in one night several times.

Assistant sports editor Michael Rosenthal's column appears Mondays in the Daily News. He can be reached at (818) 713-3618 orboxwriter@aol.com.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
The seven who will be inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame on Oct. 18, as officially announced Sunday:

FIGHTERS
Azumah Nelson (1979-98):
Three-time world champ was best African fighter

Del Flanagan (1947-64): Middleweight contender beat long list of greats Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez (1984-95): Wars with Michael Carbajal unforgettable
Joey Giambra (1949-63): Middleweight contender fought best of his era

EXPANDED CATEGORY
Ricardo Maldonado: Managed and trained 15 world champs
Michael Katz: Dean of American boxing writers
Benny Georgino: Manager, trainer, promoter; managed three champs

COMING UP TONIGHT
Ed Dalton vs. Rocky Torres, light heavyweights, Boise, Idaho, Fox Sports Net.

THURSDAY
Jose Navarro vs. Adonis Rivas, super flyweights, San Jose, HBO Latino.

FRIDAY
Kassim Ouma vs. Carlos Bojorquez, light middleweight, Choctaw, Miss., ESPN2.
Martin Castillo vs. TBA, super flyweights, Odessa, Texas, Telefutra.

SATURDAY
Christy Martin vs. Laila Ali, Biloxi, Miss., pay-per-view.