“I set them up to take them out.” That is the answer for many who wondered how Professor Azumah Nelson skilfully but ferociously dispatched his opponents in his 25 years boxing career. The professor unveiled his secret boxing plot on Joy Fm’s Super morning show, with Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on Thursday. His illustrious career, from an amateur boxer to an icon in the WBC hall of fame, did not come without struggle. He combined his boxing career, with other commercial activities including selling of coconuts to take care of himself and his family. “I sold coconut and many other things to take care of myself and my family” he confirmed Selfless but fearless, Professor Azumah Nelson grew up from the streets of Mamprobi and Bukom two suburbs of Accra, with the ambition to become a world champion. “My father and I went to watch two boxers fight, and when one won, I said to my father, take me into the ring to fight the winner” Azumah narrated how the whole dream began. It was only a distant dream, but Azumah says hard work, humility, and determination made that distant dream a fulfilled reality. Relatively unknown from the streets of Bukom, Barima Azumah Nelson is now the house hold name in world boxing, after he pummelled his opponents one after another to ‘vegetables.’ Instead of taking his rage in and out of the boxing ring like Mike Tyson would, he took his prayers rather. “I pray both in and out of the ring” he revealed. “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” that sounded more like the pope or the priest in the cathedral, but Barima Azumah Nelson said the grace of God and technical acumen of his trainer Attuquaye Clottey have been the underlying factors in all his exploits as a boxer. He attributed the recent poor performance by the Black Bombers in the Olympic Games to the absence of experienced trainers. “We have the boys who can fight, but where are the trainers”? He quizzed. Getting to the top of any career is always a difficult enterprise, but maintaining a cool head at the top, devoid of arrogance and disrespect is another difficult task. Confessing the many temptations that come with fame, Azumah advised upcoming boxers to keep focused on their talents. After putting Ghana on the world boxing hall of fame, Azumah nelson retired from boxing not to enjoy his ‘sweat’ alone, but to help the needy in society. He told Kojo Oppong Nkrumah “I love to help people, and make them happy but cannot do it alone” He is setting up a new foundation, a sports complex, to assist the needy in the society and train potential footballers, boxers and give them education, something he never got in his days. As a means of raising capital for such a huge project, he had to get back into the ring, to give the opportunity for one of his ‘vegetables’ to settle old score. Jeff Fenech got what he wanted, revenge, but Azumah says he got more- the seed capital to begin his foundation, and to make a lot more people happy. He called on other stake holders and well wishers to support his project. He also promised to be part of Joy Fm’s campaign for peace in the upcoming general elections. Listen to the excerpts of the interview Author: Nathan Gadugah