Who Ranks Higher, Azumah or Fenech?

Nelson may well have been suffering from malaria.
A lot of West Africans have built up some resistance to it, so its effects can manifest relatively mildly.

 

Yet Fenech doesn't get any allowances for having no hands?

 

He should get disability benefit for that.
And some awesome hooks.

 

Seriously : No, I wasn't saying Nelson's alibi should change the view of the result.
Just pointing out that it's medically possible for him to have been suffering from a "mild" malaria.

 

Fair comment.

Fenech did the same in the rematch, just that his punch resistance was waning and Nelson snatched it for good.

I think Fenechs punch resistance started waning when he took on Mario Martinez, who came in over weight and dropped him.

Nelson ruined him, and after that feather fisted fighters started demolishing him.

 

I do think that Nelson ranks higher though, overall.

 

Azumah

Although I think Fenech deserved the decision in their 1st fight.

 

I never really bought Nelson's malaria excuse. I've seen first-hand the effects of malaria and it ain't pretty. Strong men become as weak as newborn kittens. Even if he had some in-built resistance to it, he should have still have been severely diminished. One can't fight 12 rounds at that pace and under that much pressure without being superbly fit.
Personally, I think he was surprised at how strong and relentless Fenech was, who fully deserved the decision in that fight.

Fair play to Nelson though, whom I thought was much better prepared for the rematch, whereas Fenech inexplicably seemed to have lost something. Fenech got schooled and Nelson put on a clinic. Doesn't make up for the injustice in their first fight, but Nelson did what he needed to do and he did it in style.

 

Another possibility ( though I have no clue ) is that perhaps Nelson was just "getting over" having malaria. I imagine it would take a great deal of time before a person fully recovers from such an ordeal and maybe he was on the tail end of it. This is all speculation of course, but it also sounds rather random to me that of all excuses he could have made, he opted to go with that one.

 

Nelson had excuses after every sub-par performance.He was hardly the dignified Arguello type.

It's funny how in that run between Sanchez and Whitaker\slightly post whitaker when he was still prime, that the best fighters he fought were Villasana,Martinez and Fenech and he had an excuse for every single one first time around.

 

Nah.

 

Aye.

 

Mebbe.

 

**** aye.