Azumah Nelson vs Brian Mitchell At 130

Name me one fighter that Nelson fought that was better then Tony Lopez.
Also most of you don't know but Mitchell fought in the black townships of South Africa which had a ton of talent. And Mitchell didn't have to.

 

Sal Sanchez, Whitaker...

 

Two of my favourite fighters both very underrated particularly Michael. Great fight with Azumah win on points .

 

Jeff Fenech, Pernell Whitaker, Sal Sanchez, Wilfredo Gomez

He fought consistenly good competition. Mitchell fought medicore competition and one really tough guy.

And Mitchell fought a version of Lopez that had already been through a tough three fight series with John Molina and two tough fights against Rocky Lockridge.

So what if Mitchell fought tough black comp. in South Africa? Did any of that comp. make it to the World Class level?

Mitchell was a very good fighter and shined against mostly medicore (relative to Nelson's comp.) competition.

Nelson is simply more proven against elite World Class Competition.

Therefore, I pick the more proven fighter - Nelson.

 

Gomez was shot when he fought Nelson.
Sanchez was at featherweight.
Whittaker was at lightweight AND boxed Nelsons ears off.
Fenech BEAT Nelson only to get robbed.

Tony Lopez WON a world title AFTER he lost to Mitchell.

To survive the Townships and be successful is no small feat. Remember at the time black fighters weren't given the chance.

I'm not going to list how many champions South Africa has produced because their are many.

At Jr.lightweight Nelson almost lost to Laporte. And he should have lost to Fenech the first time.
Mitchell lost ONCE early in his career.

 

Nelson did Knockout Fenech down in Austraila.

 

Yes he did. But what did Fenech do afterwards?

 

I don't have his record in front of me but I am pretty sure he started to lose. My boy Calvin Grove even KO`d him. When a pressure fighter like that gets his chin cracked that can be the end of him. Fenech was very good at the time he faced Azumah though. That`s all that really matters.

 

Azumah Nelson, Brian Mitchell and Mike McCallum had on thing in common
they avoided no challenge and were willing to fight in fighter's own backyard.
Azumah win's against Gomez and Fenech was quite impressive as he beat two
local legend's with the background of a hostile and patriotic home crowd.
Mitchell like Fenech would be relentless and give Nelson no rest.
Mitchell on pts. Rematch i go with Azumah . Nobody beats the Professor in
rematch.
* Fenech vs Nelson 111 doesn't count.

 

Yes, Mitchell fought on the road often. But the overall quality of his opposition was very weak compared to Nelson. Nelson is stronger, a more powerful puncher and adaptable. He could move forward or move and box. Mitchell has good all around skills but really doesn't best Nelson in any department. Nelson on points.

 

Gomez was shot AFTER Nelson administered a beating.

Earlier in '84 Gomez won a wide UD over Juan Laporte to win the WBC Featherweight title.

Sanchez was a great fighter. So what if Sanchez was a featherweight. Nelson was too, at the time.

Whitaker would have boxed Mitchell's ears off, as well. He barely lost rounds to a plethora of quality 135 pounders. And Nelson was moving up in weight to fight him.

Yes, Fenech should have gotten the decision in the first fight. Fenech was a HOF fighter, one of many Nelson faced in his career. How many HOFers did Mitchell face? NONE.

 

Nelson lost six times and Mitchell lost once, to a guy that he literally killed in a rematch. That tells me something. Mitchell was much better in rematches btw. Watch Mitchell / Lopez 1 & 2 back to back and you will see he was vastly more effective the second time around.

 

Pointless