and regains the super featherweight title at age 37: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGeLQEIHMEc[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ35bMw1f_g[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGmzv8xeq3c[/ame] Not exactly his most "polished" effort but a good indication of how strong Nelson still could be at such a late stage in his career. Here's his follow-up performance against Jesse James Leija: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBcs11n991Y[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6PZmO_6gPA[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq02X7g3sPA[/ame]
Not really fair. Ruelas had mortally wounded Jimmy Garcia in hisprevious fight and himself was never the same after...
Agreed but Nelson's power looked impressive in the Ruelas and Leija rematches. He floored both men in the first round. Ruelas did not seem to have any kind of a gameplan and threw wild punches in an attempt to get to Azumah early but the exact opposite happened. He seemed to give up on fighting after that, probably due to the Jimmy Garcia tragedy.
Nelson is one of the best "past-prime" fighters ever IMO. His performances after his physical prime had gone were nothing short of spectacular. People thought he was a busted flush after the "draw" with Fenech, and then he went to Australia and knocked him senseless. Magnificent.
One of my favorite upsets of all time. Ruelas came out looking to blow out Nelson (in contrast to the first fight, in which he boxed cautiously from the outside) and paid the price for it. I always loved the part where Roy Jones says "I don't believe Nelson can hurt Leija," just a split second before Nelson clobbers him. :rofl
"Oh yeah, oh yeah, he sure can". Jones had a George Foreman moment there. Nelson might not be noted for it but he was a dangerous fighters early. Ruelas felt it and so did Leija in their third fight. Before that, an over-confident Jeff Fenech got knocked down in the first round of their rematch and the game Pat Cowdell had his night ended early in the first round with a left uppercut.
