Azumah Nelson vs Marcos Villasana

On February 25, 1986, at the Forum in Inglewood, California, Azumah Nelson defended his WBC featherweight title against Marcos Villasana. Nelson, with a 22-1 record, and Villasana, standing at 46-4-1, both weighed in at 125½ pounds.

The bout was closely contested over twelve rounds. Judge Lou Filippo scored it 116-112 in favor of Nelson, Rudy Ortega had it 116-113 for Nelson, while James Jen Kin saw it as a 114-114 draw, resulting in a majority decision victory for Nelson.

This fight marked Nelson's third defence of the WBC featherweight title, which he had secured in December 1984 by defeating Wilfredo Gómez. Defences against Juvenal Ordenes (W-Tko 5 and Pat Cowdell (W-Ko 1) were a platform for Nelson to call out rival WBA Featherweight champion, Barry McGuigan for a unification match.

 Villasana, went on to challenge Australian Jeff Fenech for the title in April 1989 (L-UD) but would win the vacant title against Liverpool, England's, Paul Hodkinson in June 1990 and go on to make four defences before losing it in a rematch with Hodkinson in November 1991.