Azumah Nelson vs Pat Cowdell

Four years after taking Salvador Sánchez through 15 demanding rounds, Pat Cowdell’s second challenge for the WBC featherweight championship lasted only 2 minutes 24 seconds. A single left hand from Azumah Nelson ended the contest in the opening round at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre and left the home challenger unconscious on the canvas.

Nelson came to England with a record of 21 wins and one defeat, the reverse having occurred against Sánchez in a world-title challenge at Madison Square Garden in 1982. He had subsequently won six successive contests and captured the WBC championship by stopping Wilfredo Gómez in the eleventh round in San Juan in December 1984. Only five weeks before meeting Cowdell, the Ghanaian had made his first defence by halting Juvenal Ordenes in Miami. This was Nelson’s first professional appearance in Britain, but he entered as a champion of established quality rather than an unfamiliar visitor.

Cowdell, with 30 victories and three defeats, had assembled 11 straight wins since losing to Najib Daho in September 1982. The former Olympic bronze medallist had won British, Commonwealth and European honours during a sound professional career built upon movement, balance and an educated left hand. His previous world-title contest, against Sánchez in Houston in December 1981, had ended in a split decision after Cowdell was dropped in the fifteenth round. He had campaigned mainly as a super-featherweight in the intervening years and was returning to the featherweight limit for his second attempt at the championship.

The challenger began carefully, moving around the edge of the ring and attempting to establish his jab while Nelson advanced behind a high guard. There was little in the opening exchanges to suggest that the contest would be settled so suddenly. Nelson remained compact, edging within range and watching for Cowdell to commit himself. Cowdell tried to release his own left, but in doing so left an opening for the champion’s counter.

Nelson drove a short left hand upwards and across the target, catching Cowdell cleanly on the jaw. The force and accuracy of the blow turned the challenger’s head and sent him heavily to the canvas. Cowdell made no attempt to rise as the count was completed. The knockout was immediate and conclusive, and the fallen boxer remained on the floor receiving attention for several minutes before recovering. There was no question of an early count or premature intervention, for Cowdell had been rendered insensible by one properly delivered punch.

The result constituted Nelson’s second successful defence of the WBC featherweight championship and strengthened his position as the leading fighter in the division. Afterwards he spoke confidently of meeting Barry McGuigan, then the WBA champion, although the proposed contest between the two men was never made. Cowdell returned to boxing the following year and continued until 1988, but he did not receive another world-title opportunity. His defeat in Birmingham was severe, though it came against a champion who would later win the WBC super-featherweight title and establish himself as one of the most accomplished fighters produced by Africa.

After the fight Pat Cowdell gave Salvador Sánchez in 1981, I honestly believed the Englishman could take Azumah Nelson into a long technical contest and perhaps beat him on home soil. Cowdell had gone 15 rounds with Sánchez, losing a split decision, and his disciplined footwork, balance and jab made him a difficult man to pin down. He wasn’t flashy, but he understood distance and rarely gave opponents clean opportunities.

The mistake was assuming Nelson would allow Cowdell time to settle. Azumah was a very different proposition by then from the relatively unknown challenger who had pushed Sánchez before being stopped in the fifteenth. He had matured, knocked out Wilfredo Gómez to win the WBC title and developed into a patient but spiteful counter-puncher.

Cowdell started sensibly, moving and looking to establish his left hand, but one opening was enough. As he committed himself, Nelson fired a short left that landed cleanly on the jaw. Cowdell was unconscious before he reached the canvas, and it was finished at 2:24 of the first round. There was no tactical argument to be made after that. Cowdell was a fine technician, but Nelson possessed that rare combination of timing, accuracy and genuine finishing power. I expected a chess match. Nelson ended it with one move.