Ghanaian boxing legend, “The Professor” Azumah Nelson was honoured with the WBC Champion Award at the 55th World Boxing Council (WBC) Convention in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday.
The event brought together close to 500 delegates from the 164 countries which make up the WBC and it looked to discuss important issues related to boxing apparel at the global level.
The WBC also sought to honour former champions including Azumah Nelson, Evander Holyfield and Kostya Tszyu who had set the ring alight with the dazzling performances in times past.
For Azumah Nelson, he held the WBC Featherweight and Super Featherweight titles at several points in his career. His professional record read: 39 Wins (28 Knockouts), 6 Defeats (1 Knockout) and 2 Draws.
Azumah Nelson with Bernard Hopkins
What was said at the convention?
High on the agenda was the issue of safety among boxers and World Boxing Council, President Mauricio Sulaiman mentioned that while boxers needed to be better protected, the WBC was also going to make sure that the sport of boxing would be made cleaner.
The convention also stated that new initiatives such as instant replays, open scoring for boxers in rounds and 4 and 8 of bouts to help them change strategy and headphones for judges they are not distracted by external noise during bouts.
Sulaiman also revealed that seminars would be organised for ring officials to help them improve on their performances.
There was also a decision ordering a rematch of the bout between Gennady Golovkin and Saúl Canelo Alvarez.
The first bout in September was ruled as a draw but the result did not sit well with the two boxers and fans of the sport after it emerged that judge Adelaide Byrd strangely scored it 118-110 for Canelo.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission stood her down after the bout.