It isn’t every time that a boxing legend and a man who has braved many odds to become a colossus in his sport is moved to tears but every man has a weakness and for Azumah Nelson, that weakness is his deceased wife, Beatrice Tandoh, the woman he married at the prime of his illustrious life and career.
Speaking on Ghanaweb’s Sports Check programme, Azumah was almost moved to tears when asked about the influence and contribution of his late wife in his astounding career. “I don’t like talking a lot about her. But for me, she is the best. There are women but not every woman is a woman. This woman I am talking about is someone who can even die for you. I loved her but I believe God loved her more. One day, I hope to see her again, in heaven,” Azumah said in a very emotional tone.
Asked if Beatrice Tandoh’s death negatively affected him and his career, Azumah sharply affirmed “It affected me badly. It really affected me.”
Staring into the emptiness that surrounded him, Azumah shrugged and said “Anyway, that is in the past now.”
For the uninitiated, Azumah lost his first wife, Beatrice to cancer in the 1990’s. In the days leading up to the death of his wife, Azumah was preparing for his fight with American, Pennell ‘Sweatpea’ Whitaker.
Azumah lost that fight, but he has always attributed that painful defeat to his wife’s deteriorating health at the time.
In a previous interview, he said, “I received bad news about my sick wife ahead of the bout. I had a call from home that my wife’s situation was deteriorating.
“It affected me so much. I lost focus, I wasn’t concentrating. I wanted to just enter the ring and come out, so I could rush to my sick wife, he added.
Many years after Beatrice Tandoh died, Azumah married again, but it didn’t work out and he has since remained single.
Azumah Nelson, affectionately called, “The Boxing Professor”, assumed global status when he dominated the super featherweight division as a champion for more than10 years.
He was subsequently inducted as the first African into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the year 2004.
Azumah Nelson, a respected statesman in his native Ghana, also established the Azumah Nelson Foundation to help the young to realize their potential through education and sport.
Ahead of his 60th birthday later this month, Azumah Nelson will have another honour added to his countless accolades by the world’s premier boxing sanctioning body - The World Boxing Council (WBC).
