Diplo Rumble: Azumah, EU Ambassador fight ends in draw

Boxing Hall of Famer Azumah Nelson and European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly, sparred to an underwhelming draw in their high-profile exhibition bout at last Saturday's Diplo Rumble held at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra.

Fans who came to the arena expecting to see the offensive prowess of the former two-weight world champion were left disappointed over the three two-minute rounds, with Razaaly dominating the fight.

The fight started with Nelson going after Razaaly without punching and showing all the footwork as well as evasive maneuvers that won him the WBC featherweight and WBC super-featherweight titles.

However, it was Razaaly who landed all body shots in a round that saw no power punches from the diplomat, who has an amateur boxing background from his native France.

The second round followed in the same vein, with Nelson content to evade punches and go after Razaaly without throwing any punches.

At a pre-fight press briefing, Nelson had stated that he would be pulling no punches, but spectators had to wait until late in the third round for him to throw a meaningful punch with a late flurry of punches that drew applause from the crowd but failed to have the desired impact on his opponent. The fight ended in an embrace between both pugilists with the friendly nature of the session.

Surprisingly, the judges at ringside scored the fight a draw. The event was organised to promote the power of sports to foster
positive change for youth as part of this year's Europe Month celebrations.

In a post-fight interview, Razaaly said he had learned a lot from the session and was looking forward to a lasting relationship with Ghanaian boxing.

Nelson, who last fought in an exhibition fight, said he was feeling tired after the three rounds and urged the young fighters who were on the card to remain disciplined to reach world title level.

Highlights

The highlight of the night came after the Nelson-Razaaly fight, with Seth Gyimah aka Freezy Macbones stopping his opponent Gabriel Adoku in a light heavyweight clash.

In what appeared to be a physical mismatch, Gyimah savagely floored tough-talking Adoku twice in the opening round with powerful punches to his head before silencing him in the second round of a scheduled eight-round fight.

Adoku, who had sold the fight well with his lips at the weigh-in, was no match in the ring for Gyimah and failed to respond to the count after going down for the fourth time in the second round.

In another notable matchup, Dalvin Nelson, the son of Azumah Nelson, scored a close split (2-1) decision over Phillip Quansah in a lightweight clash.