Legendary Ghanaian boxer Azumah Nelson has disclosed that he might have become a truck pusher if he had not taken up boxing and achieved success in the sport.
He explained that because he did not have much formal education, he devoted his time, energy, and resources to boxing, a decision that eventually paid off and led him to become a world champion.
The former WBC featherweight champion stated that if his boxing dreams had not materialized, he could have been pushing trucks on the streets of Accra or working as a cleaner just to make ends meet.
“Boxing is a tough game. What helps you become a world champion is discipline. When you haven’t been to school and you are in the ring, you must fight well. Boxing requires waking up in the morning, training in the afternoon, and again in the evening. It’s hard work, taking punches every day. So you have to set yourself a goal.”
“If I hadn’t succeeded in boxing, I would have been in Makola pushing trucks. I’m telling you the truth. Or maybe I would have been cleaning houses. But God helped me to achieve what I had to achieve in boxing. Today, I support many people, paying their school fees in Ghana, even though I never had the chance to go to school,” he said during a Ghana Boxing IMC press conference at the Accra Sports Stadium.
The Vice Chairman of the Ghana Boxing Interim Management Committee (IMC) also emphasised that the committee is working to address challenges in the sector to prevent fatalities.
Azumah Nelson further urged young boxers to take their education seriously, stressing that it would help them advance their careers and market themselves better.
“I didn’t go to school, so I want others to go to school. What I did, you cannot do. God never makes mistakes, if I had gone to school, I would never have been a doctor, and I would never have been a boxer. We are working so that future generations will follow what we have done, and we will never hear of someone dying again. Boxing is a tough game,” he added.
SB/JE
