Download PhotoSamuel Azumah Nelson
Africa’s greatest boxing legend, Samuel Azumah Nelson, credits his ancestors for endowing him with the qualities that carried him to three featherweight world championships and a place in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
“I need to show you where my courage and determination to succeed came from” he declared. “I am a proud Ghanaian with a Tabon DNA, power and spirit. You must be interested in your family history and to live the values it represents.” The Tabon were formerly enslaved people in Brazil. . With the abolishment of slavery in the late 1800s, his family made their way back to Africa.
“Zoom Zoom,” as Azumah is affectionately nicknamed, was pressed into labor at an early age, forgoing formal education to help provide for his family, including his parents and five siblings. He will tell a fascinating tale about how he rose from those humble beginnings to the pinnacle of his chosen sport.