Who holds the title as the greatest African fighter OAT? Tiger or The Prof? Its gotta be Tiger for me, but I would entertain an argument for Azumah.
Goddamn it X! You beat me to the joke I'd say Tiger too. Just comparing their achievements side-by-side, I think it's clear he comes out on top. Winning titles at 160 & 175 is more impressive than at 126 & 130. Being a top 10 MW is more impressive than being a top 15 FW. Résumé is all Tiger too; Fullmer 3x, Giardello, Carter, Torres 2x, Benvenuti, Hank, Florentino, etc; is one of the more impressive résumés in middleweight history IMO. Nelson's (Fenech, Gomez, Leija, Ruelas, Grove, Laporte, Villasana, McDonell, Martinez, Cowdell, etc.) is great as well, but not as great as Tiger's, for me. I think the real interesting debate is who was a better fighter. I'd say that was Nelson.
I've long thought Nelson were at his best as a counter-puncher, rather than an aggressive fighter. Aside from his tendancy to lull his way through fights with easy opposition (Villasana I, Martinez I, etc;) his long reach meant he were better off using his jab, and he forgot about it when he stalked someone. I can't quite remember what his best offensive performance were. Something is telling me Sanchez, but it's been a while since I watched that fight, and I may be misremembering, and thinking he were more impressive than he actually were.
Tiger has a better resume IMO, but I think Nelson was more well-rounded in terms of ability. When it comes to ranking them, I think it depends on what you want to emphasize more.
Nelson's performance against Sanchez is comparable to Duran's against Buchanan and Pacquiao's 1st with Barrera IMO - none of them were as polished or seasoned as they would become in their careers, but they performed with as much raw intensity and ferocity as they ever would in their careers.
While not a top fighter, he was destructive in his first fight following the Gomez win against Juvenal Ordenes. He was in front foot mode that entire fight, if I'm not mistaken.
Nelson also had primarily front foot performances against contenders Irving Mitchell and Hector Cortez:
Ahhh yes, how did I forget Cowdell? Where he infamously called out McGuigan, and called McGugian a girl in the post-fight interview.
I've always liked McGuigan, good fighter and very honest about his career. He was honest about Nelson too: "(Azumah) Nelson, that would have been a great fight, hands up. He was a better fighter than me; his career defines him as better than me. His longevity was greater than mine.”
