Bright Lights From The ‘Dark’ Continent: Boxing Greats From Africa

By Jackie Edwards 

Boxing is more than just strength meeting strength. It’s about agility, speed and power and making quick decisions to beat your opponent. And it’s one of the primary skill sets that a mixed martial artist can have. Boxing has never lost its popularity, especially in Europe and the Americas. The legends of boxing in Europe and U.S., from Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson, Rocky Marciano to Benny Leonard and Mickey Walker live on well beyond their careers in the ring.

History of boxing

But the popularity of boxing started well before those famous names. Historical evidence leads to the suggestion that boxing was a sport that was prevalent in North Africa in 4000 BC, while the earliest evidence of boxing discovered in Sumerian relief carvings suggests that boxing was prevalent from the 3rd millennium BC. No wonder then that the continent of Africa has gifted quite a few accomplished African boxing greats to the world of boxing.

Africa’s boxing greats

Let’s check out the top 10 boxers that Africa has produced:

  1. Azumah Nelson. He is considered as one of the greatest boxers that Africa has produced.He won the world championship three times in two weight classes. He was also the winner of the gold medal in the 1978 Commonwealth games.
  2. Dick Tiger. Born in Nigeria, Dick Tiger won the world middleweight boxing championship in 1962. He succumbed to liver cancer in 1971.
  3. Ike Quartey. Born in Ghana, Quartey won the WBA welterweight title against Crisanto Espana of Venezuela in the 11th round.
  4. Brian Mitchell. Born in Johannesburg, Brian won the WBA Junior Lightweight Title in 1986 against defeating Alfredo Layne and defended the title 12 times.
  5. Vic Toweel. Victor Anthony Toweel won the world bantamweight championship in 1950. He was the first South African to hold a world title. He died in Sydney on 15 August 2008.
  6. John Mugabi. John Mugabi won a silver medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He also turned professional on 5 December 1980 by knocking out Oemer Karadens.
  7. Francois Botha. Frans Botha won the IBF World Heavyweight Title in Germany by defeating Axel Schulz in 1995 but was stripped of this title after testing positive for steroids.  He fought several world heavyweight champions including Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.
  8. Corrie Sanders. Cornelius Johannes Sanders became the WBO heavyweight champion by winning in 2003. He died on 21 September 2012 after being shot during a robbery.
  9. Cornelious Edwards. Born in Uganda, Cornelious Boza Edwards won the WBC World Junior Lightweight Title in 1981. He lives in the United States of America, where he trains boxers.
  10. Welcome Ncita. Welcome Ncita, called “The Hawk”, became a professional in 1984 and won the International Boxing Federation Super Bantamweight Title in 1990.

And with the next generation of African boxers set to take center stage to become the next world champions, the future of African boxing has never looked so strong.




 

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