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Top 5 Ghanaian Boxers

Best Boxers from Ghana

Take a look at the top 5 boxers in history from Ghana. The boxing capital of Africa has been churning out high quality champions and contenders for decades.

    Be sure to check out the rest of our Boxing: The Best of a Nation series for more top 5 and 10 lists of the best boxers from different countries and locales.
  1. Azumah Nelson (Career: 1979-2008): The unquestioned Godfather of Ghanaian boxing, “The Professor” served notice he was the real deal in only his 14th fight, as he forced all-time great Salvador Sanchez to call on all his powers to stop Nelson in the 15th round in 1982 in the Mexican great’s last fight. Would not lose again until 1990. Won the WBC Featherweight Title by beating 41-1-1 legend Wilfredo Gomez. Added a 130-pound title in 1988, a title he would hold until 1994, when Jesse James Leija beat him by decision. Best win may have been his 1992 destruction of Hall of Famer Jeff Fenech, who everyone felt beat Nelson in their first fight, which was scored a draw. Stopped 41-2 Gabriel Ruelas in ’95 to reclaim the belt and avenged his loss to Leija by 5th-round knockout in his next fight at age 37, before finally giving up the belt for good to Genaro Hernandez after 19 title-fight victories.
  2. Ike Quartey (Career: 1988-2006): A darned-good welterweight when the division was at one of its deepest times. Beat 30-0 Crisanto Espana for the WBA belt in 1994. Among his 7 defenses were fights with talented contenders Vince Phillips, Oba Carr, and Jose Luis Lopez. Best-known fight was with a peak Oscar De La Hoya, where Quartey had Oscar down before losing a split decision.
    3. Credit: Tom Casino / Showtime
  3. Joseph Agbeko (Career: 1998- present): Resume might seem a bit thin, but run at bantamweight has been highly productive, including wins over Vic Darchinyan and former-conqueror Yonnhy Perez to position himself right at the top of a loaded division.
  4. Nana Konadu (Career: 1985-2001): Spidery 115 and 118-pounder could really hit, as shown by his 1989 five-knockdown stoppage of junior bantamweight legend Gilberto Roman. Rebounded from 2 losses to Korean champion Sung-Kil Moon with a long unbeaten streak, culminating in a win for the WBA Bantamweight Title against Veeraphol Sahaprom—who would go on to become a highly-decorated bantamweight champ. Lost title to another top Thai in Daorung Chuvatana, before reclaiming the title in the rematch. Two more wins led to a majority decision loss to 44-0-2 Johnny Tapia in his final title bout.
  5. Joshua Clottey (Career: 1995-present): Longtime welterweight standout finally made a dent in 2007 with a decision over Diego Corrales, leading up to a 2008 win over Zab Judah, earning the IBF Welterweight Title. Lost title in his next fight in a split decision to Miguel Cotto. Fared well against a demanding group of welterweights.

The big name fighters from Ghana keep on coming out, so before too long, this list of the top 5 best Ghanaian boxers might be shaken up a bit. Enjoy the list and comment below if you agree or would like to throw in some fresh perspective.