On this day 7 May 1994 (Exactly 26 years ago today) Jesse James Leija of the United States knocked down Azumah Nelson of Ghana, then went on to defeat him by unanimous decision and capture the World Boxing Council super featherweight championship at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, USA.
The 35 – year – old Ghanaian had held the crown for ten years.
The 27- year – old Leija who fought to draw with Azumah Nelson when they first met eight months earlier, was 8- to- 5 underdog entering the fight.
However, neither the knockdown nor a point deducted from Nelson’s score for a low blow in the ninth round was the main reason Leija won.
He earned the victory by pressing the champion, scoring inside and then ducking Nelson’s return fire.
Nelson opened a cut in the corner of Leija’s left eye in the fourth.
Leija won by scores of 117-109, 117-110 and 114-113 on the three judge’s scorecards.
The loss was only the second Nelson had suffered as a super featherweight, the first coming in 1982. Nelson’s only other loss was in 1990 when he unsuccessfully challenged the WBC and International Boxing Federation Lightweight champion Parnell Whitaker of the United States.
Leija earned $267,500 while Nelson collected $100,000.
Bout Summary
Date: 1994-05-07
Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Referee: Mitch Halpern
Judge: Jerry Roth 109-117
Judge: Jose Juan Guerra 110-117
Judge: Kamel Youssef 113-114
WBC Super Featherweight Title
Weights: Nelson 129½; Leija 130
Elsewhere;
On this day 7 May 2005 (Exactly 15 years ago today) The Sports Writers’ Association of Ghana (SWAG) honoured Ignatius Gaisah as the Sports Personality for the Year 2004 in Kumasi for his splendid performance in sporting arenas locally and internationally.
He was also designated athlete of the year and for his awards, he had trophies and certificates.
Margaret Simpson was honoured as the female athlete with the award of best football club going to Accra Hearts of Oak. Male footballer of the year went to Stephen Appiah while Memunatu Sulemana won the female footballer award.
Osmanu Yahaya received the professional boxer award with the chairman of the year award going to Mr Victory Ahiakpor of Heart of Lions Football Club.
The table tennis award went to Nana Yaw Boateng while Henry Adjei-Darko took the tennis star award. Mr Atta Eddie Pappoe and Nicholas Djomoah jointly received the referee award while Vivian Mills received the discovery of the year award.
Millicent Boadi had the most promising star award, dedication and valour honours went to Yaw Serbeh while the award for female hockey star went to Olivia Lartey with Ebenezer Frimpong receiving the male hockey star award.
Other personalities who received special awards were Geroge Dasoberi, Alhaji Karim Grusah, Madam Habiba Atta, Peter Annan, Black Wonders and Ghana’s CAN 2008 Bid Committee. All the others also had trophies and certificates as their awards.
On this day 7 May 2008 (Exactly 12 years ago today) Heart of Lions Chairman, Victor Ahiakpor pulled out a pistol at the El-Wak Stadium when fighting broke out during his team’s game with Zaytuna.
The fully loaded pistol with serial number 75U31820, a CAL 7mlm65 make was impounded by three soldiers who arrived at the scene. After an initial struggle with the security men, Ahiakpor surrendered the weapon to the soldiers and drove away in his Range Rover Sport car.
The chairman was apparently infuriated by the assault visited on one of the team’s backroom staff by some fans of Zaytuna after fighting broke out among supporters during the game. Ahiakpor who had joined the game midway in the company of some “macho men” complained about the lack of security at the stadium where the visitors lost by a lone goal. After several verbal exchanges, the men of the Lions’ chairman tried to force open one of the rooms where the Zaytuna hooligans were being kept apparently to retaliate but were restrained by the security men.
It was after tempers had escalated that the chairman pulled out the weapon. The security men sent the loaded pistol to the Military Police Barracks to lodge a complaint. Soon after that, two police cars filled with personnel arrived at the venue, which had hosted the over 90 minute’s game without a single police personnel.
On this day 7 May 1986 (Exactly 34 years ago today) Steaua București of Romania defeated FC Barcelona of Spain in a penalty shootout after 120 minutes of play could not separate the two sides to win the 30th European Champion Clubs’ Cup (now Champions League) at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Seville.
Barcelona had all of their spot-kicks saved by Steaua goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam, who was later dubbed “The Hero of Seville”. It was the first European Cup final to finish goalless and remains Steaua’s only European Cup triumph, and the first of only two won by an Eastern European club.
On this day 7 May 2003 (Exactly 17 years ago today) Arsenal thrashed Southampton, 6-1 at Highbury to start Gunners’ amazing English Premier League record 49-game unbeaten streak, which ended 24 October, 2004 with 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.
Arsenal’s Jermaine Pennant marked his Premiershjp debut with a hat-trick against humiliated FA Cup final opponents Southampton – but as a Cardiff dress rehearsal this Highbury encounter was a non-event.
Arsene Wenger’s side attempted to ease the disappointment of losing the title to Manchester United by taking a re-shuffled Southampton apart.
Pennant scored a hat-trick inside ten minutes in the first half, and Robert Pires was also on target three times as Arsenal strolled to an embarrassingly easy win.
Jo Tessem fired a meek reply for Southampton, but it was no form guide for the showpiece clash at The Millennium Stadium, such was the unfamiliar look of both line-up
Arsenal: Taylor, Toure, Luzhny (Tavlaridis 76), Stepanovs, Garry, Pennant (Hoyte 90), Parlour, van Bronckhorst, Pires (Bergkamp 62), Kanu, Henry. Subs Not Used: Wiltord, Warmuz.
Booked: Henry.
Southampton: Jones, Telfer, Williams, Michael Svensson, Bridge, Fernandes (Baird 27), Prutton, Anders Svensson (Oakley 55), Higginbotham, Tessem, Kevin Davies (Beattie 76). Subs Not Used: Aaron Davies, Ormerod.
Booked: Anders Svensson.
Attendance: 38,052.
Referee: U Rennie (S Yorkshire).
On this 7 May 1951 (Exactly 69 years ago today) The International Olympic Committee recognized the newly formed Soviet Olympic Committee (Russia) in the course of its session in Vienna, Austria, and invited the Soviet Union to participate in the upcoming 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.
The Soviet Olympic Committee was founded on April 21, 1951, bringing together 96 representatives from the all-Union sport associations, spokespersons of the Soviet Union based in the world sport agencies, as well as leading coaches, scientists, teachers, and public organizations.
The Committee was responsible for promoting the Olympic sports in the Soviet Union, sponsoring all of the preliminary activities, assembling the Olympic team, and handling all the relevant paperwork. Aside from the its compulsory duties, the Olympic Committee engaged in international relations, and reinforced the cooperation for peace and friendship of youth worldwide.
The opening of the Olympic Committee in the Soviet Union was followed by multiple widespread repercussions. The international sporting press recognized the foundation of the Soviet Olympic Committee as a progressive step. Soviet participation also boosted the international interest to the upcoming Olympics.
After the Soviet Union and a number of other socialist countries were accepted for participation, it gave rise to fierce debates about the possibility of peaceful cooperation of the contending political regimes in this sporting event, and whether the International Olympic Committee would have enough power to act as a mediator, accommodating teams from socialist, capitalist, and developing countries.
These fears had grounds, as since the 1950s, the International Olympic Committee had been busy managing conflicts and disputes of a political character with China, Korea, and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
The 1952 Games were the first ones in history to unite the teams of the two antagonistic political systems. This confrontation lasted for 40 years, and included all of the leading Western and Eastern countries. The major competition unfolded between the USSR and the United States: sports had become another weapon in the Cold War.
The chase after the medals was not only driven by the desire to score points, but had turned into a matter of the country’s political prestige. The athletes of both countries had to put up with a lot of pressure from the authorities. The fierce competition between the two superpowers led to a surge in the number of world records set at the Helsinki Olympics. In total, the Helsinki Games saw 66 records established, and 18 world records.
On June 10, 1952, before the American team was shipped off to Helsinki, the ‘New York Times’ came out with an appeal for the American Olympic team, encouraging them to teach the Soviets a lesson. It said that beating all of the 71 participating teams was desirable, however, it was the Soviet Union that had to be totally defeated.
The first appearance of the Soviet Olympic team did make an impression. In the track-and-field competition, the Soviets made it to second place in the overall standings, which was a real feat of strength, considering the American advantage in that area. For their part, the Soviet women placed first in track.
The most sensational was the gymnastics: both the Soviet men and women repeatedly topped the pedestal. Regardless of the pressure and prejudice of the judges, the entire gymnastics team showed wonders in every competition. Gymnast Viktor Chukarin became the absolute Helsinki Olympics champion with his 4 gold and 2 silver medals.
In the unofficial team standings, the USSR and the United States scored an equal number of points – 494. The American team, however, received 40 gold medals, while the Soviet Union only won 22. The US had 19 silver and 17 bronze medals, while the USSR brought home 30 silvers and 19 bronzes.
By: George ‘Alan Green’ Mahamah
