- 5 months ago
The 3rd fight between WBC Super Featherweight Champion Azumah Nelson and Jesse James Leija on HBO Boxing After Dark
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00:00Leha of San Antonio, Texas, and Azuma Nelson of Ghana.
00:03The two fighters, as we've told you, have met twice before in the first of the two bouts.
00:09Leha appeared to have the edge, but wound up with a draw.
00:12Then Leha more thoroughly dominated the second of the two meetings,
00:16and although one scorecard had him winning by only a single point,
00:20the other two scorecards had him well ahead,
00:22and he went on to a decision victory over Nelson.
00:25Nelson has vowed, nobody will beat me twice.
00:28Larry Merchant, as we get ready for this bout,
00:31it's hard to imagine how, at age 37,
00:34two years after his last difficult passage with Leha,
00:38Azuma Nelson could turn this around
00:39by doing something different against the younger opponent.
00:43It is, but how can you dismiss somebody like Azuma Nelson?
00:47He's been buried very often before, and he's always come back to life.
00:51He is an amazing old guy in one of the lower weight divisions,
00:56and he is, after all, the champion once again.
01:00He says he will turn it around, apparently, by becoming very, very aggressive
01:05and trying to overwhelm Leha the way Gabriel Ruelas did
01:09when he took the title from Leha.
01:12But that's not what worries Leha and his camp.
01:15What they're worried about are WBC officials,
01:19and given history, it's something they should worry about.
01:24As Jim just described, whenever there was any question of a doubt in a round
01:29in those earlier two fights,
01:31it seemed that the officials would defer to Nelson.
01:37Some of the cards were much closer than the fight was.
01:41In addition to that, Leha found out that Nelson had been training in Richard Steele's gym,
01:49and Richard Steele is the referee tonight.
01:53That is an apparent conflict of interest.
01:57So Leha feels that he has to win nine or ten rounds to get the decision tonight.
02:02And the odds somehow reflect that.
02:05Amazingly, Nelson is a two-to-one favorite over the fighter
02:10who really has handled him twice before.
02:13And all of this situation about the WBC and the officials, Jim,
02:18does resonate for the big fight ahead next week, De La Hoya and Chavez.
02:24All right, we'll revisit that subject later on in the evening.
02:26Right now, let's go parenthetical for a moment,
02:29because the entire subject of corrupt judging leads us to the fact that
02:33earlier this week there were revelations regarding your upset loss
02:38to Park Sun-hee in the final of the Olympic boxing tournament at Seoul in 1988.
02:44You'll recall that Roy Jones was voted the outstanding boxer
02:48in the Olympics in Seoul in 1988,
02:50and yet when he fought in the final against Park of Korea,
02:54despite the fact that Jones landed twice as many blows as Park throughout the fight,
02:58got this standing eight count against Park in the second round,
03:02continued to dominate the fight, or appeared to do so in the third round,
03:06as we see here, when the judge's decision was announced
03:09in what was regarded as the most outrageous robbery
03:12in the long and outrageous history of seemingly corrupt judging in Olympic boxing.
03:19Roy Jones was denied a gold medal,
03:21and it was given instead to the Korean Park.
03:23I mentioned, Roy, revelations earlier this week,
03:26new information indicating that the judges who denied you the gold medal
03:31may well have been bribed to do so.
03:33What do you know about it,
03:34and do you know of any possibility that you might wind up with a gold medal from the IOC anyway?
03:38Well, what I know about it is that me and the coaches of the Olympic staff,
03:43when I was there,
03:44had already made pretty much allegations that that was the case.
03:47We figured that that was the only thing that could have happened.
03:51That was the only possible way of me losing that decision.
03:54And if the IOC does what I think they should do
03:58and go ahead and confront the people again about my gold medal,
04:01I think they can win the case this time.
04:02However, I have been living a long time without a gold medal.
04:06It would mean a lot to me to get it,
04:08but I don't cry for spilled milk,
04:09and I don't want anybody to go say,
04:11well, he's still worrying about a gold medal because I'm not.
04:13I came back, I proved my point.
04:15If I can get my gold medal, fine,
04:17because I do honestly and rightfully deserve that.
04:20But if I don't, you know, I'll live with it this long,
04:22and I'll continue to live on without it.
04:24We'd like to see you wearing it right here on the next Boxing After Dark.
04:27Thank you very much.
04:28Let's bring it back to the subject of Jesse James Leha,
04:30who goes into the ring against Azuma Nelson.
04:32You'd heard Larry Merchant suggesting that Leha probably believes
04:36he has to win nine or ten rounds or get a knockout to win the fight.
04:39Is that an extra burden for him to carry into the ring?
04:41No, I don't think it's an extra burden
04:43because I think as you prepare for a fight,
04:45you should go out to win every round in the fight.
04:47I always prepare to go out and win every round.
04:49I don't plan to give the guy any rounds,
04:51so I don't think that should be an extra burden.
04:54But one thing that I do think will be a part in this fight
04:56is that Leha is coming off of two big losses in his career.
05:00Azuma Nelson has just came off of regaining his world title
05:04that he's held for so long,
05:05and I think his confidence may be at a high,
05:08and the other fellow may not have the confidence that he had
05:12in the two previous meetings.
05:13So this could be a very interesting fight here tonight.
05:16All right, let's take a look now at the tail of the tape
05:19for James Leha and Azuma Nelson,
05:22and you can see that they are identical in size.
05:26There's an eight-year age advantage that belongs to Leha,
05:29and Nelson is given a tiny edge of an inch or so in reach.
05:36Pronstadt numbers Larry Merchant
05:38and the story of jabs in the first couple of fights.
05:41Well, what we see in these jabs
05:43is that Leha increased the number of jabs in his fight,
05:49and if you recall, Nelson has been complaining
05:51that something was in his eyes during that second fight.
05:55I think it was simply Leha's left hand.
05:59And here we take a look at Nelson's jabs.
06:03Conversely, he only landed nine jabs per round
06:06in the second fight.
06:07Despite the fact that he opened a nasty gash
06:09over Leha's eye in that fight,
06:12he couldn't take advantage of it.
06:15Rules of the bout with cult figure Harold Letterman.
06:18The Azuma Nelson-Jesse James Leha fight
06:20is scheduled for 12 rounds.
06:22There is no standing eight count,
06:24no three-knockdown rule.
06:25Only the referee can stop the fight,
06:27and he can be saved by the belt
06:28in the 12th and final round only.
06:31Jim.
06:33And now James Leha,
06:36for whom Jesse, incidentally,
06:37is not officially part of his name.
06:39It was his father's given name,
06:41and simply has become attached to his name
06:43as part of his boxing identity.
06:46The Bears go into the ring for the third time
06:48against Azuma Nelson.
06:50Harold, what do you know
06:51about the two foreign officials
06:53who are at ringside for this fight?
06:56The judges.
06:57Larry, Angel Lewis Guzman
06:59has been judging 26 years.
07:01I don't think there's really
07:01any great a judge into him.
07:03As far as Richie Davies from Great Britain,
07:05it's a tricky situation
07:06because, number one,
07:07this is his first world title fight,
07:09and number two, in Great Britain,
07:10he's a referee.
07:11Most referees don't want to judge,
07:13and also in Great Britain,
07:15the referees, they don't, you know,
07:17there are no judges in Great Britain,
07:18so therefore he looks at the fight
07:20with a completely different perspective,
07:21and this may be scaring the Leha people.
07:27The record for Jesse James Leha,
07:30and Roy Jones referred to those two tough losses,
07:32one of them to Gabriel Ruelas
07:34a couple of years ago,
07:36and then a loss earlier this year
07:38to Oscar De La Hoya
07:39in Madison Square Garden.
07:42And actually, it was in December of 1995.
07:45He moved up to 135 to fight De La Hoya,
07:47and according to the Leha people,
07:50that one virtually doesn't count.
07:51They didn't expect to have a chance
07:52to win the fight going in, really.
07:54Yeah, but as a result of that fight,
07:57for agreeing to take that fight, Jim,
07:59he got an agreement to fight again
08:01for the title,
08:02and that's why he's here tonight.
08:03Good luck.
08:04Good luck.
08:05Good luck.
08:07Good luck.
08:07Good luck.
08:09Hallelujah.
08:10Good luck.
08:12Stunning fifth-round KO over Gabriel Ruelas
08:18in Ruelas' first appearance
08:19after his unfortunate experience
08:22with Jimmy Garcia.
08:25Ruelas, of course, the winner in the fight,
08:27as the result of which Garcia eventually died.
08:32You know, Nelson has been saying
08:35some of the most awful things
08:37about Leha in this fight,
08:39and it's so uncharacteristic of him
08:42to be saying he's going to put Leha
08:44into a coma by the first or second round.
08:47He's going to make him retire.
08:49He's going to knock him out.
08:50And again, this goes back
08:52to what I said earlier, Jim,
08:54that I think he thinks
08:55that he has to try to overpower Leha.
08:59Or he could be planting a seed in Leha's mind
09:03and may intend to do exactly the opposite
09:05and come out and box him as a cutie.
09:07He's certainly capable of that.
09:09The overall record for Nelson,
09:10the first of those losses, incidentally,
09:12was back in 1979
09:14in Madison Square Garden
09:16against the late, great Salvador Sanchez.
09:19It was a 15th round TKO for Sanchez
09:22just three weeks before Salvador died
09:24in his automobile accident.
09:27A fight that I may have seen
09:28about 150 times, of course.
09:30And it's a great one, isn't it?
09:31Yes, it is.
09:32Truly, indeed,
09:32one of the greatest fights of all time.
09:34Let's go to Michael Buffer
09:35for the introductions.
09:37Ladies and gentlemen,
09:38Top Rank Incorporated,
09:40along with your undisputed,
09:42undefeated king of beers,
09:44Budweiser.
09:44This Bud's for you.
09:46Present 12 rounds of boxing
09:48for the WBC Super Featherweight Championship
09:52of the World.
09:54This bout is sanctioned
09:55by the Nevada State Athletic Commission
09:57and the World Boxing Council.
09:59WBC President, Jose Sullivan,
10:02Supervisor for the WBC at ringside,
10:04is Roy Van Patten.
10:07Your Nevada Commission members and officials,
10:09including Executive Director Mark Ratner,
10:11are the same,
10:12except for the judges and referees.
10:14The three judges assigned
10:16scoring the bout
10:17on a 10-point must system
10:19will be Angel Luis Guzman,
10:22Jerry Roth,
10:24and Richie Davies.
10:25And when the bell rings,
10:27the man in charge of the action,
10:29your referee,
10:30Richard Steele.
10:35And now, ladies and gentlemen,
10:37from Boulder Station Hotel and Casino
10:40here in Las Vegas, Nevada,
10:42let's get ready to rumble!
10:48Let's get ready to rumble!
10:53Introducing the first,
10:55fighting out of the red corner,
10:57wearing black trim with silver
10:58and weighing in at 130 pounds.
11:02His professional record is 30 victories
11:04with two defeats and two draws.
11:06He has scored 14 knockouts.
11:10Ladies and gentlemen,
11:11introducing the pride of San Antonio, Texas,
11:15the challenger, former silver featherweight,
11:19champion of the world,
11:21Jesse James!
11:23And here's the winner across the ring,
11:35fighting out of the blue corner,
11:37wearing red and gold with green trim
11:40and weighing also 130 pounds.
11:43He brings a professional record into the ring
11:45of 38 victories
11:46with only three defeats and two draws.
11:49He has captured three world title belts
11:51in his pro career.
11:53Ladies and gentlemen,
11:54from Ghana, Africa,
11:56presenting the WBC
11:58super featherweight champion of the world,
12:03the professor,
12:05Azuma
12:05Nosa!
12:11Please!
12:13Take care of business, baby!
12:14Okay, I spoke to both fighters
12:31in the dressing room.
12:32I'm cautioning again.
12:33Obey my commands at all times.
12:35Shake hands.
12:36Good luck.
12:37Jim, there's a jewelry convention in town.
12:41I read where some $4 or $6 billion worth of jewels
12:45are laying around here,
12:47but there's no greater jewel
12:48than this man, Nelson, in boxing.
12:52You just wonder how long he can continue
12:54to sparkle the way he has.
12:57An amazing specimen.
13:00Career marked by ups and downs.
13:04Stretched out over such a long period of time,
13:06he once fought on a card
13:07where on the undercard,
13:09Tim Witherspoon was fighting Sam Scaff
13:11for the right to move to a title bout
13:13with Tony Tubbs.
13:14It's been that long for the professor.
13:19And he stayed just as strong
13:21and just as smart
13:22and has nowhere to hover.
13:24And he goes to the body with the left
13:25and over the top of the right
13:27and true to his word,
13:29Azuma Nelson is gonna try
13:30to take James Leha out early.
13:33Just a chance is very calm
13:37through all this, though,
13:38and that's what it takes.
13:39That shows you the heart of a champion.
13:43And also the question is,
13:44if he doesn't stop him
13:47or hurt him here,
13:48how long can he sustain
13:49that kind of a fight?
13:52At age 37,
13:53that is a big question.
13:54Let's also note that
14:06Azuma does have respect
14:08for Jesse James' punching power
14:09because Jesse did knock Azuma down right.
14:14Second round of their second fight,
14:17Leha had Azuma Nelson down.
14:18Leha scored consistently
14:23with uppercuts against Azuma.
14:26In order to do that,
14:28he has to slip inside of Azuma's gap.
14:32What Leha is also doing
14:34is he's punching Azuma's left arm
14:36to weaken that left arm early.
14:39He landed four shots to the bicep.
14:48Right hand over the top for Nelson.
14:54You wonder if Nelson
14:56decided to adopt
14:57the quick knockout strategy
14:59after seeing how easily
15:01De La Hoya handled Leha
15:02in Madison Square Garden.
15:04Maybe he did,
15:05but he had to realize
15:06that he is not as a bigger person
15:08as De La Hoya is size-wise.
15:10And I don't truly think
15:12he has the shock
15:13or the power in his punches
15:14that De La Hoya has now.
15:16Maybe once in his younger age,
15:18but not now.
15:19No way.
15:35Double left hand by Leha.
15:37One to the body
15:37and one to the chin.
15:39Azuma comes back
15:40with a combination
15:41and lands a right hand
15:42over the top.
15:47I don't know if Azuma
15:48truly can hurt Leha.
15:49Oh, there you are.
15:50Oh, yeah.
15:51He sure can.
15:53Yeah, he's hurt badly now.
15:56And that's it.
15:57I don't think
15:58he will ever recover from this.
15:59This fight is all over.
16:01This fight is all over.
16:02Leha up at nine
16:04and the round ends
16:05so Jesse will get a minute
16:07to try to clear his head.
16:09Can I ask a question?
16:10Did you have a ten-second slap?
16:12What's that?
16:13The ten-second slap.
16:14Was that an accurate round?
16:16Well, I saw him lift the knee
16:18between nine and ten
16:20and I was pretty sure
16:20he got it up.
16:21No, I'm talking about it.
16:25That was a shot.
16:26How are you?
16:27Okay?
16:27How are you, Mom?
16:28Good to know what I am.
16:29Put that one more.
16:31Good to know what I am.
16:31All right, now.
16:32Take that one more.
16:33That was a shot.
16:35Okay.
16:35You're all right.
16:36You're all right.
16:37Let's take a look at that punch.
16:43A big right hand
16:44as Leha has his hand down low
16:47as big and perfect a right hand
16:50as Nelson could land.
16:53Leha was trying to throw
16:54a right uppercut
16:55and that's the worst time
16:56in the world to get hit
16:57with any type of a punch.
17:00You still think Leha
17:01can't recover from that, Roy?
17:03Well, I think he can't now
17:04since he had a round.
17:05It's a possibility.
17:06I'm not sure if he will
17:07but in that round
17:08he was truly through.
17:09So you're saying
17:10you didn't hear the slap
17:11to indicate that only
17:1210 seconds remained
17:13in the round.
17:13That's what I was saying.
17:15Well, that was during the count.
17:19Exactly.
17:20Because they were counting.
17:22Yeah.
17:22So that's why you didn't hear it.
17:26Great body shot.
17:27Azuma can't get careless here
17:28because Leha is still strong.
17:36I think Azuma's going to be thinking
17:38right hand again.
17:40I'm sure he is.
17:41He wants to see Leha
17:42back on the camera.
17:45Overhand right.
17:46This one falls a little short.
17:56Nelson almost certainly
17:58with a 10-8 round
17:59in round number one.
18:00So an early scoring deficit
18:02for Leha.
18:14Leha must be
18:16in a wonderful condition
18:18to have survived
18:18quite as well as he has.
18:20You would not know
18:21he had been knocked down
18:22at this ground.
18:30Azuma's really going up in here.
18:32He said show up early
18:33and he meant every word of it.
18:38James got in a right hand counter
18:40but this is mostly all
18:41Azuma Nelson
18:42midway through round two.
18:46Well, James is fighting
18:47a smart fight here.
18:48He is beating Azuma's body.
18:51This is what we can assume
18:51if this fight goes
18:52within eight or ten rounds.
18:54So Leha should be looking
18:55to pick his spots to the body.
18:57Yes, he should
18:57because this takes the power
18:59out of a power puncher.
19:03Hard left hand lands for Leha
19:06as Azuma backs away.
19:14I don't recall seeing
19:16Nelson come out this fast before.
19:19It's not his normal style.
19:21But this is an out-the-dark fight
19:25and this is our natural style.
19:28And as you said earlier, Roy,
19:31that after having won 24 rounds
19:33with each other,
19:34they might as well come out
19:35and start fast.
19:38That's the great thing
19:39about fighting a guy
19:40two or three times.
19:45Good body shot by Azuma.
19:46Azuma really committing
19:51to every right hand.
19:56Fighting entirely flat-footed,
19:58thinking power all the way.
20:01That's the way he always did it.
20:03We're going to fight all night.
20:12I said, that's what I want.
20:15Punch with power.
20:17Breath.
20:18It's all right.
20:20One more time.
20:22Nice and smooth.
20:23Make the boy miss
20:24and then you can counter.
20:25Okay?
20:26Make him think of the right hand
20:27and you come back with the left.
20:28You make him think of the left
20:30and you come back
20:30with whatever you want to.
20:32And you make him do
20:33whatever you want to.
20:34You want to throw the right hand
20:35lower your left
20:36and come back with it.
20:38Beautiful.
20:39Very nice.
20:40Okay?
20:42Don't let your hands go down.
20:43Keep your hands up there
20:44and back.
20:45Don't get too close.
20:46Like I said,
20:47watch out hard.
20:48Okay?
20:48You didn't go around.
20:50We win this round,
20:50but we're going to win.
20:51Big.
20:52Okay?
20:53But be very careful.
20:54We find the target
20:55and then we release the power.
20:57You got it, baby.
20:59One last.
21:00Come on, James.
21:02Hey!
21:03Among various bad signs
21:05early for Leha,
21:06he has not been able
21:08to get off with his jab at all,
21:09landing only 10 of 57
21:10in the first two rounds.
21:12Nelson, on the other hand,
21:1333 connects
21:15in 71 jabs thrown
21:17in the first two rounds.
21:18So Nelson is setting the tempo
21:19with the jab
21:20and following up
21:21with big right hands.
21:26I think Nelson
21:27has developed
21:28a new respect for Leha
21:29and this is why
21:30he's landing his jab
21:31and this is why
21:32Leha is not landing his jab.
21:34And I think if Leha
21:35is going to get back
21:35in the fight,
21:36Roy will do it
21:37with the left hook.
21:38And the body puncher.
21:39He needs the maskian.
21:49And your hands,
21:49we need the six
21:50left hookah.
21:50Let's go.
21:55He says,
21:56just make a difference.
21:58And in the last few hands,
21:59we'll be able
22:00to keep helping,
22:00but I think some
22:00of them can be
22:01handled in the first two rounds.
22:03And so a new respect .
22:04.
22:28Azuma has so much confidence in his ability to skip a punch.
22:32He sits there and is just so calm
22:34with the way he slips Lehigh's big punches.
22:37Lehigh just doesn't look as quick
22:38as he did in the first couple of fights.
22:40Well, because those losses take that type of stuff out of you.
22:43That was the effect that I was speaking of earlier
22:45when I said after a fight of losing a couple of fights,
22:47he's not the same.
22:48But he is punching hard.
22:53And maybe more telling than the loss to De La Hoya
22:55was the 12-round war that he lost to Gabriel Ellis.
22:58He took a lot of heavy shots from Gabriel.
23:00Yeah, and Gabriel did knock him down.
23:02It looks like Nelson now seems to have gone back
23:14to wanting to be a counterpuncher,
23:17and I think Lehigh now is dictating again
23:19because Nelson is allowing him to.
23:22Which is just what I was about to say.
23:26Lehigh landing two left hooks in recent sequences.
23:31And that's a big mistake by Nelson
23:33to let Lehigh push the issue
23:35because if Lehigh gets the chance to push the issue,
23:38he will outpoint Nelson.
23:42Azuma cracking Lehigh with a hard overhand right.
23:46Lehigh looking for more opportunities
23:47to go to the body with the left hook.
23:49Azuma takes the initiative again
23:50and lands another right hand.
23:53And a big left.
23:54That's the best fight for Azuma to push the issue.
23:59If he waits, Lehigh will knock him out.
24:00They'll do it.
24:01Hey, let's try it.
24:16That's a good round, okay?
24:19That's what's you're gonna...
24:19keep it out.
24:20He's jumping to your right.
24:21He's jumping to your right.
24:22He's jumping to your right.
24:24He's going down.
24:26Hold the bucket, somebody. I'm going to look at them.
24:27Hold the bucket.
24:28Spirit of the Games, it's coming up Tuesday night.
24:31Let's have another look at the promotion.
24:34Return to a time of true Olympic gold.
24:37I didn't even think about making the main sport, I can tell you.
24:40You did it for the love of sports.
24:42Strip away the years.
24:44Rediscover the Summer Games.
24:47Unadorned, pure, and simple.
24:49And never-before-seen home movies.
24:51With Olympic athletes telling their own stories in their own words.
24:54This is what you've trained 10,000 hours for.
24:57Return to the Spirit of the Games.
25:00Premieres Tuesday night at 10.15 on HBO.
25:08Round four, and Azuma Nelson had decreed that it wouldn't last more than three.
25:14So, Leha has weathered the early storm.
25:17Now can he find a way to turn the fight to his tactical advantage?
25:22I think he can.
25:23In this fight, I must say, the old man is starting to show a few signs of getting old.
25:27Because he wanted to come out and push the issue, but he just can't hold up that pace like he wants to.
25:32But he did score an early knockdown against Leha.
25:35And seemed to establish his way of fighting in the first few rounds.
25:38So you would expect Nelson to have an early lead in points as he pounds away at Leha against the ropes again.
25:49Hopefully.
25:50Straight right hand lands for Leha.
26:05Sneaking in left hooks to the body.
26:07Starting to connect with the jab.
26:09Things getting a little bit better as times go on for James Leha.
26:13Three straight jab to the body.
26:37You don't often see that way.
26:39No, you don't see that.
26:41Jesse James Leha is making a big mistake by sitting here and letting Azuma just dictate the fight.
26:50Azuma is the older of the two.
26:52He should make the older man work.
26:53Well, when you've made your reputation over the years by getting off and winning exchanges,
27:08winning fights in which you were willing to trade shots like James Leha,
27:12sooner or later you reach the end of the diving board.
27:14And you don't necessarily have to be 35 years of age for it to happen.
27:18You got a point there.
27:22He's had a lot of tough rounds against tough fighters, including 24 rounds with Azuma.
27:27That's a great right hand by Leha, though.
27:29And Azuma answers with an overhand right of his own.
27:33Azuma's throwing a good left uppercut because Leha's stepping his hook.
27:36So the more Leha steps into the left hook, the more Azuma will come back with a left-hand uppercut.
27:45Yeah, he fools him like he's going to throw the left uppercut to make him duck straight down.
27:49I mean, like he's going to throw the left hook to make him duck straight down.
27:51And he throws the left uppercut instead.
27:53So Leha runs right into it.
27:55There's a good left hook by Leha, and he lands a right hand behind it.
27:59Best flurry of the bout so far for James Leha.
28:02Now, this is what he should be doing.
28:04I think the whole fight will wear down.
28:10That's what you got to do, okay?
28:13That's what you got to do.
28:14What up?
28:15Open up, open up.
28:20What up?
28:21I just want to make sure I don't give him any trouble.
28:25Harold Letterman, how do you have it so far?
28:27Well, Jim, 39-36, three rounds to one, Azuma Nelson.
28:32I really didn't think Jesse James Leha was going to get up at the end of the first round,
28:35because to me, he looked like he was gone.
28:37But in any case, I thought that the second and third round, he was really fighting a lot on instinct.
28:42And the fourth round, he seemed to come alive.
28:43He just started to back up Nelson.
28:45He started to get busy.
28:46He started to punch, and he won the fourth round.
28:48Three to one, Azuma Nelson.
28:49I have it two rounds to one, and one even for Leha.
28:55The points are even.
28:57It's an even fight because of the knockdown in the first round, the two-point round for Nelson.
29:05I thought that Leha won the last two rounds.
29:08Round five of a scheduled 12 rounds, Azuma Nelson's super featherweight title at stake
29:19in his third battle with Jesse James Leha.
29:21Good street riding.
29:51He's got a hand by Leha.
29:54Just missing with the left hook, but he lands the straight right again.
29:58And the body punches are setting all this up.
30:01And that's what I said he should have been doing the whole time.
30:03This way you make the older fighter work, and you take a lot out of him by hitting him to his body.
30:11Oh, good shot, Azuma.
30:12Azuma goes to the low blow, and Leha comes back with a low blow of his own.
30:15Actually, I don't think Azuma was a low blow.
30:21I think Azuma was trying to wear Leha down by letting him throw a lot of punches.
30:36I think Azuma was trying to wear Leha down by letting him throw a lot of punches.
30:40This seems to be his game plan right now, but the thing is, taking punches takes just as much out of you as throwing them does.
30:57I always thought it took more out of you, Roy.
31:07Oh, a cut.
31:08A cut is developed right there from that left hook over the eye of Leha.
31:11A bad cut.
31:13Huge cut over the right eye, and you're exactly right, Roy.
31:15It came from that left hook.
31:17And Azuma wants to go in for the kill.
31:19And Leha was hurt by a left body side there, too.
31:24Plenty of time to finish in round five.
31:27Nelson thinking knockout for the second time in the bout.
31:30And this is a dog fight.
31:32You know, Leha has been cut on many occasions and survived, including the last time these two fought.
31:38There's that left hookup that I told you about.
31:40Come on, come on.
31:42But this is a nasty cut, the blood flowing into Leha's eyes.
31:47Nelson has to be very careful.
31:49Leha is still a big, dangerous puncher.
31:53Leha considering whether to start unloading the kitchen against Azuma,
31:57because this cut may not give him many more chances in the bout.
32:06And I must admit that Nelson seems to be the strong of the two right now.
32:17The cut man in Leha's corner is Joe Souza.
32:33If you saw Arturo Gotti versus Wilson Rodriguez on the second installment of Boxing After Dark,
32:40and if you saw it, you'll never forget it, Gotti's cut man who rescued his man's chances to win that fight
32:45was Joe Souza, this same guy.
32:48This cut is very similar over the other eye as it occurred in the second fight.
32:54There is the punch that opened his eyes.
32:57On four or five occasions, Lehas has been cut and has had plastic surgery,
33:02so that if you saw him, you wouldn't really know that he had had all of those cuts.
33:07But he said to us yesterday, I cut too easily.
33:10I just hope that Steele will give me a chance to stay in there if it happens.
33:14And there he got hit with a double left hook right on the cut at the beginning of the round.
33:19Azuma Nelson, the old professor, taking James Leha to school now as round six begins.
33:25There was also two great body shots by the veteran.
33:27The old professor thinks he has lifetime tenure.
33:40The one thing he has to be, oh, good hook, oh, there he is, he's out.
33:43Leha is hurt badly.
33:46Leha not holding on, electing the punch back instead.
33:51Good body shot by the professor.
33:53These body shots are really taking a toll on Leha.
33:55Steele pulls him apart.
34:01He wants to stop the fight because he knows Leha is beginning to show wear and tear.
34:05He better punch back or Steele will stop his fight.
34:13The body shots have weakened Leha so much that his punches don't have the same power on him.
34:19But he's still got the guts to throw as blood envelops his right eye.
34:24He has the heart of a champion.
34:26He landed a great body shot there.
34:28But I just don't know if he can come back from this.
34:32Azuma slowing down for the moment.
34:36After having thoroughly dominated the first 60 seconds of this round, he came out of his corner
34:41and threw those two left hooks in a hurry to reopen the cutover Leha's eye.
34:47And since then, he's been landing more or less at will.
34:53Jim, I must say that I think the two losses are the main factor here.
34:58Because Leha just doesn't have the same confidence that he had before.
35:01Yeah, but I also have to give Nelson credit.
35:04Yeah.
35:05Richard Steele seen enough.
35:07And Azuma Nelson has the technical knockout victory he so badly wanted
35:13in his revenge bout against James Leha.
35:17The diamond keeps sparkling.
35:19He is an amazing character, Azuma Nelson.
35:22I don't recall a top fighter in the lower weight division sustaining this kind of quality these
35:32many years.
35:33Ever.
35:33Ever.
35:34And Richard Steele's been ripped in the past for what people thought were quick stoppages,
35:38but I'm not sure you can criticize this one, Roy.
35:40No, I think this was excellent because the guy with short and wear and tear, Azuma clearly
35:46wore this guy down with body punches.
35:48He made Leha punch, he made Leha punch, he took all of it, he blocked it, and then he
35:52wore Leha's body down.
35:54And in this last round, prior to the stoppage, Leha simply not ready or willing to fight back
36:01enough to prevent Richard Steele from calling a halt.
36:12And we'll take another look at the sequence prior to the stoppage.
36:18Azuma landing lefts and rights, and then setting up the target and coming in with a combination,
36:25and Richard Steele says enough.
36:26The fans definitely and obviously want to see death, but it's not going to happen here.
36:39Richard Steele, because of a very, very severe laceration to the right eye of Jesse James
36:46Leha had to call a halt to the bow.
36:49We'll have the official time for you in just a moment.
36:59This great warrior has just been worn down by a true old veteran.
37:04No complaint from Leha when the fight was stopped.
37:06You heard the crowd booing, but Jesse James himself walked to his corner and accepted
37:13Steele's stoppage with total equanimity.
37:15You can see that Nelson landed almost exactly twice as many punches as Leha in the bout.
37:22Was landing at a 51% connect percentage, and this is thorough dominance on Azuma Nelson's
37:28card, incidentally, the three judges had it scored 48, 46, 48, 46, 49, 46, all in favor
37:35of Azuma Nelson.
37:36So the old professor was headed toward a possible decision victory if he wasn't able to get
37:42the stoppage, and he did.
37:43And now Michael Buffer with more of the particulars.
37:46Once again, the bout was called a halt to because of a very severe laceration suffered to the
37:52right eye of Jesse James Leha.
37:55He was unable to continue.
37:57Referee stops the bout at 158, 158 of round number six.
38:01The winner, and still WBC super featherweight champion of the world, the professor, Azuma Nelson.
38:13And the final look at the scene in the ring.
38:32Azuma Nelson at age 37, 17 years as a professional fighter, has the 39th victory of his illustrious
38:41career, and Larry Merchant is with him.
38:43Azuma, Azuma, congratulations to you.
38:48You did what you said you would do.
38:50Did you think, having watched Leha lose to De La Hoya and to Ruelas, that you could overpower him?
39:00First of all, I'd like to thank Mangal for making this possible.
39:05Mangal, let me know that with Tim Maltese are possible.
39:09I mean, I love my God, and my God is able.
39:13I'd like to thank all my church members, ARS members.
39:16I say, I love you.
39:18I love Mr. Saki, my friends.
39:22Hey, Babu, wherever you are, come home.
39:24I love you.
39:24I miss you, baby.
39:25I'd like to give thanks to Babaron for giving me this opportunity to prove myself once again.
39:31And now I'm ready.
39:32Okay, now let me repeat the question.
39:36Did you think, having watched Leha get overpowered by Ruelas and by De La Hoya, that that was how you had to fight him?
39:45No, no, no, not that.
39:47You know, I told you before the fight that, I mean, nobody can beat me twice.
39:53You know, this is the history that I'm making, and nobody can beat me twice.
39:57But you were more aggressive than we have seen you earlier in the fight.
40:01Why was that?
40:02I mean, that's what I told you.
40:03Look, I wanted to take him out in the first round, you see, but I decided not to take him out in the first round, you know, so I wanted to punish him for a while and prove people think I'm old and I can't go the distance, you know, and I want to, I decided, I changed my mind that I wanted to knock him out in the 11th or 12th round so that people would know that the stamina that I have is unquestionable.
40:27Well, let's take a look at the first round knockdown, if we can get it up here on the monitor, and you tell us what you saw in the first round.
40:37Look at this right hand.
40:39And look at this round.
40:40Nobody can take it like that.
40:42But, you know, he's a very strong guy.
40:44I said before that, if he goes two rounds, he'll go to coma.
40:50But I decided I have to punish him.
40:52I have to let him know that, I mean, I'm the best in the world.
40:54All right, as the best in the world, what's next?
40:58Are you going to go back to your homeland for another year and come back and beat somebody else?
41:04And who would that somebody else should be?
41:06I don't know.
41:06I wish I could fight tomorrow or next week.
41:09But it all depends on my new promoters now, Barbarone and the company.
41:14I mean, I'm with it for them.
41:15What about they say?
41:15They tell me to go on tomorrow.
41:17Hey, man, I take it, but I don't care who I fight.
41:19Thank you very much, Azuma Nelson.
41:22And here, let's talk to Jesse James Leha.
41:27Jesse, you were in against a different fighter tonight, even though he looked familiar to you.
41:33Or were you just not the same fighter you had been when you fought him before?
41:39No, I'm the same fighter.
41:41I just think it was his night.
41:43I tried.
41:43I fought hard, and he fought hard, and it was just his night.
41:46The other two times were my night.
41:48You said beforehand that you thought he would come out hard.
41:53Were you surprised?
41:55Why couldn't you hold him off?
41:57No, it's not that I couldn't hold him off.
41:58I just got caught with a good punch, and it could happen to anybody in boxing.
42:02And he's a good fighter, and I'm a good fighter.
42:04I just happened to get caught tonight.
42:06It was his night, not my night, and he won.
42:08You came back after the knockdown and did pretty well for two or three rounds.
42:13Had you felt no effects from that punch?
42:17Really, I didn't feel too much from that punch.
42:19To tell you the truth, when you get down, you really don't know if you were down or not.
42:22I guess I got up right away.
42:23I wasn't hurt.
42:25It's just, you know, one of them things.
42:28I have to go back and look at the tape and see why I went wrong.
42:29He opened your eye pretty badly there.
42:34It's a nasty gash that looks just like the one you had over your left eye in the last fight.
42:40Do you think that referee Steele properly ended it because of that
42:45and because of the punishment you were taking?
42:47Well, I don't know.
42:48I have to go back and look at the tape.
42:49I cut real easily, and that's always been my problem in boxing.
42:52I cut too easy, and that's been my downfall.
42:54But to no excuse, he just, today was his night, and he was a better fighter tonight.
43:00That's plain and simple.
43:01And for your fans in San Antonio and elsewhere, you have no quarrel with the stoppage of the fight?
43:07I'm not too sure.
43:08I have to go back and look at the tape and observe it and see what happened.
43:12But, hey, I mean, this is boxing.
43:15You know, it's a weird sport.
43:17It's a fun sport, but it has its ups and downs, and I have to go back home and look at the tape,
43:22and maybe he'll give him a rematch like I gave him a rematch.
43:25Thank you very much, Jesse James.
43:27And now back to Jim and Roy.
43:30All right, thanks very much, Larry.
43:31Tremendous performance by the 37-year-old Azuma Nelson.
43:34You look around at 130 pounds and look for opponents down the road
43:38who could make for exciting fights with Nelson.
43:40Gennaro Hernandez, loser last year to De La Hoya,
43:43but still unbeaten at this weight against all the other fighters he's faced.
43:48How would he do against Azuma?
43:50Not very well.
43:51Azuma surprised me tonight.
43:52He's a very strong fighter.
43:53He still has what it takes to be a champion.
43:56Gennaro Hernandez wants no part of Azuma.
43:58All right, what about the young 130-pound star, Arturo Gatti?
44:02Would he be ready for somebody like the old professor?
44:04There you have an after dark fight.
44:07That's the type of fights that we see here
44:10that make us want to come back each month and do it again.
44:13That would be a war of all wars.
44:15Maybe we'll see it.
44:16Arturo Gatti against 37-year-old Azuma Nelson.
44:18Maybe Azuma would be 38 or 39 by the time that one could take place.
44:23Let's look ahead to next Friday night and what is being called almost two years after your battle with James Toney,
44:29which was the first fight of the decade for the 90s.
44:32The new fight of the decade for the 90s.
44:34Oscar De La Hoya against Tulio Cesar Chavez to take place here in Vegas next Friday.
44:38What do you think?
44:39I think that would be a terrific fight.
44:40I think Oscar De La Hoya, who I have to lean to because he's an American,
44:44he's a fellow Olympian, and I like the guy.
44:48You know, I think he's going to be one of the potential greatest fighters to ever come through.
44:51I think if he fights, takes his time, boxes De La Hoya,
44:55I mean, boxes Chavez, fights a very smart and intelligent fight.
44:59Don't go for the knockout until this time.
45:01He'll beat the old Federer.
45:02So the way for De La Hoya to knock out Chavez is to box him.
45:06And have patience.
45:08All right.
45:08Thanks very much, Roy.
45:09Get back in training.
45:10We'll see you in two weeks against Derek Lucas.
45:11See you in two weeks.
45:12Whatever.
45:12Larry Merchant makes his way back down from the ring.
45:15We heard what Roy Jones had to say about De La Hoya and Chavez.
45:18You alluded to it earlier.
45:20What are your thoughts about that fight?
45:21Well, one thought is that I think that Chavez, who had the incentive now to get into the kind
45:27of supreme condition that I don't think he's been in for a long time, will fight better
45:33than a lot of people think he can still fight.
45:36And if you need an object lesson, we just saw it here tonight, because Azuma Nelson is more
45:42than three years older than Julio Cesar Chavez.
45:47Having said that, I think there's something else, and this is what we did allude to before.
45:51There will be, in this fight, three foreign judges, and the WBC will have appointed them.
46:01The WBC, who I think it can be said, and I will say it, is among all of the corrupt boxing
46:06organizations, the champ.
46:10The officials will come from Thailand, from Belgium, and from Great Britain.
46:16The Las Vegas Commission had the choice of having an official from Mexico, an official
46:25from America, and one foreign official.
46:27They chose three foreign officials because they know, as we all know, that no Mexican official
46:34can score a fight against Julio Cesar Chavez.
46:37Having said all that, and having seen what we saw tonight, hopefully we won't need the
46:43officials to make the verdict for us.
46:45The fighters will.
46:46All right, we'll look forward to that one next Friday night.
46:49I'm sure that all of you are making plans to see it closed circuit.
46:53We'll have a final word on what happened in our two boxing matches in the ring tonight,
46:57after this word about an upcoming program.
46:59Return to a time of true Olympic gold.
47:03I didn't even think about making the main sport.
47:05I can tell you, you did it for the love of sports.
47:09Strip away the years.
47:10Rediscover the summer games.
47:13Unadorned, pure, and simple.
47:15Never before seen home movies.
47:17With Olympic athletes telling their own stories in their own words.
47:21This is what you've trained 10,000 hours for.
47:23Return to the spirit of the games.
47:26Premieres Tuesday night at 10.15 on HBO.
47:32Such a big boat.
47:33We could easily stow away.
47:35Nine stowaways were the dream of a better life.
47:38They never imagined the price they would pay.
47:43Who are you?
47:44My name is Kinsley Apusu.
47:46We're taking you to a better place.
47:48You're going to kill us!
47:48From executive producer Danny Glover,
47:56Deadly Voyage.
47:57Premieres Saturday, June 15th on HBO.
48:01Live on Boxing After Dark from Boulder Station.
48:04In the first of our two bouts,
48:0623-year-old rising Mexican phenom at 122 pounds,
48:10Enrique Sanchez.
48:11Kept his career record spotless.
48:13Had to go the 10-round distance for the very first time
48:16in earning a decision over the top of Ricardo Vargas.
48:19And then, in the main event,
48:21the old professor from Ghana showed that he's still rolling on.
48:2537-year-old Azuma Nelson retained his super featherweight title,
48:28avenging an earlier loss to Jesse James Leha,
48:31scoring a sixth-round technical knockout over Leha
48:34in a fight mostly dominated by Nelson.
48:38Coming up immediately following this program,
48:40stay tuned for Norma Jean and Marilyn right here on HBO.
48:43If you haven't seen it, check it out right now.
48:45In two weeks, don't miss our colleague Roy Jones Jr.'s next fight.
48:49He's taking on relative unknown Canadian Eric Lucas.
48:52A difficult task for Lucas made tougher
48:54by having to fight in front of rabid Jones supporters
48:57in Jacksonville, Florida.
48:58And starting on June 24th,
49:00we are back to Wimbledon for tennis on HBO.
49:03Two weeks of the very best players in the sport
49:05as we take you through the first and all of the succeeding rounds,
49:08providing uninterrupted coverage
49:10right through the women's and men's semifinals.
49:14Don't miss Wimbledon 96 on HBO.
49:17So now, for Roy Jones, Larry Merchant,
49:20Harold Letterman, and our interpreter, Ray Torres,
49:23I'm Jim Lampley, saying goodbye from Las Vegas.
49:26The executive producer of HBO Sports is Ross Greenberg.
49:40Tonight's coverage of Boxing After Dark,
49:42produced by Dave Harmon and directed by Mark Payton.
49:45The associate producers were Brian McDonald and Dave Leibson,
49:48assistant to the producer Thomas Odelfeld.
49:50The production manager was John McCallie,
49:52and the technical supervisor was Bob Hunter.
49:55The production manager was John McCallie,
50:25This has been a presentation of HBO Sports,
50:47the network of champions.
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