Few in boxing’s usual haunts knew about Accra in the mid-1970s. Lopez was popular in Los Angeles, the unofficial nerve center of West Coast boxing, and the most anyone in L.A. knew about boxing in Africa was that Muhammad Ali and George Foreman fought there somewhere.

Following a series of foreign misadventures in places like Kinshasa, Caracas and the Philippines, boxing was on shaky ground in the U.S. Many American champions accepted huge paychecks to win and defend titles away from home, where the sport was being readied for its funeral once more.

Boxing didn’t actually live or die by the heavyweight division, of course. Fighters carried on with their careers because local scenes, club shows and boxing gyms were healthily-stuffed. Especially L.A., one of the most robust fighting hubs during the 70s. If a name fighter swapped leather in LA., they generally dealt with promoters Don Fraser and George Parnassus at the Inglewood Forum, or Aileen Eaton and Don Chargin at the Olympic Auditorium.

Eaton consistently made headlines as one of boxing’s earliest women in power after she took over the Olympic Auditorium in the wake of her husband Cal’s death in the mid-1960s. When the Wrigley Field of the West met its end in 1969, the Auditorium emerged as an even more important venue on L.A.’s boxing scene and Eaton knew its ins and outs. They called her “Mrs. Boxing,” likely a nod to Jack Solomons, British boxing promoter known as “Mr. Boxing.”

Danny Lopez and his older brother Ernie Lopez were among several young fighters favored by Eaton, who openly rooted for exciting brawls and bruising fights. Eaton said of a 23-year-old younger Lopez in 1975: “Danny Lopez is exciting. You never know when he’s going to land one of his haymakers. But I don’t think he could learn defense now. It is his instinct to go after a fighter. He gets hit a lot but he has a tremendous punch.”

That last sentence described Lopez perfectly. He wasn’t unskilled or a walking punching bag, but he could be sucked into a back-and-forth battle relatively easily and sometimes fights that should have been showcases for him turned into desperate clashes and even losses. Such is the case for nearly every one of boxing’s great action fighters.

David “D.K. Poison” Kotey knew about gifts and curses too: he gifted his home country of Ghana its first world title and endless inspiration, breaking a decades-long curse of Ghanaian fighters settling for contendership and nothing more. Roy Ankrah successfully broke into The Ring’s top 10 rankings at featherweight in the 1950s, and Floyd Klutei Robertson became a popular attraction both in Ghana and in the U.K. in the years that followed, but there were no world champions before Kotey.

Azumah Nelson, Ghana’s greatest fighter, later said of Kotey: “[D.K. Poison] made us all believe [Ghanaians] could win a world title.”

In 1975, Kotey won the WBC featherweight title by defeating Rubén Olivares, one of Southern California’s premier fighting stars, who did business with Parnassus and the Forum. The win away from home for Kotey instantly turned “D.K. Poison” into a mythical figure in Ghana, and he took the title back for a non-title win and his first defense of the title, against Flipper Uehara. He then defended the belt against Shig Fukuyuma, one of the fighters who handed Lopez a loss earlier in his career.

Lopez floated in and then out of The Ring’s featherweight ratings in the meanwhile, but he positioned himself for a title shot by rattling off an impressive series of wins over the likes of Chucho Castillo, Olivares, Sean O’Grady and Art Hafey, with the last three happening at the Forum. Kotey’s previous trip to L.A. netted him a contract with Fraser if he returned, and since Lopez wasn’t exclusive to either Eaton or the Olympic Auditorium, a Kotey-Lopez match was the one Fraser wanted.

Perhaps understanding the gravity of the moment, Kotey opted for a defense against Lopez at the Accra Sports Stadium rather than the Forum, on November 6, 1976, 50 years ago today.

Lopez said he ate almost nothing but steak and eggs, and he ran at least four miles every day while training at least ten rounds in the gym. He left for Ghana in tremendous shape.

For “D.K. Poison,” the fight represented the future of Ghana’s honor on boxing’s world stage, and how outsiders viewed boxing and life in Africa. “Go back and tell your friends that we in Africa do not live with lions and tigers,” he told Lopez when they met face-to-face in Accra, then a city of nearly 800,000 residents. “The first time I ever saw a live tiger was at the London Zoo.”

Lopez confidently predicted a knockout win, and he’d gotten an up-close view of Kotey when he attended the Olivares fight. Roughly 12,000 appeared at the Accra Sports Stadium to see if Lopez would fall victim to their hero, and most were forced to watch a charged-up Kotey flail away against Lopez, who showed up well-prepared.

Kotey knocked Lopez off-balance a few times in the opening round as the Ghanaian charged ahead and played to the chanting crowd. Early struggles often defined Lopez’s fights, however, and he quickly found the right distance at which to tag Kotey and punish the tough star.

The boxing folks sitting in the front row looked on with crossed arms as Lopez got the better of exchanges and served Kotey a diet of leather round after round. To his credit, Kotey never ran or gave up the attack, it just wasn’t the right way to fight Lopez. Perhaps Kotey didn’t have the ability to fight “Little Red” the right way, but this was the worst time to find out.

As the rounds reached double digits, Kotey suffered lacerations to both of his lips and across the bridge of his nose, all of which had him bleeding freely. In the 11th round, Lopez connected with a light but awkward left hand that sent Kotey to the canvas for the fight’s only knockdown. Kotey rose and wearily battled through the final round to hear the bell, at which point Lopez’s team lifted him in celebration.

Lopez later said the crowd grew silent waiting for the decision, which clearly went his way along with the WBC featherweight title. He experienced no problems in Accra and happily shook hands with many in the crowd, he claimed.

Oddly, telephone and wire communication was shut down in Ghana for two days after the fight, delaying word of a winner or any specifics. Local L.A. newspapers penned articles updating readers on a lack of update until finally some basics were relayed by Kotey’s family members, and then Ghanaian authorities.

As Lopez and Kotey readied themselves for their fight, success of the U.S. boxing team at the 1976 Olympics took over much of the boxing conversation, all but eliminating any chance that Lopez would remain abroad for title defenses.

Kotey both lost and brought honor to Ghana with his performance, and neither Kotey nor boxing in Ghana had been thoroughly vanquished by Lopez’s win. But for the time being, the spotlight would return to the U.S.

The title combined with his hell-raising style pushed Lopez to stardom beyond the Olympic Auditorium and the Forum. He took the championship home, not knowing Accra would claim that same title back a few years later.