John Conteh

John Conteh
Conteh c. 1973
Statistics
Real name	John Conteh
Rated at	Light Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Reach	76 in (193 cm)
Nationality	English
Born	(1951-05-27) 27 May 1951 Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	39
Wins	34
Wins by KO	24
Losses	4
Draws	1
No contests	0
Medal record Representing  England Commonwealth Games 1970 Edinburgh Middleweight

John Conteh (born 27 May 1951) is a British former boxer who was world light-heavyweight boxing champion.

At his peak in the mid-to-late 1970s John Conteh was considered good enough to be touted as a possible opponent of Muhammad Ali. He enjoyed fame in Britain and was often on the front as well as the back pages of national daily newspapers.

Boxing career

John Conteh began boxing at the age of 10 at a boxing club in Kirkby that was a training ground for some of the best amateur boxers, such as Joey Singleton, Tucker Hetherington and Stuart Morton. At 19, he won the middleweight gold medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. He won the World Boxing Council Light Heavyweight crown in October 1974 by defeating Jorge Ahumada. He held the title until 1977 when he was stripped for not going through with a mandated defence.^[1]

Conteh lost a 15-round split decision to the Yugoslavian fighter Mate Parlov when he attempted to regain the title.^[2] He failed twice in further efforts to win back the crown, in 1979 and then again seven months later in 1980, on both occasions fighting the American Matthew Saad Muhammad. Muhammad won both bouts but the first victory was declared void because his cornermen used an illegal substance on a cut.^[3]

Conteh retired from professional boxing in 1980. He said that his excessive lifestyle brought about a premature decline in his career. His professional record is 34 wins, 1 draw, and 4 losses.

In 1973, Conteh was one of the celebrities featured dressed in prison gear on the cover of the Wings album Band on the Run. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1974.^[4]

Conteh also has the distinction of being British Superstars competition champion in 1974, the second year of the televised sporting event. Conteh is now an after-dinner speaker and speaks at venues all across the country.

After boxing

Conteh appeared on the BBC television programme Sporting Legends which was presented by Eamonn Holmes. There he spoke at length at how he started out in boxing and how Ali persuaded him to fight at Light-Heavyweight instead of Heavyweight. Ali believed that Conteh was too small to be a heavyweight. Conteh also spoke of how his lifestyle led to alcoholism and a charge of assault, he stated that at the time he appeared on Sporting Legends he had been dry for nine years.

Conteh also appeared in films such as Man at the Top (1973), The Stud (1978) and Tank Malling (1989), and made a starring appearance in the television show Boon in 1989, as a washed-up boxer. He more recently appeared on a boxing special of The Weakest Link in 2009, where he finished in third place. His most recent TV acting appearance was in the crime drama Justice, in which he again played an ex-boxer.

Professional boxing record

34 Wins (23 knockouts, 11 decisions), 4 Losses (1 knockout, 3 decisions), 1 Draw
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Win	12–14–1	James Dixon	TKO	5	31 May 1980	Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom	Referee stopped the bout at 2:49 of the fifth round.
Loss	24–3–2	Matthew Saad Muhammad	TKO	4	29 March 1980	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 2:27 of the fourth round.
Loss	23–3–2	Matthew Saad Muhammad	UD	15	18 August 1979	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title. 142–146, 143–144, 141–146.
Win	19–6	Ivy Brown	PTS	10	4 June 1979	Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Draw	18–8–1	Jesse Burnett	PTS	10	19 April 1979	Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom
Win	8–2	Leonardo Rodgers	KO	7	26 September 1978	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	Rodgers knocked out at 1:15 of the seventh round.
Loss	21–1–1	Mate Parlov	SD	15	17 June 1978	Belgrade, Serbia	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title.
Win	20–7–1	Joe Cokes	PTS	10	7 February 1978	Islington, London, United Kingdom	100–90.
Win	26–2–1	Len "Stinger" Hutchins	TKO	3	5 March 1977	Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title.
Win	31–3	Yaqui Lopez	UD	15	9 October 1976	Copenhagen, Denmark	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title. 149–145, 149–145, 148–146.
Win	11–3–3	Willie "Bull" Taylor	PTS	10	16 August 1975	Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	24–2	Lonnie Bennett	TKO	5	11 March 1975	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title. Referee stopped the bout at 1:10 of the fifth round.
Win	41–5–2	Jorge Ahumada	SD	15	1 October 1974	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	WBC World Light Heavyweight Title.
Win	26–5–1	Chris Finnegan	TKO	6	21 May 1974	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	EBU/Commonwealth/BBBofC British Light Heavyweight Titles.
Win	74–5–1	Tom Bogs	TKO	7	12 March 1974	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	EBU Light Heavyweight Title.
Win	17–2	Les "Is More" Stevens	PTS	10	12 February 1974	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	37–15–1	Fred "Airman" Lewis	TKO	3	14 December 1973	Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Win	33–7–2	Baby Boy Rolle	PTS	15	23 October 1973	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom	Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Title.
Win	39–11–1	Vicente Rondon	TKO	9	10 September 1973	Wembley, London, United Kingdom
Win	25–4–1	Chris Finnegan	PTS	15	22 May 1973	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	EBU/Commonwealth/BBBofC British Light Heavyweight Titles.
Win	29–3–3	Rudiger Schmidtke	TKO	12	13 March 1973	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	EBU Light Heavyweight Title.
Win	28–9–1	Terry "TX" Daniels	KO	7	14 February 1973	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	16–1–1	Dave "The Band" Matthews	PTS	10	15 January 1973	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom	50–48.25.
Win	12–2–1	Sam "Diamond Ray" McGill	TKO	9	5 December 1972	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	14–13–5	"Big" John Hudgins	KO	2	14 November 1972	Wembley, London, United Kingdom
Win	32–11–3	Bill Drover	KO	7	31 October 1972	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	3–11–1	Ferenc Kristofcsak	DQ	1	10 October 1972	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Loss	5–1–1	Eddie "Big E" Duncan	PTS	10	26 September 1972	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	49–49.25.
Win	7–14	Johnny "Big" Mac	TKO	2	19 July 1972	Dublin, Ireland
Win	12–3–1	Billy Aird	TKO	8	6 June 1972	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	8–6–1	Joe "Top Cat" Gholston	KO	5	25 April 1972	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	5–7	Ruben Figueroa	KO	2	28 March 1972	Wembley, London, United Kingdom
Win	2–1	Larry "Legend" Sykes	KO	1	15 February 1972	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	11–2	Wilhelm Janco	TKO	1	25 January 1972	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	6–16–2	Emilio Okee	TKO	5	7 December 1971	Kensington, London, United Kingdom
Win	4–19–2	Tony Burwell	PTS	8	24 November 1971	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Win	9–11	Frank Bullard	TKO	2	16 November 1971	Wembley, London, United Kingdom
Win	25–17–2	Pierre Minier	TKO	5	8 November 1971	Mayfair, London, United Kingdom
Win	8–3–1	Okacha Boubekeur	KO	1	18 October 1971	Piccadilly, London, United Kingdom

See also

• List of British light-heavyweight boxing champions

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Conteh.

• Professional boxing record for John Conteh from BoxRec