John Conteh
John Anthony Conteh, MBE (born 27 May 1951) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1978, and regionally the European, British and Commonwealth titles between 1973 and 1974. As an amateur, he represented England and won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games.[1][2][3] In 2017, Conteh was awarded an MBE for services to boxing at the Queen's Birthday Honours.
John Conteh MBE | |||||||||||
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![]() Conteh c. 1973 | |||||||||||
Statistics | |||||||||||
Weight(s) | |||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||||||||||
Reach | 76 in (193 cm) | ||||||||||
Nationality | British | ||||||||||
Born | Toxteth, Liverpool, Lancashire, England | 27 May 1951||||||||||
Stance | Orthodox | ||||||||||
Boxing record | |||||||||||
Total fights | 39 | ||||||||||
Wins | 34 | ||||||||||
Wins by KO | 24 | ||||||||||
Losses | 4 | ||||||||||
Draws | 1 | ||||||||||
Medal record
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Professional career
Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Conteh began boxing at the age of 10 at a boxing club in Kirkby that was a training ground for 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 WBC light-heavyweight title 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.[4]
Conteh lost a 15-round split decision to the Yugoslavian fighter Mate Parlov when he attempted to regain the title.[5] 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.[6]
Appearances outside boxing
Conteh was one of the celebrities featured dressed in prison gear on the cover of the 1973 Wings album, Band on the Run.[7] He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1974.[8]
Conteh was the 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.
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.
Conteh was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to boxing.[9]
Professional boxing record
39 fights | 34 wins | 4 losses |
By knockout | 24 | 1 |
By decision | 10 | 3 |
Draws | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
39 | Win | 34–4–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (10), 2:49 | 31 May 1980 | ![]() |
|
38 | Loss | 33–4–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 4 (15), 2:27 | 29 Mar 1980 | ![]() |
For WBC and The Ring light-heavyweight titles |
37 | Loss | 33–3–1 | ![]() |
UD | 15 | 18 Aug 1979 | ![]() |
For WBC light-heavyweight title |
36 | Win | 33–2–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | 4 Jun 1979 | ![]() |
|
35 | Draw | 32–2–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | 19 Apr 1979 | ![]() |
|
34 | Win | 32–2 | ![]() |
KO | 7 (10), 1:15 | 26 Sep 1978 | ![]() |
|
33 | Loss | 31–2 | ![]() |
SD | 15 | 17 Jun 1978 | ![]() |
For WBC light-heavyweight title |
32 | Win | 31–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | 7 Feb 1978 | ![]() |
|
31 | Win | 30–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (15), 1:05 | 5 Mar 1977 | ![]() |
Retained WBC light-heavyweight title |
30 | Win | 29–1 | ![]() |
UD | 15 | 9 Oct 1976 | ![]() |
Retained WBC light-heavyweight title |
29 | Win | 28–1 | ![]() |
UD | 10 | 16 Aug 1975 | ![]() |
|
28 | Win | 27–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (15), 1:10 | 11 Mar 1975 | ![]() |
Retained WBC light-heavyweight title |
27 | Win | 26–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 15 | 1 Oct 1974 | ![]() |
Won vacant WBC light-heavyweight title |
26 | Win | 25–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 6 (15) | 21 May 1974 | ![]() |
Retained European, British, and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles |
25 | Win | 24–1 | ![]() |
RTD | 6 (15) | 12 Mar 1974 | ![]() |
Retained European light-heavyweight title |
24 | Win | 23–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | 12 Feb 1974 | ![]() |
|
23 | Win | 22–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 3 (10) | 14 Dec 1973 | ![]() |
|
22 | Win | 21–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 15 | 23 Oct 1973 | ![]() |
Retained Commonwealth light-heavyweight title |
21 | Win | 20–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (10) | 10 Sep 1973 | ![]() |
|
20 | Win | 19–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 15 | 22 May 1973 | ![]() |
Retained European light-heavyweight title; Won British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles |
19 | Win | 18–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 12 (15), 2:28 | 13 Mar 1973 | ![]() |
Won European light-heavyweight title |
18 | Win | 17–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 7 (10) | 14 Feb 1973 | ![]() |
|
17 | Win | 16–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | 15 Jan 1973 | ![]() |
|
16 | Win | 15–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 9 (10) | 5 Dec 1972 | ![]() |
|
15 | Win | 14–1 | ![]() |
KO | 3 (10), 1:30 | 14 Nov 1972 | ![]() |
|
14 | Win | 13–1 | ![]() |
KO | 7 (10), 2:24 | 31 Oct 1972 | ![]() |
|
13 | Win | 12–1 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (8) | 10 Oct 1972 | ![]() |
|
12 | Loss | 11–1 | ![]() |
PTS | 10 | 26 Sep 1972 | ![]() |
|
11 | Win | 11–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (8) | 19 Jul 1972 | ![]() |
|
10 | Win | 10–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 8 (8) | 6 Jun 1972 | ![]() |
|
9 | Win | 9–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (8) | 25 Apr 1972 | ![]() |
|
8 | Win | 8–0 | ![]() |
KO | 2 (8) | 28 Mar 1972 | ![]() |
|
7 | Win | 7–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (8) | 15 Feb 1972 | ![]() |
|
6 | Win | 6–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 1 (8) | 25 Jan 1972 | ![]() |
|
5 | Win | 5–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (8) | 7 Dec 1971 | ![]() |
|
4 | Win | 4–0 | ![]() |
PTS | 8 | 24 Nov 1971 | ![]() |
|
3 | Win | 3–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 2 (10) | 16 Nov 1971 | ![]() |
|
2 | Win | 2–0 | ![]() |
TKO | 5 (8) | 8 Nov 1971 | ![]() |
|
1 | Win | 1–0 | ![]() |
KO | 1 (8) | 18 Oct 1971 | ![]() |
References
- "1970 Athletes". Team England.
- "Edinburgh, 1970 Team". Team England.
- "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
- Conteh Stripped of Title. United Press International via Star-News. 19 May 1977
- Parlov Decisions Conteh. Daytona Beach Morning Journal. 17 June 1978
- Controversial ending to cruiserweight fight. The Montreal Gazette. 10 December 1979
- Spizer, Bruce (2005). The Beatles Solo on Apple Records.
- John Conteh's appearance on This Is Your Life
- "No. 61962". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2017. p. B16.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Conteh. |
Sporting positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Amateur boxing titles | ||||
Previous: Dave Wallington |
ABA middleweight champion 1970 |
Next: Alan Minter | ||
Regional boxing titles | ||||
Preceded by Rüdiger Schmidtke |
European light-heavyweight champion 13 March 1973 – October 1974 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Domenico Adinolfi | ||
Preceded by Chris Finnegan |
British light-heavyweight champion 22 May 1973 – October 1974 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Johnny Frankham | ||
Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion 22 May 1973 – October 1974 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Steve Aczel | |||
World boxing titles | ||||
Vacant Title last held by Bob Foster |
WBC light-heavyweight champion 1 October 1974 – 21 March 1977 |
Vacant Title next held by Miguel Ángel Cuello | ||
Light heavyweight status | ||||
Preceded by Bob Foster |
Oldest living world champion November 21, 2015 – present |
Incumbent |