Bob Foster vs John Conteh 1973

Conteh could really move, smooth with cute skills. I wouldn't be surprised if he lasts the distance but loses a clear but competitive UD (say 8 rounds to 4 if they fight 12). A motivated Conteh had a great chin but Foster has that crushing power at 175 and is an ATG perhaps a late knockdown for Foster but Conteh's boxing skills make him very hard to hit clean. Conteh was jab (left hand) dominant he rarely threw that right hand but could box your ears off if you let him. Saad Muhammad had fits with Conteh in his first fight cutting the ring off and that was in 78, just before his drinking took over but we are talking 73. Conteh was a great pure boxer who I rate very highly.

 

Conteh is beloved by many on this board, but he's not in Foster's class.

His one, true, undisputed world-class win was over Yaqui Lopez.

He had a few other good wins, but nothing on his resume suggests that he could handle a prime Bob Foster.

 

This isn't a prime Foster though is it Saintpat.It's the faded version that got a gift against the underrated Ahumada-who was certainly world class, just as fmormidable a fighter as Yaqui Lopez and just as good a win for a 3 years into career Conteh, maybe even better as he was less predictable while being similarly skilled- and couldn't pin down or land his best punches anymore on the skilled, but lacking in firepower and size(more a 168lber) Pierre Fourie over 30 rounds.

Foster at his peak was a monster and someone who i think would have been a bad matchup for even a more dedicated Conteh that didn't waste his career in the manner he did(and i'm someone who rates Conteh's potential very high)...but at this stage he wouldn't have been able to pin Conteh down with his slowed jab and would have really struggled with the excellent offense, hand\foot speed and when needed vicious physicality and surges to the inside(which i think would get Conteh knocked out eventually against a prime Foster) a two-handed pre-injury Conteh would bring to bear.

Conteh was great at picking off the left-hook, only very rarely even getting hit with the punch, so Foster's best chance of a knockout at this stage in his career would have been with the sneak right and i don't think at this stage it was nearly enough of a weapon for him.Against a highly skilled boxer-puncher that keeps the mistakes low, a 73 Foster is mostly a jabber.He can't get those big punches off any more.

I'd expect Conteh to win a 10-5 sort of decision with a cautious slow opening or a late stoppage.

 

Never was impressed by Conteh. Prime Foster wins within 10 rounds.

 

Ahumuda doesn't rate on the light heavy greats all-time or of his era -- lost 4 of 5 to Victor Galindez (3 of 4 by the time frame we're talking about).

And that win was still ahead of Conteh in 1973 (as was Foster's draw). To this point, Foster's only losses in a 10-year span were to heavyweights. And Conteh was proven only at the Euro level.

There's this small window in his career where Conteh is a top-tier fighter and then it's all excuses ... didn't train properly, hand problems, whatever. But on the whole he's a good and not great fighter. And I don't think that he rates as a guy who can beat Foster in 1973 -- and prime vs. prime it's a mismatch.

 

Ahumada was a very good versatile boxer-puncher-like a big Santos Laciar- big deal if Galindez had his number.I'd have him in the bottom half of a top ten llight heavies of the 70s listing...easily world class.He seems to get a bit underrated at times because he peaked before the more American centric late 70s classics, yet he easily had the skillset\effectiveness of guys like Yaqui and Marvin Johnson.

He was better than 73 Bob Foster.

It's fair enough to have never rated Conteh that highly.Plenty to criticise in his career, but not thinking he could beat the Foster that fought Fourie(the same washed up post-ali version that got the gift against Ahumada)..a fighter that had no power at 175 and no size or strength to keep Foster off, yet used good sound unflashy boxing skills to effortlessly go 30 rounds and land plenty of punches is going too far imo.

 

In the first half of 1973, Foster is less than a year removed from nearly decapitating Mike Quarry and stopping Chris Finnegan, who had recently gone the distance with Conteh.

As for Fourie, he lost a close unanimous decision and then a split decision to Galindez and had some quality wins. He was stopped once in 60 bouts, in his final fight and only fight at heavyweight -- against Gerrie Coetzee, a proven heavyweight puncher, while giving up about 25 pounds. So there's nothing to count against Foster in not stopping him ... maybe he's just one of those guys that couldn't be cracked.

I don't rate Ahumada as highly as you -- what wins do you point to in rating him so highly? He was durable, yes, but Yaqui and Marvin Johnson had much better resumes.

 

Those two fights were before the Ali bout.He wasn't nearly the same fighter after that.

Foster looked like **** in both fights with Pierre that's the real issue.Not that he didn't stop him, Fourie was tough for sure.He was slow and his timing and balance were waaay off.

Me rating him well has more to do with having watched him fight a good amount and being very impressed than it does with him having great wins on his record, though i don't agree that Lopez and Johnson had much better records.A bit better, perhaps but all were fighters that fought and beat a solid amount of the second-tier of the day, the lower top-ten\top 20 types and lost the key big fights for the most part.

Ahumada was somewhat unfortunate in that he came through an unusually stacked but obscure Argie domestic scene(beating solid fighters like Peralta and Aguilar as well as Galindez) and when he moved to America and was at his peak, it was a transitional period between the Foster era and the new guys coming up.He cleared out a lot of those so-so to decent Foster era top 10\20 guys that were still hanging around like Carroll, Anderson, Kendall, Cassidy, Oquendo(as well as beating an aging Monon Gonzalez back down after Jose had dipped his toes in 175 a couple of times) in dominant impressive back to back fashion before what should have been a win against Foster.But after a fair amount of wars and the subsequent losses against Conteh(a classic, gruelling fight that took his legs imo) and Galindez he was too worn out to face more winnable top ten guys like Rossman, Parlov, Johnson etc

Ultimately they were three of the best contenders of the era, that were just under various excellent longer running champs of the time ie Galindez, Saad.I rate fourie there too btw, he's an underrated very skilled and loose fighter( think he would have given Saad fits) but he was physically unimpressive at the weight and should have been made to order for Bob, which shows how far the post-Ali Foster declined.

btw i know Johnson did win the title a couple of times briefly, but he was in the right place at the right time against a weight drained Parlov(though Mate was never that good and would likely have lost anyway, if less emphatically) and a washed up Galindez.I've not much doubt the other two would have been champs if they had got those two instead of the tougher tasks they did face.

As another aside, the Foster\Conteh fights with Finnegan are quite interesting to compare as a technical excercise.Finnegan wasn't a great fighter or anything and his career was short due to turning late and his eyes going after the Conteh bouts, but he was good, with a great chin and very solid skills.The kind of fighter it's interesting to see go against various higher rated guys and compare how they handled him.You really get a sense of what an overbearing monster Foster was, and also just how highly skilled and offensively dangerous a boxer-puncher Conteh already was at only 2 or so years into his career.You can learn all you need to know about left-hand work from those fights alone.

At the end of the day i understand that it can be tough to stomach choosing against even a fading great when the opponent is to a fair extent a "what might have been" kind of boxer.

 

Conteh by decision. Bob was fading by this point.

 

Foster was one of the all time great 175 lb men. But by 1973,he was on the slide. This was made blatantly apparent the following year when he s****ed a draw with Jorge Ahumada. Conteh was coming into his prime and could have outboxed Foster.

 

Foster by an 8-7 verdict. A year later, John would win a more convincing fight.

 

I'd have to go with Conteh, Bob was never the same after being Bounced around like a Yo-Yo by Ali, That's one reason I really Rate the Pre-Ali Finnegan Challenge, In bob's prior two fights he had never looked deadlier in the Rondon and Quarry dismissals.. Many thought Finnegan was booked for the same, But tough old Finnegan, Boxed and fought his heart out, and after being floored in the 10th The Cheeky Blighter actually comes After Bob... This was no Ray Anderson Pacifists Performance.. Then came Ali..and then Going the distance with Bob didn't seem such an obstacle for a Contenter with some fancy footwork at his disposal,

As for Conteh.. He could box like a dream, had thad Cobra'esque head movement, but could go from Boxing Mode to Attack Mode very quickly, and if he did start to get Frustrated... Well he had a vicious attitude an a Plan B which entailed Less Boxing...and Hurting the Opponent, John Started his Career trying to be a Heavyweight, and could only make Modern Cruiser 14plus Stone, I think John had it at the back of his mind, Push Came to Shove, that he was Stronger than the Opponent...if he could turn it into Back alley Brawl... Albeit A Classy Back Ally, Of Course once Precision Instrument John started to lose components of his game and dedication, his slide was evident, Frankie Depaula had Bob Down, Ray Anderson kept out of Harms Way, Finnegan had Bob on the Back foot for Spells, Isolated successes, Against the Post-Ali Bob, with a still ambitious and focused Conteh... I think John does it, I'll go for Points as if he discovers a winning formula I suspect George Francis would beBarking..Stick with it and don't go Gung-Ho and stick your Chin out.. Conteh on Clear points ...Bob has the reach and knows how to use it so should ensure he survives and Conteh Closing Rough-house down the stretch..

 

Conteh was a natural athlete, a beautiful boxer and his right hand, though fragile was concussive.
In George Francis he had a trainer who would really put him through the mill and in the early days Conteh thrived on his training.
Even when he was campaigning as a heavy i don't think he was heavier than 185 or so and light heavy was always in the future.
In '73 he would have been too fit, too fast and too cute and wouldve beaten foster on points.