John has been teetotal for over 20 years now Len. Sadly, the chance came and went for them when they were ' Relevant'. I would still take Conteh's opinion over many others.
That's fantastic news thanks loaded glove. I was s big fan of conteh, he was a superb boxer, absolutely elite level. Tough nut too, ruthless in a fight. But very nice guy I felt.
He was a lot like the Finnegans in that respect pal. Work hard, play hard. To be fair to Minter, the win over Earnie Singletary was a big one and the Hamsho decision, I felt, was a hometowner. Sibson ? he was full of ego and went looking for a fight with an extremely dangerous young Fighter.
Met him a few times Len, a genuinely nice man. He used to drive Chris Finnegan around, while he was still with us, then do his after dinners which the comedians hated following ! Imagine, the landlord seeing those two arrive in John's Sierra
He did some decent work for Sky in the early 90s as well; not one of the regulars like Mason or McCrory, but he'd be around for big fights from time to time and generally have some good insight into things. I think Minter gets underappreciated these days. The significance of winning a genuine unified title is lost on younger fans, and in that era you had to work bloody hard to even get a shot, never mind win one. His run from the first Finnegan fight through to Hagler is one of the best by a British fighter in modern times. He tends to get remembered most for the Hagler fight, both for what happened in the ring and the unsavoury stuff before and after. Others look at his record, count the number of losses, and conclude that he wasn't that good. His achievements deserve a better legacy than that, and the Finnegan series ranks up there with the top rivalries in British history. The way he was able to overcome the setbacks with cuts and keep on improving as a fighter shows the determination of the man. RIP
Agreed Momus. Minter was skillful, tough and when he had to be, absurdly brave. I think some of his views may have been a factor in his not being remembered more fondly.
I lived in Crawley from 1980 onwards and for a while had the Minter family as a neighbour (during his real battle with the bottle). I did a brief summary of his career/life on another forum. It goes over what many here has mentioned, but it may help those who are too young to know much about him. The former World Middleweight Champion Boom Boom Minter lost his fight with cancer yesterday. An Olympic medalist in 1972, he would struggle early on in his career to compete even at a domestic level. A horrible fight with Jan Magdziarz, that was so bad the ref walked out disqualifying both fighters for not trying seemed the career nadir. After three British title fight victories over Kevin Finnegan, a European title and wins over perennial contenders Sugar Ray Seales and Emile Griffith (his final fight), added to a big fan support got him a fight for the title with Antuofermo. Minter won a controversial decision to become champ. Three months later was a lot more convincing beating Vito in the rematch. This set up a fight with Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Some terrible sportsmanship by Minter at the weigh in, making Hagler strip naked to make weight and then a truly terrible interview when Minter said no black man could take his title led to a poisonous atmosphere come bell time. Hagler took Minter apart inside three rounds, but a riot ensued, with Hagler having to run from the ring with the police as beer bottles were thrown towards him. Minter would have a further year in the sport, but defeats to Hamsho and Tony Sibson ended his career. Alan did get some TV work, but also had a big battle with the bottle, and I can tell you from personal experience, his household was the proverbial neighbours from hell in the late 80s. Boom Boom seemed to recover somewhat in recent years, moved out of town, and settled in a village/small town about 10 miles up the road. From what I understand it was his partner that helped him in his battles, and as far as I know he did not hit the local headlines in a negative way until his cancer diagnosis. And he will be remembered in part by some for his insight and words of wisdom, that even he chuckled about with hindsight: "Sure, there have been injuries and deaths in boxing, but none have been serious."
Ha ha, yeah! I heard a funny yarn on here about a guy bursting for a leak and some leisurely guy with his back turned was blocking the loo door in the pub. Our boy was just about to tell the guy to get the etc out of the way, maybe give him a good shove, when the guy turned around and it was Conteh. Close shave!
Agree with you. Thought he was very engaging and witty in front of the camera. Have you seen his appearance on Tiswas in 1980? I was surprised there was so little coverage of his death in the UK. The BBC barely mentioned it. He was middleweight champion of the world! He was a fine and uncommonly brave fighter. RIP Alan.
