John Conteh vs Carl Froch

I'm a Yank, not a Brit ...and personally was way more a Freitas guy than a Froch guy myself...but I can't deny that the Cobra was involved in some of the most important moments in his era (the Super Six, the duology with Groves...) and most people have Froch vs. Pascal on the shortlist for FOTD in the aughts - which is saying something! Stacked as all get out, that decade...Monshipour vs. Sithchatchawal, as you mentioned Freitas vs. Barrios, countless classics really.

I'd say Popó is maybe the greater p4p fighter and Froch the more globally famous one. Both are, FWIW, rated top-10 all time in their respective wheelhouse divisions (super feather and super middle respectively) on BoxRec, but also I would imagine by more reputable resources as well.

 

Freitas is a big blind spot for me personally. I think he was on the slide by the time I finally got serious about the sport and so I was never really exposed to him.

What fights would you recommend?

 

The donnybrook with La Hiena first and foremost.

Really his entire two-belt reign, from Casamayor through Barrios and then even including his lightweight snag from Grigoryan, there really aren't any bad fights in there. When he reclaimed the LW belt from Zahir Raheem - yeah, you can skip that. If you've watched any Raheem you understand why.

His losses to Chico and Torito are worth checking out as pieces of boxing history, a slice of that lively 130lb and 135lb era... but, will caution you that neither portrayal flatters him overly much. Particularly their endings - he had just about shed the reputation of being a quitter from the first one, when those wounds were reopened (and salt poured in) with the second. He'd carry it in most fans' eyes for years after retiring.

Then the damnedest thing happens. The mad lad - after years away from the ring, not training one bit, getting extraordinarily fat and working in politics - decides to make a comeback and jump up to LIGHT FREAKING MIDDLEWEIGHT to challenge his successor as country's new best fighter (low bar, sorry Brazil), the SIXTEEN AND ZERO hard-punching Michael Degreas "The Brazilian Rocky" Oliveira.

Somehow, by some miracle, the absolute lunatic was able to not only defeat but dominate and stop the MUCH younger and MUCH bigger guy. It's insanity that this happened, and it hasn't been talked about enough at the time or since.

 

...had totally forgotten this, but Vic actually did the RBR for that!

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/acelino-freitas-vs-michael-oliveira-rbr.406231/

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Mac, Froch was a fine champion, but prime Conteh did everything better than Carl, including having a better chin. I am mystified that anyone takes Froch over John. Also I think prime John beats any version of Andre Ward handily.

 

But yet the thread is all about who would win between Froch and Conteh, which most certainly would have been fought at 175. Good luck to you too, matey.