Prime John Conteh 1974 vs Prime Roy Jones Jr, 175 lbs, 15 rounds

There's only a very select few light heavyweights in history who could have beaten prime Roy, and Conteh, good as he was, is not one of them.

Jones by UD.

 

Conteh. decision bout all the way.

This is when Conteh still had good hands. a different beast than the later versions.
and Conteh will be very effective with his jab---all Jones will do is fall in with his right hand trying to come over it. A Jones jab to nullify would be nice against this guy but was something
Roy didn't do. Problem is Conteh is not a stationary target for the right hand shot and Jones is off balance to throw it.
after eating some Conteh effective counters, Jones goes into survival mode and we get very few leap in left hooks and less falling in right hands.

 

jones outclasses him. wide UD or late stoppage

 

Lol. Roy Jones gets criminally underrated on his forum.

And Conteh sometimes gets elevated to God-like level for no reason.

 

Well I think it’s the other way round.
I think Conteh has too much for Jones.
At his best Conteh was a very good boxer fighter, an excellent jab, good upper body and head movement, and threw good combinations which hurt.
At times he could be ferocious and plain dirty, especially with the head.
Jones skills, gifts and athleticism is well documented he was extremely difficult to pin down and could hit from any angle.
He would certainly pose problems for Conteh especially early on but gradually I think Conteh who was no mean athlete himself would catch up with Jones and stop him sometime after 10.

 

I remember very well being delighted when Conteh beat Jorge Ahumada to become world champion.But i also remember how good RJJ was and feel he beats John on points

 

Please let me know who Conteh ever beat who was anywhere remotely close to Roy's ability level. I'll wait...

For all the backlash Jones gets, he's the more accomplished fighter with the deeper resume of wins between the two.

With Roy we can at least reference the Hill fight. And yes, I know Hill was past his prime and I know Hill wasn't as mean as Conteh... but that fight still depicts how hard it was to jab Jones and how underrated Roy's power was combined with the speed.

Conteh was dropped by Tom Boggs. You don't think Roy could damage him?

Once again, Jones is underappreciated on this forum. There's VERY VERY few fighters who could have beaten the 94-00 Jones.

Mid 70s Conteh was a damn good fighter, but he wasn't mid 90s Jones good.

 

I concur.

 

I’m sorry I’m against the grain here going against Roy, but that’s my opinion.
So Virgil Hill is Jones best defence at 175 ? An admittedly good win, but with due respect Hill was no Conteh.
I recognise Roy’s achievements and how great he was, I’m a fan by the way, but I just think at 175 he’s more vulnerable against the better guys from the past.
You mention Conteh being decked by Tom Bogs who by the way was no mug, but until later in his career when on the slide Conteh had no chin issues, what about Roy?
It may well be with his skills, reflexes and speed Jones may eke out a decision, but I think over 15 rounds which is the criteria here, Conteh finds him.

 

Only Monzon and Conteh stopped him in 80 odd fights.

 

And Jones doesn't??

 

Both Jones and Conteh get blown out of proportion imo.

Conteh is awesome but look at the man's record, since Jones' is constantly under scrutiny. Conteh never beat one champion that I can recall. Sure, he beat López and should probably have a win over Parlov, but when it's said that Jones never beat anyone good, he has an infinitely better résumé than Conteh. The two both get boosted up, but Jones has a much higher starting point. Wins over Hill, Tarver, Johnson and Harding are a damn-sight better than Conteh's.

How does Conteh look trying to slip, slide and jab vs a guy who 5x as fast? It'd probably look like a mix of the Toney and Hill fights.

Jones KO7