Great question! It could go either. There'd be a rematch or possibly a trilogy. Conteh was limited to his left hand. Their jabs would cancel each other out. Hill probably works the body a little more and eeks out a UD.
John Conteh and Virgil Hill were on equal terms as far as boxing ability, John did suffer from hand injuries during his title reign from 1974-1977, but he did beat a better quality of opposition, Jorge Ahumada, Alvaro Yaqui Lopez and Len Hutchins His refusal to meet mandatory challenger Miguel Angel Cuello in Monte Carlo, Monaco cost him his WBC Title in May 1977. Hill did meet Thomas Hearns, losing to him, and losing his title. This fight would be a chess match, but Conteh did hit a bit harder as evidenced in his early kayo of Len Hutchins in March 1977. John forces the action in this bout, he wins this one by unanimous decision.
Career wise there’s an argument to be had for Hill, I suppose. Prime for prime there isn’t one thing he did better than early to mid 70s Conteh.
Peak Conteh had a heavy right hand and was not afraid to use it. I think that added dimension would see Conteh home in a fascinating distance fight.
Have either shadow box in front of a mirror and it’s the same as if they fought. I guess Virgil was maybe a tad bit taller. I’m going to go with a draw.
Virgil in a hard fight. Virgil always showed up in great shape in a very long career had a great chin and never got away from what got him to the top - jab and movement.
