The Best of the Rest: 175lbs Tier II Tournie -THE FINAL: JOHN CONTEH TK015 VIRGIL HILL

Two Rolls Royces qualify for the "Best of the Rest" 175lb tournament at the expense of a series of moster-trucks, city buses and rappelling mechanical bomb diffusing 4-wheelers. Englishman John Conteh has made the final without really breaking a sweat, beating Zsolt Erdei, Joey Maxim, Maxie Rosenbloom and Jose Torres easily - easily. He has hardly lost a round.

Virgil Hill has been almost as untroubled, although he was badly taxed by Jimmy Slattery in a nip-and-tuck first fight he has since jabbed Mickey Walker, Bernard Hopkins and Paul Berlenbach into submissive surrender. Perhaps the only man with a left-hand to equal Conteh's this match seems likely to be the ultimate battle of the jabs, Hill's silky faced by Conteh's unfettered technical excellence.

Coverted southpaw Hill added a right-hand to the body which in its own small way was as crucial as the activation of the Pacquiao trailing hand; it was the punch that made him a former Olympian. For perhaps his defining performance check out his desperate effort against a peak technician Henry Maske. Hill ends the fight grasping and a little desperate but the Germans played it straight and Hill got himself a wonderful, wonderful and much deserved decision.

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Conteh could be outfought and was by the likes of Matthew Saad Muhammad but Hill is not that kind of fighter. And just as Hill found ways to outbox and outjoust world class technicians, so did Conteh. Check out a newly committed Conteh (who had previously been looking at HW) grasping the European title with great ease and both hands with a twelfth round stoppage and tell me how you think Hill might line himself up against the steely mind of Conteh, difficult to feint, tough to maneuver, clearly, clearly in charge of the where and the when of the combat as he almost always was against boxer types.

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"I said you god to do it and you god to do it. Cut me Mick."

@HolDat - c'mon.

 

Right hands could certainly settle this fight.

Hill's addition of a spiteful right made him look suddenly like a grown up. Conte, too, found opportunities for a right hand, especially on the rare occasions he turned pressure fighter, like against Mate Parlov. Spent time looking for the right hand on the inside late in that fight, especially a sneaky uppercut. It was clearly not the punch his left was, but still.

 

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Yet another clear win for John Conte, this time in the final; Conte was able to outpick Hill from the very first, all but took his jab from him and when he introduced his right hand with serious intent after around six, to no reply, the fight was decided.

Referee آغ آغاغا آغاغا called the match early in the fifteenth round. Hill had taken a bad beating in the fourteenth and when Hill, bravely but futilely, covered up in the corner with a view to taking more fo the same for the final three minutes, آغ آغاغا آغاغا stepped in. Protests from Hill were muted and from his corner were nil.

Such has been Conte's dominance in this tournament, the board has basically rejected his even being a part of it. Clearly for Classic, Conte does not belong in the second tier - he is among the most dangerous LHWs in history. Conte won this tournament without breaking a sweat.