Conteh vs Kovalev ??

Agreed, I just think it's unfair to call a guy a quitter when he was hurt, and then finished off by low blows.

I just don't see much special about Coneth on film or on his record. He lost there time to lesser fighters in his prime ( Not name guys ) , and quit the game before he aged. You could say he fought better completion, but they pretty much beat him.

Cheers.

 

Saad would have made SK quit or knocked his head off.

 

What an excellent boxrec assessment this is of a fighter.
The question is which fighter because it certainly isn’t John Conteh.
Who’s Coneth and Connor?
You clearly haven’t seen John Conteh fight.

 

Conteh did not draw in his prime. His prime ended in '75 after breaking his right hand against Willie (The Bull) Taylor, which shelved him for over a year. He always insisted the issue was the way Richie Giachetti (who was working his corner for the non-title) wrapped his hands. Nevertheless, despite wins over Yaqui Lopez and Len Hutchins, his prime ended at the Taylor fight. He was damaged goods from there on. Wins thereafter just showed how good he was and could have been. You mentioned he drew against a fighter you never heard of. Really? You never heard of Jesse Burnett, one of the great 175 lbers who never won the title? Please. Suffice to say, prime for prime, I see Conteh winning a comfortable 15 round decision or stopping Kovalev late.

 

I disagree with this, Kovalev showed tremendous heart in the first Ward fight dealing with adversity. Turning back Ward in round 10 (although the judges shamelessly disagreed). I think the unjust result of that fight gutted Kovalev and brought out his worst tendencies in the rematch. Lack of dedication and a stubbornness to not try to improve. Now i’m Not absolving him of the stain of the rematch he owns that, but we don’t judge Duran solely on his quit job vs Leonard. It’s clear to me Kovalev mentally didn’t handle the robbery vs Ward in the first fight well.
If Kovalev is properly credited with a Ward win, his resume looks great.
Ward was considered p4p 1-2 when he first fought Kovalev and in my eyes he lost pretty cleanly to a hungry and mean bad man at 175.
I’ll pick Kovalev of the first Ward fight over Conteh. Any version post that fight i’d pick Conteh.

 

I just can't see any other outcome than Kovalev crumbling into a pile around the 10 th round, and that assumes the war doesn't break out sooner.

 

Hello Scartissue,

No I never heard for or saw Jesse Burnett who ended his career 25-17-2.

I looked him up, he lost 4 of his last 5 before drawing with Coneth ( Flooring Coneth twice ), then lost his next two after that. Not impressed. Burnett sounds like a shot fighter when Coneth meet him.

"Former world light heavyweight champion John Conteh of Britain was held to a draw over 10 rounds Monday by veteran Californian Jesse Burnett. Burnett looked unlucky not to get the decision in front of 1,000 dinner-jacketed fans at the Anglo-American Sporting Club here. He knocked Conteh down in the 1st and 8th rounds. Referee Harry Levene's draw decision was roundly booed by the crowd, and Burnett was given an ovation by the spectators. Burnett, 33, caught his 27 year old opponent with a superb left hook to the head at the end of the first round. Conteh was saved by the bell and survived the next round on wobbly legs, as the American surprisingly backed off. Both men finished strongly but it was still a surprise when referee Levene lifted both fighters' hands together." -Associated Press

So, a guy on a bad losing streak was robbed and hurt John COneth? Stock way down...thanks for letting me look into Burnett. Sorry Kovalev would crush a guy like this. Coneth got a lucky draw.

One thing I'll never understand, guys who fought 30-40+ years ago don't; seemed to be penalized by losses or draws to lesser fighter, but when modern champion looses once or twice, even past his prime, he's just not that good.

 

Mendoza, it's the sign of the times. I really believe that. Fighters in Burnett's day may lose but they're signed for another fight immediately. They were always in the public's eye. Fighters today only fight once or twice a year. And if they lose, they take a year off to sulk. This is why little is thought of them. Regarding Burnett, believe me, I lived during Burnett's career and he was a hard-luck fighter. Offhand, I can tell you that he was robbed against Leon Spinks, Bash Ali and I scored his fight with Conteh 5-4-1 in rounds for Burnett. Would have been a greater score with the 10 point system. His only title shot was against Miguel Cuello on 48 hours notice and was jet-lagged to death in the fight. He was so well thought of at the time, one mag wrote an article on him called 'the second coming of Archie Moore' because of his talent and advanced age. But I digress, the original question was about Conteh and he was well past it when he fought Burnett. But again, when you say you were not impressed with Burnett. He may not have had a 25-0 record, but his record contains the names of awesome fighters who fought often and hard. And that's what impresses me.

 

But you said Conteh or Coneth lost 3 times to lesser fighters?
Conteh only lost 4 times in his career, 1 loss was in his 11th fight as a novice the other 3 were twice against Saad and the other a robbery against Mate Parlov.
I don't know which fighter you were looking up on Boxrec but it certainly wasn't Conteh.

 

Burnett took quite a few fights on short notice his record does not do him justice,imo.
Prior to drawing with Conteh he had beaten,Jimmy Lester,Lonnie Bennett,Bossman Jones,Mundine,Lopez x2. After ,he went on to beat Galindez, Mundine , and Aczel.I haven't seen either the Spinks or Ali fights, but if Burnett had gotten the decision over Conteh it would not have been an outright robbery,imo.

 

Burnett was ranked no8 in75,no6 in76, no 10 in77. ps The referee was Harry Gibbs, Harry Levene was the promoter. When Conteh fought Parlov,Parlov had a layer of plastic skin on his eyebrows and fore head, Conteh badly cut Saad in their first fight and would probably have stopped him had the Champions corner not been allowed to use illegal Monsel's Solution to cement the wounds shut.
Saad would walk though Kovalev,too much power and too much heart.
Prime Conteh,before the Taylor fight, beats up Kovalev.

 

I watched the fight at the time and agree entirely, Conteh was fortunate.