Does John Conteh belong in the Hall of Fame

Very true.

 

If he would've defeated Parlov and won the first fight with Saad, yes. But he didn't. So, no.

Excellent fighter, though. Wonder what would've happened if he'd remained a heavyweight instead of dropping down?

A heavyweight John Conteh in 1978 might've done what Leon Spinks pulled off.

 

Wonder what would have happened if Saad had not been allowed to have illegal Monsels solution applied to his cuts in the first Conteh fight?
Wonder what would have happened if Parlov had not been permitted to come into the ring wearing 4 layers of plastic skin on his eyebrows?

:think

 

Dirty tricks or not, Conteh needed to win those fights, though. Without them, he doesn't seem to have the name wins.

I know Yaqui Lopez was a perennial top contender, but everyone and their brothers ended up with wins over Lopez.

 

But, he was past prime for those fights and he almost won the Pavlov and first Saad fights.

Both fights were extremely close.

I mean, McGuigan is in. He only beat a faded Pedroza.

Who's the best figher Mancini beat? A pre-prime Jose Luis Ramirez

Gatti? I won't even start with him.

Who's the best figher Brian Mitchell beat? Tony Lopez

It's easy to see the selection process is very political.

 

I agree. The selection process is political.

So you list fighters who people always complain DON'T deserve to be in, and then you want to add more names who don't deserve it because those others who didn't deserve it got in?

I agree, the Hall of Fame voting is becoming ridiculous. If they think adding someone will draw attendees, they seem to add him.

I wouldn't go nuts if John Conteh got in. He was a very popular guy in his day. But, based on his wins, I think I would consider him in the same category as Barry McGuigan and Arturo Gatti.

And I don't know if that's the section of the Hall you want to be included in.

But, to each his own.:hi:

 

close, but no cigar. He misses the cut by a couple of points.

 

Fair post