This content is protected He says that Ali thought he was too small to be a heavyweight and that he should consider fighting at light heavyweight instead.
I can’t imagine Conteh as a heavyweight. His coconut would get cracked trying that 1-2-headbutt combo with the big boys.
Back in the 70s, the cruiserweight division didn't yet exist and heavyweight still technically started at 176 pounds. So Conteh still may have been able to compete as a heavyweight if he weighed in at 176. That doesn't mean it would be a good idea. He didn't have enormous punching power or a really slick style that could equalize things.
By the 1970s, I think we had seen the last of the 176-180 pound heavies (à la Joey Maxim, Willie Pastrano) who could put a toe barely over the light heavyweight line and compete with contenders. Largely because the champs were no longer of the 185-190 variety post Patterson. Sure, there were still guys around the high 190s and low 200s, but by the 1970s they were more athletic and robust. Conteh would never have made a dent at heavy (unless it was by ramming his head into someone). Ali gave him very sound advice, and looking at the specimen that was Ali up close, John surely had to realize where his future was.
Ali was correct. Conteh was just right at LH. Ali liked Conteh, going so far as to comment on how handsome he thought John was. Perhaps Ali’s ulterior motive was to prevent Conteh from competing in the HW looks dept. Ali might’ve felt that Ken Norton was enough to be getting on without another challenger to his title of “Prettiest”.
It was a very sudden turnaround. One moment he was reportedly heading for a fight with Jimmy Ellis (still a highly rated contender at the time), then he came home from fighting on the Ali-Bugner undercard, and almost immediately signed to fight for the European light-heavyweight title.
Not only may he have been able to compete at HW, Conteh had several fights at HW, albeit never against a ranked HW. He typically weighed in the 180's, but he did fight and beat multiple 200lbs+ opponents. I've seen Conteh (either on a talk show interview or an episode of "This is your life") talk about Ali meeting him, presumably when he fought on the Bugner undercard, and Ali said words to the effect of "man, I thought I was pretty, but you're the prettiest", before, more earnestly, advising Conteh to drop down to LHW on account of being too small for a growing HW division. Sound advice, imo.