Who do you give this one to ? I select Conteh with confidence. Marvin was good but at his best,John was a level above.
Johnson by 13th round stoppage. His pressure would be too much. Just because Howard Davis jr beat Thomas Hearns as an amateur doesn't mean he would do it as a pro.
Conteh was one of the best British boxers ever but,as we know,he never fulfilled his true potential. Had he done so I honestly believe that he'd be ranked right up there with Bob Foster and Michael Spinks as one of the greatest 175 lb men over the last 50 years. Had his right hand remained injury free and not having those 'out of the ring' distractions,he'd have held the title for a lot longer beating Matthew Saad Muhammad,Mate Parlov convincingly.
A good scrap would unfold, but I see conteh stopping marvin around the 14 th. When conteh was good he was bloody good!
Conteh by late stoppage. Johnson would do what he always did - press foreward at a frenetic pace. Conteh would parry and joust and tie him up. Around the 13th round, Conteh would accelerate and poor in punches on a tiring Johnson. Conteh by 14th round tko.
Indeed,Fergy. In this alternate reality providing John remains fit and focused,he may well stay champion until Spinks and Dwight Qawi come along and capitalise on Conteh getting older. In the interim Victor Galindez and Saad Muhammad give him his closest battles. I wish John had packed it in after the first Muhammad fight. The second one was painful to the eye.
It was indeed Stevie, as was John's life out side of the ring after retirement. Some sad story's. But not really seen anything about him for years now, so hopefully he's in a better place.
Thanks for that pal. Yes he does. That must be first I've seen of John in over 30 years to be honest. Nice to see the old champs looking healthy.
From the comments, I can only assume that the posters are (rightfully) seeing John in his wheel house of prime circa 74-75 not the oft-broken right hand, less motivated John in the latter 70's. To Stevie: Conteh and Galindez never fought and that's the major reason why that Great Crop of LH's legacy in the 70's is tarnished a bit. The WBA/WBC split the LH title after Bob Foster's retirement and never let Victor and John fight to unify. My late friend and I had countless discussions about a Victor-John unification circa summer of 75 (the ideal time IMO that they should have met) Make your own call there but we were pleading for that fight at the time. Many see only the battle worn Victor and the oft injured late version of John in the latter 70's as the templet for judging both men. A Galindez-Conte 75 bout would have been a ringside gem! You can look at their fights with a common opponent (Ahumada) as a barometer as to how things might have played out. Jorge gave both men trouble, with Victor having fought Ahumada five times. Those LH's in the seventies were a deep and talented bunch! Tho I'm from Indy and saw all of Marvin's early fights live at the Armory in downtown Indy, I see a pvp fight like most other posters; a late round stoppage for Conte. So many fantastic, exciting LH's in that decade! All bad to the bone!!! My $0.02
