John Conteh vs Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

When I consider what a one armed bandit Conteh was in the first Saad Muhammad match, tack on the fact that he was already past his best then, and juxtapose that against Eddie's performance in dethroning Marvin Johnson, I see Conteh taking the UD here.

Even against Johnson, Eddie just wasn't as aggressive as he should have been. (In fact, the most impressive offensive display I ever saw Eddie produce was in knocking out Mwale, a decent boxer, but hardly in Conteh's class.) In glaring contrast to how Eddie went about his business, Conteh went immediately after Saad, with jabs, hooks, and infrequent but accurate right crosses. If John had managed to keep his feet late, he should have won that decision. (As it was, some Yanks felt he did.)

He was easily the most skilled of Saad's title challengers.

 

conteh produced a remarkable performance to beat the tough yacqui lopez one handed.didn't throw a right hand all night.

 

One of the first things I read about boxing instruction was that at least 80 per cent of the right hand's use should be for defensive purposes, and no more than 20 per cent for punching. Conteh certainly demonstrated how effective one could be relying almost exclusively on a great left jab and hook.

 

Conteh did have a strong right hand prior to breaking it badly.

After breaking it on Willie the bull Taylor's head he was basically a one-handed fighter.I don't believe he was able to properly make a fist with his right again.

 

Eddie was the harder puncher but Johnny was busier, I think Conteh by Close UD

 

eddie by ud

 

I think John's name was pronounced Con-tay, with the emphasis on "Con". I remember announcers pronouncing it that way when I watched his fights in the 70's.

This is a tough fight to predict as both were awesomely talented boxer-punchers with Conteh being the slightly better ring technician and Muhammad being the harder puncher.

I favor Conteh by a close decision.

 

Mike Spinks also nearly broke both his hands on The Bull's head, but the referee stepped in to save Mike's hands from further punishment, when Willie was cranking up to throw another roundhouse hook. If Charlie Sgrillo had let that one go ten, boxing history might have changed. (How on earth did Yaqui Lopez ever manage to drop him for the count?)

 

John Conteh would win a close fight over Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.Eddie, despite his talent, would find a way to lose this fight.

 

Mustafa even passed on his low output and somewhat tentative style to 'Sad' Chad

Anyway, Conteh can box with Eddie, which is important. Also, as he showed way past his best against Parlov, he can shift it up, make it dirty and dig to the body.

Conteh with two hands is enough to even it up if a focused and positive Gregory shows up.

Conteh decision in what would probably be a fine fight.

I consider Conteh the flat out better boxer but Mustafa was one of the best from a brilliant and deep era of LHWs.

Best two handed showing is IMO Schmidtke. Best one handed showing is Yaqui Lopez. Both on YouTube and funnily enough I'll be adding some Gregory soon (when he was Gregory)

 

No way would John Conteh lose this fight.

Eddie too predictable, and many forget, he lost alot of bouts in the
amateurs at Welterweight.

And he was defeated in several Middleweight bouts, when facing durable
types who had a chin. John Conteh, when on, was a different 'breed', and
his ring smarts would enable him to score a solid 15-Round Decision over
the 'slow-footed' Eddie Gregory.

Computer Results;

(145-142) or 7-4-4 in Rounds.

 

Mustafa was a fighter who got better and better as he gained more seasoning.

Conteh was a phenom who jumped to the European title before domestic honours at what, 21? Started off as a heavy, and outjabbed heavyset despite a relatively small reach for his era of light heavy weights.

 

Well put, John!:good

 

As others have said,at his best my pick is Conteh.Beat heavyweights although i dont think he was a big lightheavy even.Good world champ who could have been great.Best exhibition of class I ever saw was his win in London over Stevens,even from back of the hall.I feel if hed got the crack at Foster he would have won(at that stage)and be rated even better in history.Bad decision against Parlov also.Up to that point,points for Conteh over Eddie.After that,I dread to think.