John Conteh vs Kovalev

Conteh was not the top dog in his day, but was in a fantastically gifted era of LightHeavies. I think Conteh would dominate today's LH division. Conteh by TKO, about round 8 or 9.

 

Conteh late stoppage

 

Here's something to mull over: many pundits today consider the Kovalev jab to be a highly effective and underrated weapon.

Do we suppose his jab would have been the beat Conteh had ever seen coming from the opposite corner? Or were those of López and Loach decidedly better? (remember, just talking about jabs here)

 

LOL

 

This combat poster is off center.

 

He was 1A with Galindez for awhile.

I would pick him as well.

The division was in a golden era when Conteh competed.

 

Saad is my favorite fighter as you can tell from my moniker.

That said, I too believe Conteh won the first Saad fight.

It was close, but Saad lost too many early to mid fight rounds.

I still have the Big Book of Boxing issue with Saad and Conteh on the cover. It is in Color.

Gibb's card was the closest to reality.

But, even he favored Saad, albeit by only a point.

Padilla was way off. Ref's often had bad scorecards. I guess it's hard to do two jobs at once.

Spina was from NJ so may have been a hometown card.

Steve Farhood wrote the article reporting on the fight.

The theme: Heart vs. Class.

About Saad:

"The jab is hard, but hardly artistic. The power is constant, but others wield the same. The defense is porous, and the tissue above the eyes bleeds like wet tissue. ....but who knows how long a bleeding heart can last."

I am going on memory, but the above quote is in the article, although I probably do not have it exactly right.

The dude was an AWESOME writer.

 

Big fan of Farhood here too.

 

He's my boxing nerddom idol.

 

He even looks and sounds the part.

Brilliant writer, though.

 

Another great comment about the Lthvy Warriors of the 70's. Good job.

 

Saad one of my all time favorites also. An older friend of mine who boxed in the Army then turned pro sparred with both Saad and Qwai over the span of some years. He told me Saad was the better fighter in his opinion and hit harder.
My Pop ran into Saad at a hard wear store and got me his signature back when he was champ.
Said he was the nicest guy you could meet.