John Conteh vs Marvin Pops Johnson at 175 lbs, 15 rounds, both prime.

I see Conteh winning quite widely on points. Johnson was a fantastic fighter but he seemed to have only one way to fight. He fought Saad Muhammad exactly the same way both fights, he was a tough old school kill or be killed sort of guy. John could punch but was also a smooth boxer and I believe we never saw his full potential. If we are talking John at his very best I see him surviving an early barrage to use his technique to pull through in the championship rounds.

One aspect of Marvin we should not discount is his durability and as you said he still had enough in the tank to KO Parlov who dubiously beat Conteh on points the fight before and he kept on trucking for a third title several years later. I do think John beat Mate and that hard fight took something out of Parlov by the time Johnson got him. But I feel John pretty much flamed out after winning the title and could be inconsistent. Johnson maybe hustles a win if this happens at the tail end of John's career but any earlier than that I pick Conteh.

 

I totally forgot about his hand issues! Also he was a major celebrity in UK and enjoyed the high life a bit too much.

 

Marvin Johnson was my favorite light heavyweight of the fantastic late 70s / early 80s era but, based on the OP, I have to go with Conteh. The thing about Pops is that he was always very good but rarely great. If you didn't bring your absolute best A game then Marvin Johnson was going to beat you because he definitely brought his A game. However, we are talking about Conteh at his peak and while I think Johnson would have won five or six rounds he would have lost a tough fifteen round fight.

 

As much as I like Pops, I have to go with Conteh here. I’d have to say by decision because I think John would have been smart enough not to put himself in the danger zone too much by initiating a slugfest … if his testosterone gets the better of his judgment, Pops could turn it on one punch and rally for the KO.

There are certainly versions of both, however, who could beat the other. Once Conteh’s hand problems emerged, I’d lean toward Marvin tracking him down and doing enough major damage to take it.

 

I'm gonna go against the grain here and favour Marvin Johnson, i don't think John Conteh has the durability of some of the champions who beat him like Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Matthew Saad Muhammad. Eddie went to the body and broke down Johnson something Conteh isn't known for, and Matthew just out lasted Johnson in two brutal wars.

Conteh had issues vs Parlov's Southpaw style it took him about 8 rounds before he finally figured it out and that cost him the fight, i think he would also have issues vs Johnson's Southpaw style aswell as his aggressive style.

Johnson had the better wins vs Mate Parlov, Victory Galindez, Eddie Davis, and a young upcoming Charles Williams who would go on to be a champion for like 3 or 4 years. And Johnson won all these fights in very one sided fashion aswell.

My pick is Johnson by TKO too aggressive too strong and Conteh's jab wouldn't be enough to keep off the rampaging Johnson.

 

Good fight. I do see a prime two handed Conteh as being too much for Johnson though.

John by clear UD.

 

I think I remember that one, isn't he being held up by a row of the Bunnies?

 

That's the one.

 

Good Post!

 

You could see he wasn't going to be the most focused fighter once he won the title! I hope he at least had fun and made some money.

 

Thanks very much!