John conteh vs mate parlov

I still get annoyed when I think about this fight :fire :fire

John was shafted by Hometown-itis. Even though it was n't Conteh at his best,he deserved the nod on the cards by at LEAST 9 - 6.

 

I remember this, this fight was live on BBC on a Saturday night, I didn't stay in and watch it - I had the choice of a high school party or staying into watch the fight, I was at an age (15) when the high school party with all the girls from school there seemed the more attractive option:hey.

My Mum watched it (well, it was John Conteh!!!) and said that from TV JC had been stitched up, and that seemed to be the concensus opinion.

Interestingly, Harry Mullan, the legendary editor of Boxing News, had Parlov as the winner...however, aside from the judges, I think he was in a minority of one...

 

Haven't seen this since the time but I remember thinking John had won it. I'm sure there was some controversy about some plastic skin on Parlovs brow and I'm not thinking about the cement that Saad Muhammad had stuck in his eyebrow when he fought John.

 

You're right Al...Parlov actually came into the ring with this plastic stuff over his brows...and didn't have to remove it...scandalous...

 

I remember that well.

 

I remember thinking John deserved the nod but it was no wide victory .. which brings me back to my point about Conteh .. he was flashy and had charisma but was a very good and not great fighter .. Marvin Johnson would fight Parlov next in Europe and crush him ...

 

John COULD have been great,and that's the saddest thing. He definitely had the potential to have been.

If John had retained the form that won him the title from Jorge Ahumada,and got even better,he'd have been champ for quite a while. Even Saad Muhammad would n't have beaten him.

 

Parlov was no mug though, styles make fights and he was an awkward southpaw.

 

Funny enough I went to see Conteh training for the Parlov fight. I went to London with my dad, I was about 13 to see Liverpool beat Bruge for the European Cup. While we were there we went to see Conteh. I think it was the Board of Control gym at Hampstead and John was sparring with Lotte Mwale, there was only a few of us there, me, me dad, George Francis, Conteh, Mwale, a young Liverpool lightwqeight called Robbie Robinson and Ralph Charles, former Br¡itish welter champ who fought Napoles for the title.
Mwale went on to knock out a young Tony Sibson in 1 round a couple of weeks later and then beat Marvin Johnson on points on the undercard of the Conteh Parlov fight.
He must of been getting more benefit sparring John than Conteh was sparring with him.
I wonder why he never got the shot against Parlov instead of Johnson.

 

I won't argue with that!

 

i remember this fight was aired on American TV, possibly on the CBS Sports Spectacular and I watched it. I thought John would easily win but Parlov fought surprisingly well. I seem to remember Parlov did his best work in the early part of the fight with Conteh coming on near the end. It was a close fight and I suppose each fighter's fans thought their fighter deserved the nod. I was a Conteh fan but didn't feel the decision was an outright robbery. I developed a respect for Parlov after this showing. But then, I've always liked southpaws.

 

Roughly even after ten then Conteh stopped trying to box\counter and walked him down with the left hook, winning most of the last third.Ugly messy fight.

Conteh didn't look good though-timing all over the place and already trying to fight one handed by this point, so not a good thing- this was when you could really see all the layoffs and increasing party lifestyle were ****ing him up.

 

Conteh was well on the decline here, which hit it's lowest point just before Saad I IMO, against Burnett. Considering everything leading up to the Saad fight is what makes it a great showing from Conteh, even in defeat.

He beat Parlov by a good few rounds. Parlov was around the top of one of the greatest era's for light heavyweight, hanging with many top class fighters in a completely unspectacular fashion. I feel he gets harsh criticism.

Marvin Johnson, also unfairly maligned IMO, is also completely different from John Conteh. His win over Parlov has loupe bearing on Conteh's win IMO, especially considering Conteh was knackered physically. Johnson was a bulldozer, and came back from numerous bad defeats.

Alan, great anecdote about the very good Lotti Mwale, didn't know he'd sparred Conteh. Another class contender from that era. Saad's KO of him might just be the best K.O from all of those fights as well :yep