I do n't even want to think about their second fight. John just was n't there mentally. Their first fight,though was pretty close. Even then Conteh was passed his best. I reckon if he'd been as he was in the Jorge Ahumada fight,then he'd have beaten Saad over the distance. Opinions ?
Saad has also been in some wars by then. Conteh's right hand wasn't as good as it could be against Saad but I still think when he threw it, he threw it well. Saad would still come on strong late, I think Conteh may have avoided the knockdowns. Depending on how you scored the first fight you probably say Conteh may have edged it without being floored twice in the 14th.
Conteh. 1st fight was very close. Conteh with his right hand in proper use should prevail but you discount Mathew at your peril for obvious reasons.
You have to go with Conteh based on their first fight. He looked like the Conteh of old early on prior to fading down the stretch, which is what gave Muhammad the edge. A prime Conteh never had stamina issues. I'd say he takes it by a few points.
The problem with this sort of thinking is that it's based entirely on one fight and one performance by Saad, which was still enough to beat Conteh anyway despite it being somewhat close. Saad made adjustments and fought a much better and smarter fighter in the rematch. If you're looking to match each guy at his absolute best, it's more appropriate to match Saad from the second fight vs. whatever fight you think Conteh fought his absolute best. In addition, I don't think we ever really saw the best that Conteh had to offer. IMO he was still on the way up and improving when he fought Ahumada. A younger Conteh may have had more fire and durability than at the time he fought Saad (plus a reliable right hand), but I'm not sure his boxing/defensive skills were quite as honed. The younger Conteh seemed to get drawn into slugfests much easier.
I go along with this. If John had reached his full potential,it would have been a combination of fire and caginess. Awesome.