the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Ah, makes sense - yep, it’s a good list and a really nice roundup video by @Rumsfeld of those fights.

 

John Conteh vs Jorge Ahumada

1 Even
2 Ahumada
3 Missing round have to score it 10-10
4 Ahumada
5 Conteh
6 Conteh
7 Missing round have to score it 10-10
8 Conteh
9 Conteh
10 Ahumada
11 Conteh
12 Conteh
13 Conteh
14 Conteh
15 Conteh

147-141 Conteh

Unfortunately 2 rounds were missing and the quality went a bit so and so towards the end, despite my wide score for Conteh it was actually a very hard nights work for Conteh. Ahumada was very competitive for the first 10 rounds or so, and he would jab his way in and land hard shots. I didn't really feel like Conteh's famous jab was that much of a factor in this fight, he just had to get down and dirty and win by going to war with Ahumada. I feel like Conteh down the stretch pulled it out and in the 15th round, he had Ahumada hurt and came somewhat close to stopping him.

Overall it was an exciting/tough fight, where Conteh had to dig deep to beat the hard nut Ahumada.

 

Conteh was a master at using the jab to set up his head butt.

 

Before I watched the Jorge Ahumada fight, the Len Hutchings fight was on the same video, so I decided to watch that quick aswell. Conteh was terrible with his head in that fight, I know Finnegan certainly complained about Contehs headbutts.

 

I’m pretty sure the original configuration of the Wild Samoans wresting team was Afa, Sika and Conteh.

 

Marvin Johnson vs Mate Parlov

1 Johnson
2 Johnson
3 Johnson
4 Johnson
5 Johnson
6 Johnson
7 Johnson
8 Johnson
9 Johnson
10 Johnson wins by TKO

90-81 Johnson

Very dominant performance from Johnson, he basically mugged and beat up Parlov entire fight. Parlov who is not really noted as a big puncher, was constantly forced on the backfoot and had nothing to stop Johnson's relentless pressure. And that was pretty much the story of the entire fight, the 10th round Johnson dropped a bruised and battered Parlov with a lunging right hook, moments later Parlov went down again Parlov gets up and the referee rightfully stops the fight.

Overall probably one of Johnson's best performances outside of the Galindez fight, i feel like Parlov's style was a bit Amateurish TBH. And i'm not trying to discredit Parlov by saying that, but to me his style looks more like an Amateur style pecking away scoring points. And it makes sense since he was an olympic gold medalist.

 

Mate Parlov vs John Conteh

1 Parlov
2 Parlov
3 Conteh
4 Parlov
5 Parlov
6 Conteh
7 Parlov
8 Parlov 10-8 point deduction
9 Parlov
10 Conteh
11 Conteh
12 Conteh
13 Conteh
14 Missing round so have to score it 10-10
15 9-9 point deduction

144-142 Parlov

So unfortunately round 14 was missing, but even if i scored that round for Conteh i still would have Parlov winning by a point. Now i've heard this fight was a bad decision, but i didn't see that at all TBH. The fact is kind of Eddie Mustafa Muhammad vs Victor Galindez the point deductions were the deciding factor in the fight, i don't think the referee should of took a point away from Conteh in 15th round though, i thought that was harsh TBH.

Without the point deductions i think Conteh wins a close fight, but saying that for me Conteh started a little too late. Parlov for the first 9 rounds had Conteh puzzled with his southpaw stance, movement, right jab, and occasional left hand. Conteh couldn't get past that right jab and couldn't really get his offence going.

The 10th round was a major turning point in the fight, finally Conteh started going to the body. And he finally found something to get his offence going, which was the left hook to the body and right hand up top. I thought Conteh swept every round from then on, he was able to get his offence going and rough up Parlov to take Parlov out of his boxing rhythm, but the point deduction in the 15th round hurt Conteh, as did the 2 point round in the 8th round.

Overall it was an interesting tactical battle, which turned into an exciting fight the last 4 or 5 rounds. As i said early very similar to Galindez vs Muhammad fight with the point deductions being the deciding factor in a close fight. I felt point deductions in the Galindez fight were bogus though and ridiculous, in this fight i can agree on 1 point deduction but 2 and especially in the 15th round of a close fight ? i felt the referee made a bit too much of an impact on the fight with that call TBH.

 

You’re on a roll and enjoying some of the best era of any division of all time (and also some obscure corners of it).

To me, Conteh is one of the dirtiest fighters I’ve ever seen. If he managed to cost himself a title by point deductions for repeated fouls there’s some justice in that. Once you’ve gotten one point taken away, best to play it on the safe side of the rules and not push the envelope … especially on the road. A ref should enforce the rules from first bell to last, not ‘swallow the whistle’ in the 15th round because it’s a competitive fight.

So I don’t really sympathize with Conteh at all. I know he’s a minor god to some people on this forum, but some of the same ones who post about Holyfield head butts talk about Conteh like he’s Baby Jesus.

 

Here is how I saw it:

John Conteh v Jorge Ahumada (vacant WBC light heavyweight title)

Ahumada looked like he was going to take it after 10 rounds but then Conteh turned it up a gear and won it down the stretch on my card below.

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Ahumada
Round 3: 10-9 Conteh
Round 4: 10-9 Ahumada
Round 5: 10-9 Conteh
Round 6: 10-9 Conteh
Round 7: 10-9 Ahumada
Round 8: 10-10 Even
Round 9: 10-9 Ahumada
Round 10: 10-9 Ahumada
Round 11: 10-9 Conteh
Round 12: 10-9 Conteh
Round 13: 10-9 Conteh
Round 14: 10-10 Even
Round 15: 10-9 Conteh

Total: 145-142 Conteh (actual score: 147-142 by the referee who was the sole arbiter)

It wasn't until the 13th, 14th, 15th things got a little sloppy, but they had set a great pace earlier. Two warriors and Ahumada just seemed that hard luck fighter losing two close decisions to Conteh and Galindez and getting robbed - by way of a draw - against Foster. All for the title.

 

I guess your right but i do hate when fights are won and lost, based on referees decision.

As for John Conteh i wouldn't say i'm a fan of his, i do think he gets a bit overrated. He certainly was talented but i don't agree with the norm that "If Conteh stayed fit and healthy he would of dominated the division and would of beat this guy and that guy" the fact is there was alot of very good fighters during that era. And even at his best Conteh was not the best of that era. I still wouldn't favour Conteh vs Johnson, E.Muhammad, Qawi, Spinks, etc. And your definitely right about Conteh's head, every fight i've watched of Conteh he's always using his head and alot of fighters got cut as a result of it.

Finally as for the era it's one of my favourites TBH, along with Super Featherweight/Lightweight era of 80s and Jr Middlweight/Middleweight era of 80s.

 

It's one of them fights where Conteh won pretty convincingly on the scorecards, but watching the actual fight it didn't appear that way. But like you i felt like Conteh run away with it based on last 5 rounds.

 

Yeah I wasn’t saying you’re one of the John Conteh Athletic Supporters Club members. You can get a good sample on the thread you revived about this Parlov fight.

I’m guessing he came along at exactly the right time when maybe the UK needed a sporting hero and won a title, and also had a pleasing-to-the-eye (but not to his opponents’ noggins) style, but for a fair few of a certain age who grew up in Great Britain he’s practically revered. He can do no wrong and every fight he lost there’s an excuse.

I’ve even seen some of them try to stretch the argument that he’s better than prime Bob Foster based on the Ahumada fight — see, Conteh beat a guy who fought Foster to a draw … never mind that Foster was practically ancient by then and Ahumada never did anything else of note in his entire career. By that logic, there’s more than a dozen fighters who beat Jesse Burnett who fought Conteh to a draw (that Burnett deserved to win) so they must all be better than Conteh.

 

Had this one penciled in for awhile. Here we go:

Ezzard Charles v Harold Johnson (rounds scoring basis)

Round 1: Johnson
Round 2: Charles
Round 3: Even
Round 4: Johnson
Round 5: Johnson
Round 6: Johnson
Round 7: Charles
Round 8: Johnson
Round 9: Johnson
Round 10: Charles

Total: 6-3-1 Johnson (actual scores: 6-3-1 and 7-3 both for Johnson and a 5-4-1 for Charles with Johnson the winner on a split)

What is quite noticeable in this bout is how Charles is clearly missing a step. Taking nothing from Johnson, but Ez was 32 years old with a lot of mileage on those tires. One could see in this bout how Ez resigned himself after the first couple of rounds to sharp-shooting with the left hook or right hand because Johnson was containing him brilliantly with his left jab and was very strong on the inside. Ez was just not going to outpoint him. Still, he gave a good account of himself and I felt the knockdown in the 10th was legit for Charles, which is why I gave him the round. Classy fight between two top technicians.

 

John Conteh vs Alvaro 'Yaqui' Lopez

1 Conteh
2 Lopez
3 Conteh
4 Conteh
5 Conteh
6 Lopez
7 Missing round 10-10
8 Lopez
9 Lopez
10 Conteh
11 Conteh
12 Missing round 10-10
13 Conteh
14 Conteh
15 Conteh

146-141 Conteh

So Conteh had been out of the ring for over a year because of his well known right hand problems, basically Conteh was more or less a one handed fighter in this fight. As he mostly beat Lopez with the left jab/left hook and only very sparingly used the right hand.

Overall it was a good technical bout with both men looking to establish the jab in the middle of the ring, Lopez had some success in the 6th round when he hurt Conteh with a right hand, and then seemed to go on a bit of roll between rounds 6-9. But after Lopez got cut in the 10th round i believe ? his work went a tad ragged, as Conteh pretty much won every round from 10-15 with his left jab.

It's a bit annoying every John Conteh fight i see has 1 or 2 rounds missing all the time, especially when i'm trying create a scorecard. But overall the fight was very nip and tuck for the first 10 rounds with not much to choose between them, until Conteh pulled away in the last 5 rounds.

Another tough loss for Yaqui Lopez it seems like every Lopez fight i watch he's always losing, just goes to show how tough of an era this was if a quality fighter like Lopez couldn't win a title.

 

Just to touch base on this one again with you and @George Crowcroft ........

Good, hard professional fight. It showed two fighters in what might be called complementary stages of degradation. Conveniently enough I suppose, I had it somewhere in between your and George's cards, though I did think DeWitt was a fairly clear winner. Here's my card:

1. DeWitt
2. DeWitt
3. DeWitt
4. Sims
5. DeWitt
6. DeWitt
7. DeWitt
8. Sims
9. Sims
10. DeWitt
11. DeWitt
12. Sims

116-112 DeWitt. It was perhaps as much a case of Sims being just that much more dilapidated. He lunged in and stumbled forward with shots, leaving himself a prime target for the sharp, short counters DeWitt was always known for. His right hook was slapping and wide, and his balance was generally poor. It occurred to me that had DeWitt not hurt his hand like that he might have been able to hook with enough power to stop Sims, especially considering the closed right eye.