John Anthony Conteh, (born 27 May 1951) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the

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light-heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserw ...

title from 1974 to 1978, and regionally the European, British and

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titles between 1973 and 1974. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, he represented England and won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division at the

1970 British Commonwealth Games The 1970 British Commonwealth Games (Scottish Gaelic: Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis Bhreatainn 1970) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from 16 to 25 July 1970. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first tim ...

. In 2017, Conteh was awarded an MBE for services to boxing at the

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

Professional career

Born in Liverpool, Lancashire (now Merseyside) to an Irish mother and Sierra Leonean father, Conteh began boxing at the age of 10 at a boxing club in Kirkby that was a training ground for fellow British amateur Joey Singleton. At 19, he won the

gold medal at the

. He won the

title in October 1974 by defeating

Jorge Ahumada Jorge Victor Ahumada (born 1946) is a former professional boxer. Notable fights include four bouts with Víctor Galíndez (one of which was a world title challenge at the Madison Square Garden in New York, New York), a title bout with Bob Fost ...

. He held the title until 1977 when he was stripped for not going through with a mandated defence. Conteh lost a 15-round

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

to the Yugoslavian fighter Mate Parlov when he attempted to regain the title. He failed twice in further efforts to win back the crown, in 1979 and then again seven months later in 1980, on both occasions fighting the American Matthew Saad Muhammad. Muhammad won both bouts but the first victory was declared void because his cornermen used an illegal substance on a cut.

Appearances outside boxing

Conteh was one of the celebrities featured dressed in prison gear on the cover of the 1973 Wings album, ''

Band on the Run ''Band on the Run'' is the third studio album by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released in December 1973. It was McCartney's fifth album after leaving the Beatles in April 1970. Although sales were modest initially ...

''. He was the subject of ''

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'' in 1974. Conteh was the British ''

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'' competition champion in 1974, the second year of the televised sporting event. Conteh is now an after-dinner speaker and speaks at venues all across the country. Conteh appeared on the BBC television programme ''Sporting Legends'' which was presented by Eamonn Holmes. There he spoke at length at how he started out in boxing and how Ali persuaded him to fight at light-heavyweight instead of heavyweight. Ali believed that Conteh was too small to be a heavyweight. Conteh also spoke of how his lifestyle led to alcoholism and a charge of assault, he stated that at the time he appeared on ''Sporting Legends'' he had been dry for nine years. Conteh also appeared in films such as '' Man at the Top'' (1973), '' The Stud'' (1978) and ''

Tank Malling ''Tank Malling'' (re-released as ''Beyond Soho'' in the UK and ''Crossfire'' in America) is a 1989 British thriller film directed by James Marcus and starring Ray Winstone. The film was written by James Marcus and Mick Southworth. The film wa ...

'' (1989), and made a starring appearance in the television show '' Boon'' in 1989, as a washed-up boxer. He more recently appeared on a boxing special of '' The Weakest Link'' in 2009, where he finished in third place. His most recent TV acting appearance was in the crime drama '' Justice'', in which he again played an ex-boxer. Conteh was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for services to boxing.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Conteh, John 1951 births Living people English male boxers English people of Irish descent English sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent People from Kirkby Black British sportspeople Boxers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Boxers from Liverpool England Boxing champions Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Commonwealth Boxing Council champions European Boxing Union champions World Boxing Council champions World light-heavyweight boxing champions Middleweight boxers Members of the Order of the British Empire British Boxing Board of Control champions Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games