By Jeff Day

It was while sitting in the armchair, having spent yet another day over the festive season, eating and drinking far too much than is really healthy for me. I was flicking through the television channels trying to find something even remotely interesting.

Suddenly, I stumbled across one of those programmes dealing with nostalgia. You know the ones I mean. 'I love the 1970s'. Out of nowhere, amongst the glam rock music, flared trousers, there appeared one of the great British boxers of all time; none other than Liverpool, England's John Conteh.

It probably sounds unreasonable to call a man who won a Commonwealth Games gold medal as an amateur; British, Commonwealth and European championships; and WBC light-heavyweight titles as a professional an under-achiever but that's what John might be considered.

He was born March 27 1951 in Liverpool. His father was from Sierra Leone, his mother Irish. John was one of ten children and was encouraged to box by his father, rather than fall under the bad influences of his environment.

Boxing for the Kirkby Amateur Boxing Club, Conteh proved to be a natural. He was national amateur champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist at middleweight in 1970.

Conteh followed these successes up by winning the national light-heavyweight amateur championships in 1971, after which a professional career beckoned. He turned professional with manager George Francis the same year - but as a heavyweight.

At 6 feet, he was only around 180-185 pounds. Today he would surely campaign at cruiserweight, but that division was still eight years away from its introduction.

Okacha Boubekeur was to be the Liverpool man's first professional opponent, though couldn't make it past the opening round. By the end of 1971, Conteh had amassed 5 wins, 4 inside the distance. So, a confident start.

However, John was a charismatic, handsome man in his early 20s, with money in his pocket and it was important he was kept away from the bright lights and kept busy in his ring education.

1972 saw Conteh have 11 fights. He scored 10 wins; all inside schedule, one of which was an eighth round win over future British, Commonwealth and European Heavyweight title challenger, Billy Aird. The first defeat was suffered against veteran American, Eddie Duncan at Wembley.

No great shame here. Duncan was a cagey old pro who was to meet Victor Galindez the following year. It was a disputed decision, though today would probably have been looked upon a disaster, as opposed to the learning experience it undoubtedly was.
At this stage, Conteh was still viewed as a heavyweight prospect. Indeed, in his 18th fight, the Englishman scored a 7th round knockout over former world heavyweight championship challenger Terry Daniels. Daniels had fought 'Smokin' Joe Frazier just over a year previously.

It should also be mentioned that Daniels had lost 4 fights in a row since losing in the fourth round against Joe, so the timing of his meeting with John was certainly good.

This contest was on the undercard of Muhammad Ali-Joe Bugner in Las Vegas. Ali was impressed when he saw Conteh training but did not think Conteh should campaign at heavyweight. He believed Conteh's future should be at light-heavyweight.

In his next fight, John faced Germany's Rudiger Schmidtke for the European light-heavyweight championship. Although the wrong side of 30, Schmidtke was undefeated in his previous ten fights. In March 1973, just a month after his victory of Daniels, Conteh boxed superbly and won via 12th stoppage in London.

Now, at this time, Britain had another world class light-heavyweight in Chris Finnegan. Finnegan was Britain's last Olympic Gold medallist prior to Audley Harrison in Sydney in 2000. Finnegan, of Irish descent, was a hugely popular fighter, who was one of Britain's most famous sportsmen following his 1968 Olympic success in Mexico.

Finnegan, a southpaw, always fought with great heart and determination, so a domestic showdown between him and Conteh was too irresistible a match not to be made. There was also added spice, because Chris was British and Commonwealth champion, Conteh, of course, now European champion.

They met in arguably the years most anticipated fight, on 22 May 1973 at Wembley. Due to his playboy image, Conteh was well respected, though did not attract the same fanatical following as Finnegan. Chris was very much the fan's favourite.

Only eight months earlier, Finnegan had taken the great Bob Foster 14 rounds in a world title fight. He absorbed a lot of punishment that night, before succumbing to possibly the greatest light-heavyweight champion in ring history.

Remarkably, he had had three fights between the Foster and Conteh meetings. A schedule that would be unheard of today. Although there were two victories, he was also beaten by Schmidtke in 12 rounds in November 1972, in a bid for the European title. Was Conteh once again in the right place at the right time?

After 15 gruelling rounds, Conteh was declared the winner on points. At five days short of his 22nd birthday, John Conteh was British, Commonwealth and European light-heavyweight champion. The world was his oyster.

His progress was staggering and confidence soaring. Under the astute promoter Mickey Duff, he was not rushed into a world title fight with the legendary Bob Foster. Instead, he was matched with Venezuelan Vicente Rondon. Rondon was 35 and had plied his trade against a mixture of world class light-heavyweights and heavyweights of the period.

He was a very erratic performer; he was beaten in two rounds by both Bob Foster and heavyweight contender Ron Lyle, yet somehow went the ten round distance against murderous puncher, Earnie Shavers over the past year and a half. The Englishman bombed him out in seven.

Victories over Baby Boy Rolle, Fred Lewis and a non-title victory over British title contender Les Stevens followed, before another potentially dangerous defence of the European championship against Tom Bogs of Denmark.

Only top-class fighters beat Bogs. He had been a professional since 1964, with the only the likes of Emile Griffith, Bunny Sterling, Juan Carlos Duran and all-time great world middleweight champion Carlos Monzon getting the better of him.

He had beaten good British fighters like Wally Swift, Les McAteer, Young McCormack and Chris Finnegan. Twelve straight wins following the loss in five rounds to Monzon, had earned him this crack at Conteh.

In another brilliant performance from the champion, who dominated the fight taking the Dane out in seven rounds.

While Conteh had been gaining more and more experience, Chris Finnegan had re-grouped with two wins in the year since his defeat by John. The pair were to meet in an eagerly anticipated re-match, with Conteh defending the British, Commonwealth and European titles.

This was the last hurdle for Conteh, who knew he was now one victory away from fulfilling his dreams and fighting for the WBC light-heavyweight championship against the aging Bob Foster.

The rematch with Finnegan was a bruising, dirty battle. Finnegan was always vulnerable around the eyes and Conteh was not too concerned where his head was landing when they were in-fighting. Not surprisingly, Chris suffered terrible eye cuts and the fight was stopped in the champion's favour in the sixth round.

It didn't end quite there for Finnegan, as he regained the British title vacated by Conteh, though his world title aspirations were no more.

At this time, Foster, though one of the greatest of all light-heavyweight champions, was 36 and fading fast. In June 1974, Argentina's Jorge Ahumada had held him to a draw. When Foster refused to give Ahumada the rematch he clearly deserved, the WBC stripped Foster and sanctioned Jorge Ahumada-John Conteh for the vacant belt.

Ahumada was to finish his profession having had a grand total of 18 fights in his whole career. Five of them were to fellow countryman, Victor Galindez who was to hold the WBA version of the championship.

Conteh also had the advantage of boxing in his home country, thanks to promoter Mickey Duff.

This was to be a gruelling fight for John. Instead of utilizing his skills, he got involved in a brawling, gruelling type of ring warfare more suited to the Argentine strongman.

By round 11, Ahumada had suffered damage around his eyes, and was badly handicapped for the remainder of the fight. Amazingly, Conteh came on strong in the last third of the fight. Don't forget these were the days of fifteen round world title fights.

In Britain at this time, the referee was the sole arbiter, and it was down to Harry Gibbs to raise a hand at the final bell. When he raised Conteh's hand at the final bell, John somehow had the energy to leap into the arms of George Francis. He had reached the pinnacle of his profession.

As champion, the normal course is to make a safe first defence in front of his home fans. This was not the case for Conteh. First up was bang in form Lonnie Bennett of Los Angeles, California.

Bennett had lost just one of his previous 22 fights, and that against world class Tom Bethea. By a strange coincidence, his last fight was a victory over the only man to have defeated John, Eddie Duncan.

Conteh produced a superb performance, stopping the American in round five. Was there any stopping Conteh now?

This should have been the early stages of a long reign. Experts began to speculate just how great the Englishman could get: Could he beat Bob Foster's all time record of 14 defences of the world light-heavyweight championship? Can he unify the title?

At this time, of course, there were only two champions; WBA and WBC. No IBF, WBO, WBU etc..... - sounds like paradise, almost!

Unfortunately, the fame and glory seemed to go to Conteh's head. It was well known in the trade that Conteh had been suffering from brittle hands, he was said to be unhappy with his management, as well as at loggerheads with the WBC and British Boxing Board of Control.

John took his show on the road, and had his second contest in the United States. It was a non-title affair against Willie Taylor. Taylor was a decent journeyman who wasn't expected to cause Conteh too many problems, though was obviously motivated taking on a 'world' champion.

This was a tough outing for John. He suffered a broken hand on route to a ten-round decision, and was wobbled in the last round. Was the high life taking its toll on the young champion?

There followed a 14-month layoff, the longest period of inactivity of Conteh's career, due to his out of the ring problems and hand trouble.

He eventually returned to defend his title against Mexico's Yaqui Lopez in Denmark! Lopez was never in a bad fight, either before he challenged for the championship or after.

Lopez had 78 fights in his career and fought just about every top name light-heavyweight of the 1970s and 1980s. Try these: Jerry Burnett 3 times; Mike Quarry; Lonnie Bennett; Victor Galindez (twice); James Scott; Matthew Saad Muhammad (twice, including 1980's fight of the year); Michael Spinks.

The fight with Lopez was even harder than it might have been otherwise, due to Conteh suffering hand damage again early in the contest. John relied on his jab, and managed to retain with a draw.

Next up, in March 1977, five months after the close shave with Lopez, John met Len Hutchins from Detroit. Hutchins had failed in a bid to win the WBA title from Victor Galindez in Argentina, though did last to the thirteenth round.

This fight again showed how dangerous Conteh could be with his head, with Hutchins suffering cuts around the eyes before Conteh detonated a left hook onto Hutchins' chin, bringing the evening to a close. This was only the second time in 31 fights that John had boxed in his home city of Liverpool.

Suddenly, chaos reigned: Conteh was stripped of his title just days before defending against Miguel Cuello because of his reluctance to fight in Monte Carlo. This was the beginning of the end for John.

He returned a year later against novice Joe Cokes, then was given an opportunity to regain his old title in June 1978. Cuello had won the vacant title against Jesse Burnett, but lost it in his first defence to Yugoslav, Mate Parlov. Parlov became the first boxer from a communist country to win a professional world boxing title.

Conteh was still just 27, Parlov not far short of 30. The match took place in Belgrade, so Conteh knew he had to win inside the distance or win nearly every round to get a decision win. In a tough battle, the 6ft 2in southpaw eked out a tight 15 round, controversial decision.

John returned after three months with two wins, over Leonardo Rogers and Ivy Brown, with a draw with Jesse Burnett thrown in, a fight in which Conteh suffered two knockdowns. Not exactly world beating, but enough to get him another crack at the title.

Matthew Saad Muhammad - formerly Matt Franklin before changing his name after embracing Islam - had taken the title from Marvin Johnson who himself had taken the championship off of Parlov.

Conteh again had to travel to the opponent's home country. The fight took place in Atlantic City on 18 August 1979, with Philadelphia's Muhammad the favourite to make a successful first defence.

John started well, with Muhammad, as usual, taking a lot of punishment before getting into gear and taking over as the fight progressed. Again, it turned into a war, with Muhammad gaining a close decision. Close enough for Conteh to have earned a rematch seven months later.

The deterioration in the Liverpool man was never more evident than this return meeting, again in Atlantic City. John was down five times and suffered a fourth round knockout.

One wonders what might have happened had John, in his prime, had met fellow champion Victor Galindez. They were two of the best pound for pound fighters of their day.

Still Conteh would not walk away, and he had his last fight on 31 May 1980, against journeyman James Dixon in his hometown of Liverpool, which he won via fifth round knockout. Even then, it's likely he would have continued, but for failing a brain scan done by the British Boxing Board of Control medical team.

Fortunately, there appears no lasting damage. John is now on the 'celebrity' circuit; game shows etc, and is now a popular after dinner speaker, where he reminisces about his life and career.

I said at the beginning that John Conteh could well be regarded as an under-achiever. That is by no means meant as an insult, but a compliment to a man who was so talented a boxer, and yet could have joined Billy Conn, Archie Moore, Bob Foster and Michael Spinks as one of the greatest light-heavyweights of all time with a more disciplined lifestyle