John Anthony Conteh, (born 27 May 1951) is a British former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the WBC

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

title from 1974 to 1977, and regionally the European,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

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 England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 b ...

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 beg ...

division at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. In 2017, Conteh was awarded an MBE for services to boxing at the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Professional career

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

(now

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

), to an Irish mother and Sierra Leonean father, Conteh began boxing at the age of 10 at a boxing club in

Kirkby Kirkby ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. The town, Historic counties of England, historically in Lancashire, has a size of is north of Huyton and north-east of Liverpool. The population in 2016 wa ...

that was a training ground for fellow British amateurs Joey Singleton and Tucker Hetherington. At 19, he won the

gold medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. He won the WBC

title in October 1974 by defeating

Jorge Ahumada Jorge Victor Ahumada (born 6 January 1946) is a former professional boxer. Notable fights include five 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 w ...

. He held the title until 1977 when he was stripped for not going through with a mandatory 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 de ...

to the

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n 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 controversial.

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''. He was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1974. Conteh was the British '' Superstars'' competition champion in 1974, the second year of the televised sporting event. Conteh is now an after-dinner speaker. Conteh appeared on the BBC television programme ''Sporting Legends'' which was presented by

Eamonn Holmes Eamonn Holmes (; born 3 December 1959) is a Northern Irish broadcaster and journalist. He co-presented the breakfast television show ''GMTV'' (1993–2005) for ITV, before presenting ''Sunrise'' (2005–2016) for Sky News. Holmes co-presente ...

. 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 Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

and a charge of assault; he stated that at the time he appeared on ''Sporting Legends'' he had been dry for nine years. Conteh appeared in films '' Man at the Top'' (1973), '' The Stud'' (1978) and '' Tank Malling'' (1989), and made a starring appearance in the television show '' Boon'' in 1989, as a washed-up boxer. He appeared on a boxing special of ''

The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...

'' in 2009, where he finished in third place. His most recent TV acting appearance was in the crime drama ''

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

'', in which he again played an ex-boxer. Conteh was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were 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 were awarded a ...

for services to boxing. Conteh appeared in a celebrity episode of ''The Chase'' in 2024.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Conteh, John 1951 births Living people English male boxers English people of Irish descent English people of Sierra Leonean descent Sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent Sportspeople from Kirkby Black British sportsmen Boxers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Boxers from Liverpool England Boxing champions 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 Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing