John Conteh

John Anthony Conteh, MBE (born 27 May 1951) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1971 to 1980. He held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1978, and regionally the European, British and Commonwealth titles between 1973 and 1974. As an amateur, he represented England and won a gold medal in the middleweight division at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. In 2017, Conteh was awarded an MBE for services to boxing at the Queen's Birthday Honours.
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 middleweight gold medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games. He won the WBC light-heavyweight title in October 1974 by defeating Jorge Ahumada. He held the title u…