Steve Bunce: Amir Khan vs Saul Alvarez recalls John Conteh’s impossible mission against Mate Parlov

INSIDE BOXING: The Liverpudlian bashed his head against a Belgrade brick wall to claim a cruel split decision

Former world light heavyweight champion John Conteh (Getty Images)

Long before Eastern Bloc exiles, émigrés and Russia’s boxing geniuses dominated, a square-jawed brute of a man called Mate Parlov, from Yugoslavia, was the first professional world champion from behind the Iron Curtain.

Parlov won the Olympic gold in Munich at light-heavyweight, stopping three of his five victims and in 1974, at the inaugural event in Havana, he defied the Cuban favourite for gold at the world championships. He also won two European titles and walked away from the amateur sport with 310 wins and just 13 defeats.

John Conteh had seen Parlov at the European championships in Madrid in 1971 when the British fighter had flopped, losing to a tubby Austrian, and Parlov, in the same weight category, had beaten the East German, the Soviet and three others to take gold. Conteh turned professional later that year and Parlov started preparing for Munich the following year. At that point nobody could have predicted where their paths would next cross.

In 1973 Conteh fought on a Muhammad Ali undercard in Las Vegas and at the same time, Parlov was winning his second European title with three knockouts in four fights in Belgrade. Conteh had moved to heavyweight but Parlov was still a light-heavyweight, the best amateur in the world.

In Las Vegas Conteh had knocked out Terry Daniels, who the year before had lost a world heavyweight title fight to Joe Frazier. However, after the win Ali spoke to Conteh and persuaded him to drop 10 pounds and fight at light-heavyweight; Conteh did and the hard road to an improbable fight with Parlov started.

Conteh won the WBC light-heavyweight title in 1974, the year Parlov won in Havana, and he made three defences before he was stripped of the title in 1977 when he withdrew from a defence against the unbeaten Miguel Angel Cuello.

Conteh took the drastic and shocking action because of a long-running dispute over the money available in a TV deal that he had agreed. Conteh’s brief reign was chaotic and confrontational. Don King, by the way, insisted he could make Conteh Britain’s richest boxer. “He has everything – he is a star,” insisted King in 1975.

In the Seventies the best Cubans had not started defecting, the finest Soviet boxers had no chance of turning professional, but Parlov, who was born in what is now Croatia, had his first pro fight in 1975 in Yugoslavia. He fought in Italy and Australia and by 1978 he was a leading contender for the WBC light-heavyweight title.

Cuello had won the WBC belt immediately after Conteh withdrew from their fight and the Argentine agreed terms to travel to Italy to fight Parlov, his main rival and a man with whom he had some unfinished business; Cuello had been forced by injury to forfeit his quarter-final clash with Parlov at the Munich Olympics. The pair met in early 1978 and Parlov ruined Cuello in nine rounds.

Parlov made history that night in Italy when he became the first boxer from behind the Iron Curtain to win a world title. Next, he needed a homecoming and the Red Star stadium in Belgrade was booked for June. The search for an opponent, somebody crazy enough or desperate enough to take on the impossible mission, started and it never lasted long.

“I knew I had no chance of beating him on points in his backyard,” admitted Conteh. “I had faith in my ability – Parlov was strong, a gifted boxer and very good tactically. He would have every advantage – I couldn’t wait to fight.” Conteh was fearless as a prizefighter.

The task facing Conteh remains one of the most daunting ever undertaken by a British boxer in a world title fight overseas. The Red Star stadium had over 40,000 in for the fight, the state-controlled media covered Parlov’s every tiny move and the level of intimidation, mixed with paranoia, was unique to world championship boxing.

Conteh had very few friends out there and when he looked at Parlov in the ring he had another problem: his opponent had had his eyebrows coated with a synthetic skin to protect against cuts, a blatant abuse of the rules. However, no amount of screaming, threats or posturing led to the removal of the illegal substance.

The thick concoction is clearly visible across Parlov’s vulnerable eyebrows in the fight film. Conteh had been in many fights where his opponents had suffered cuts and he had been accused of using his head. “It happens in our business – we are all big boys,” Conteh countered.

The fight was over the old 15-round distance, the crowd was hostile and every single round was gruelling. Conteh, however, was winning. Then in round eight he lost a point for butting, which was harsh. Conteh stayed composed, kept taking rounds and in the 15th and final round he lost another point for illegal use of his elbow. Conteh had no chance of leaving Belgrade with the world title.

The two-point deduction was savage, cruel but still the verdict was announced as a split decision. Parlov kept the world title, his narrow win only secured by the deductions and the general advantages that come with fighting at home. Conteh was incredibly gracious in defeat, knowing he had been on a risky mission.

Parlov lost the title later that year, quit in 1980, was declared Croatia’s athlete of the century and ran a coffee shop in Pula until his death in 2008.

Conteh twice more failed to regain his title, retired in 1980, beat the booze over 20 years ago and is now on the circuit telling his story weekly at a venue near you.

In May, Amir Khan fights Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on the road, in front of ferocious fans and against the odds. Khan is delighted and Conteh will be proud.