Thread: is John Conteh the most talented British boxer ever??

Buchanan over Conteh
Duran never gave him a rematch after winning on a foul
Thats how good he was

Originally Posted by Majesty

In terms of "talent" I'd say Naseem Hamed. He had the most "talent" he just lacked everywhere else. But talent-wise he had it all, fast hands, devastating power, great reflexes, flashy style, charisma whether loved or hated. So in terms of "talent" id say Hamed is in the top and above John Conteh.

Also Eubank you have to list, Turpin, a lot of British, Herol Graham, all rank above John Conteh.

So to me, Hamed, Eubank, Buchanan and Herol Graham and Lennox Lewis are above John in terms of talent natural talent. Some of them took great advantage over their talent(Eubank, Lewis, Graham to an extent) while others didn't achieve as high as they could (Hamed). However the level of 'talent" is unquestionable.

Are you seriously going to put Hamed over conteh You must not have watched too much of conteh if you came to that conclusion. Hamed was better when it came to jumping over ropes, flying carpets and harley davidsons, but when it came to fighting he was found out by the first good fighter he fought. Its ok all this posing and shit when you have a 3rd rate fighter who would have to take a flying leap to reach you. Boxing-wise conteh was far better i feel and proved it by mixing with the best. Believe it or not, theres a rumour thats been flying about for years that Ronnie Corbett paid heavies to break Contehs hands for lashing his bit on the side. Ha ha ha! find it hard to believe myself but you dont let the facts get in the way of a story like that.

Colin Hart goes for Kirkland Laing.


I've not seen anyone from this island in the last half-century who possessed as much natural talent as Laing.
Many of his fellow pros from the 1970s and 80s agree. Dave "Boy" Green said unequivocally: "He is as close to Sugar Ray Leonard as anyone in this country has ever been."
Trying to land a punch on him was like trying to catch smoke in a bottle.
Charlie Magri, Maurice Hope and the other world champions who trained at the Royal Oak gym, Canning Town, couldn't lay a glove on him.
So why didn't he make it to the top of the mountain?
The answer can be found in The Gifted One, published this month by Oliver Jarrett of the British Boxing Board of Control.
Jarrett reveals that nearly every time Laing climbed through the ropes he was STONED.
Kirkland arrived in Nottingham from Jamaica when he was nine and, as a Rastafarian, smoked cannabis every day.
Magri once stopped him leaving the changing room for a gym session because he'd forgotten he still had a spliff behind his ear.
Unbelievably, hours before he went into the ring, even before some of the most important fights of his 20-year career, he was puffing on pot.










Stone me! Kirkland Laing was a dope | The Sun |Sport|Boxing

There's a new book out about him if anybody is interested :

Oliver Jarratt

The mind boggles as to just how good Laing could've been

Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing

Colin Hart goes for Kirkland Laing.


I've not seen anyone from this island in the last half-century who possessed as much natural talent as Laing.
Many of his fellow pros from the 1970s and 80s agree. Dave "Boy" Green said unequivocally: "He is as close to Sugar Ray Leonard as anyone in this country has ever been."
Trying to land a punch on him was like trying to catch smoke in a bottle.
Charlie Magri, Maurice Hope and the other world champions who trained at the Royal Oak gym, Canning Town, couldn't lay a glove on him.
So why didn't he make it to the top of the mountain?
The answer can be found in The Gifted One, published this month by Oliver Jarrett of the British Boxing Board of Control.
Jarrett reveals that nearly every time Laing climbed through the ropes he was STONED.
Kirkland arrived in Nottingham from Jamaica when he was nine and, as a Rastafarian, smoked cannabis every day.
Magri once stopped him leaving the changing room for a gym session because he'd forgotten he still had a spliff behind his ear.
Unbelievably, hours before he went into the ring, even before some of the most important fights of his 20-year career, he was puffing on pot.










Stone me! Kirkland Laing was a dope | The Sun |Sport|Boxing

There's a new book out about him if anybody is interested :

Oliver Jarratt

Did Kirkland Laing train at the Royal Oak?

Canning Town is my patch.

Originally Posted by Jimboogie

Originally Posted by Kirkland Laing

Colin Hart goes for Kirkland Laing.


I've not seen anyone from this island in the last half-century who possessed as much natural talent as Laing.
Many of his fellow pros from the 1970s and 80s agree. Dave "Boy" Green said unequivocally: "He is as close to Sugar Ray Leonard as anyone in this country has ever been."
Trying to land a punch on him was like trying to catch smoke in a bottle.
Charlie Magri, Maurice Hope and the other world champions who trained at the Royal Oak gym, Canning Town, couldn't lay a glove on him.
So why didn't he make it to the top of the mountain?
The answer can be found in The Gifted One, published this month by Oliver Jarrett of the British Boxing Board of Control.
Jarrett reveals that nearly every time Laing climbed through the ropes he was STONED.
Kirkland arrived in Nottingham from Jamaica when he was nine and, as a Rastafarian, smoked cannabis every day.
Magri once stopped him leaving the changing room for a gym session because he'd forgotten he still had a spliff behind his ear.
Unbelievably, hours before he went into the ring, even before some of the most important fights of his 20-year career, he was puffing on pot.










Stone me! Kirkland Laing was a dope | The Sun |Sport|Boxing

There's a new book out about him if anybody is interested :

Oliver Jarratt

Did Kirkland Laing train at the Royal Oak?

Canning Town is my patch.

That's the Terry Lawless gym, right? Terry was Kirk's manager before he signed with Mickey Duff so almost certainly he was training there for the early part of his career.