RIP Mate Parlov

[Old bones Ian]

Sad to see the passing of former Olympic Champion and WBC Light heavy champ Mate Parlov, he beat John Conteh in Serbia in defence of his world title.
He was 59

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer

[E]

Sad to see the passing of former Olympic Champion and WBC Light heavy champ Mate Parlov, he beat John Conteh in Serbia in defence of his world title.
He was 59

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer

A lot of Pro boxers do seem to have shorter lives than the average man...I'm sure I did read that on average boxers live a number of years less than normal. Not sure if this is true.

[Scrap]

Good solid southpaw was Parlov, sorry to here the news. Yugoslavias Best Fighter.

[E]

Good solid southpaw was Parlov, sorry to here the news. Yugoslavias Best Fighter.

hmmmm depends how you define Yugoslavia. The borders changed much over the years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslavia

I think the country no longer exists as such.

[Arbachakov]

His win over conteh was pretty dodgy.if i remember correctly they didn't even announce the scorecards.

I thought he lost the fight by three or four points.

The wheels were coming off for Conteh by that point, but he swept most of the last five rounds and gave Parlov a nasty beating with left-hooks to the body.

[Scrap]

E It did when He Boxed, Tito was still about, them were the Days.

[emile]

Sad to see the passing of former Olympic Champion and WBC Light heavy champ Mate Parlov, he beat John Conteh in Serbia in defence of his world title.
He was 59

http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer

A lot of Pro boxers do seem to have shorter lives than the average man...I'm sure I did read that on average boxers live a number of years less than normal. Not sure if this is true.

I believe I read that Parlov died of lung cancer, so I don't think you can attribute his early death to boxing (unless perhaps high-risk behavior - then again doesn't everyone in the Balkans smoke?).

There was a study recently that suggested that NFL players have a lifespan 22 years less than the average American. A good part of that is because of their absurd size, but part of it is also related to substance abuse and concussions. There have been several recent high-profile cases of retired NFL players who have become extremely erratic and/or severely depressed with tragic consequences, due in part at least to head injuries.

Anyway, RIP Mate.

[bennie]

Parlov definitely beat a rusty Conteh in front of a packed football stadium in Belgrade 30 years ago. In the days of 15-rounders, Conteh struggled to get to grips with the tall, cagey, stiff-hitting southpaw and just didn't do enough, one-handed as he was by this time. Parlov had smashed Argentine banger Miguel Cuello to win the WBC light-heavyweight title, putting the feared Cuello on is face. The win over Conteh, originally stripped of the title, proved that the Yugoslav was the rightful champ, and the shot of him carried from the ring by his adoring public lives in the memory.
Unfortunately, weightmaking caught up with Mate against Indianapolis great Marvin Johnson, and he moved up to cruiser, with less success. Parlov won Olympic gold in 1972 and was world amateur champ in 1974. In 1968, Chris Finnegan had beaten him on the way to Olympic gold.

[harrygreb]

sad passing of a very decent campaigner. Conteh, to his credit, never complains about that loss.
RIP Mate Parlov.