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By
Tom Donelson
FightBeat.com Staff Wrtier
Archie Moore was
the ultimate road warrior, a fighter who traveled the world in the pursuit of
his craft. Called the Old Mongoose, Moore would unleash
deadly combinations against opponent from any position and demonstrated
defensive wizardry in avoiding being hit.
Moore was a
physical freak for he was a world champion past the age that most fighters were
retired or way past their prime. Moore began his career in
1936 as a middleweight but it was as a light heavyweight that he made his mark.
Throughout the 50’s, he was the best light heavyweight in the world but he also
made forays into the heavyweight division, losing two shots at the title.
Moore fought many of his early bouts in small towns and overseas as he
tried to scratch out a living. He fought on what was called,
“The Chittlin Circuit”- string of small boxing clubs reserved for
African-American fighters because he, like other black fighters, had trouble
breaking into the mainstream boxing scene.
Moore had to wait
until his 39th birthday before gaining his shot at a title when he
challenged Joey Maxim. (Or maybe it was 36, no one really
knows how old Moore truly was.) Maxim was a sly boxer but
he defended his title against one of the boxing’s great defensive master.
Moore crossed his arms and formed what he called “armadillo curtain”,
which allowed him to block off punches. This defense proved to be the precursor
to the Ali “rope-a-dope” and allowed Moore to conserve his energy during a
fight. Moore appeared casual during his bouts and
indifference before striking at his opponent with a punishing jab.
He decisively beat Maxim and over the next 14 months, he added two more
victory over Maxim just to show that it was no fluke.
Moore was not just
satisfied being a light heavyweight but wanted to own the heavyweight
championship belt held by Rocky Marciano. He beat
heavyweight fighters Nino Valdes (twice), Bob Barker and Bert Whitehurst to show
that he belong with the big boys. While waiting for his
heavyweight shot, he defended his light heavyweight title against the slick
boxer Harold Johnson and former middleweight champion Bobo Olson.
Putting his own
resource into a PR campaign to get his shot at the title, Moore worked every
angle to get the Rock in the ring with him. Moore felt that
with his defensive skills, he could outbox and out smart the heavyweight
champion. On September 21, 1955, he gained his first shot at the title.
In the second round, he sent Marciano down with a right and the Rock
barely beat the count. At the end of the second round,
Marciano went back to his corner with a bloody nose and cut above his left brow.
From there, Marciano strength dominated as he began to overpower Moore.
Moore went down four times in the fight and Marciano merely clubbed Moore
into submission in the ninth round. The old master couldn’t deal with Marciano
power.
Moore knocked
Yolande Pompey out in a title defense and then went for his last shot at the
heavyweight championship. This time, the fight was against the youthful Floyd
Patterson. Patterson used his peek-a-boo defense to
frustrate the older Moore. Though favored in some corner to become the first
light heavyweight champion to capture the heavyweight title, Moore could not
handle Patterson speed.
Moore defended his
light heavyweight title by beating Tony Anthony but once again took a detour in
the heavyweight division as he defeated several Heavyweights including Willi
Besmanoff and Howard King with the goal of gaining yet another shot at the
elusive title.
In 1958,
Canada’s Yvon Durelle challenged Moore in a fight that secured Moore
legacy. The Canadian fighter knocked the Old Mongoose down
three times in the first round and nearly ended Moore reign as the light
heavyweight champion. Durelle also knocked Moore down in the
fifth and dominated the early rounds. After the fifth,
Durelle showed signed of fatigue and Moore started to take control of the fight.
In the eleventh, he sent Durelle down for the full count and defended his title
in one of boxing’s great championship bouts. In the
rematch, Moore did not waste any time and took Durelle out in three rounds.
As the decade
ended, Moore lost interest in his title as he ceased to defend it often.
In 1960, Moore did not defend his title once and was stripped of his
title by the National Boxing Association. He was still
recognized by the New York State Athletic Commission and European Boxing Union
and defended his light heavyweight title one last time when he defeated Giulio
Rinaldi. After that, all of the major sanctioning bodies
stripped Moore of his title for lack of defense.
In 1962, he fought
an youthful Cassius Clay but Clay speed proved too much for the old warrior to
handle. Clay predicted a fourth round knockout and fulfilled the prophecy when
he stopped Moore with a quick combination. From that point, whatever thoughts
that Moore had of capturing a Heavyweight title was over.
Moore’s fame came
from his boxing prowess late in his career and for entire decade, he was the
best light heavyweight and a good heavyweight. Moore moved
comfortably between the two divisions. Moore fought and beat
many great fighters before his championship reign. He confronted nine world
champions and seven Hall-of-Famers throughout his career. He
fought everybody and very few fighters gain the upper hand against him. The only
fighters who mastered him were Ezzard Charles and Charlie Burley.
Among the Hall of Fame fighters he dominated included Jimmy Bivens. Moore
triumphed over Bivens four of the five times they met.
After he left the
ring, he stayed active as a trainer. One of his charges included George Foreman.
In one of boxing ironic moments, Moore had to watch from his corner while Ali
used the rope-a-dope to out smart Foreman. Ali’s tactics were similar to those
employed by Moore at his peak and it must have frustrated to see his own tactics
successfully employed against his fighter. Ali proved to be as much of a master
as Moore but Ali did train briefly under Moore early in his career.
After Foreman, he coached the Nigerian Olympic team.
Moore proved to be an adaptable fighter and he used his wiles to stay at a
championship level past his 40th birthday. Moore
was one of boxing great fighters and combined superior defensive skills with
knock out power.
****
Also Check Out Billy
Kelly's Q&A with Archie Moore
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