By John F. McKenna (McJack): Archie Moore was born on December 13, 1913. Archie was a native of Benoit, Mississippi and was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Moore frequently found himself in trouble as a youth and wound up in a reformatory which he was released from in 1934. He was one of the most colorful boxers in boxing history, and was always a crowd favorite. Archie was universally loved by boxing fans, particularly later in his career.
His boxing career which began in 1936 lasted an incredible twenty seven years. Archie had a couple of nicknames, one of which was the “The Old Mongoose” and later in his career he was also known as “Old Man Dynamite” because of his punching power. Moore had an astounding 141 knockouts in his career, a record which still stands and probably will never be broken. In the era that “The Old Mongoose” broke into boxing he suffered from what almost all African American fighters suffered from, that being the difficulty in lining up good fights. Once his reputation was established, ranked fighters were not anxious to fight him for fear of losing their chance for a future shot at the title.
Moore was forced to move up in class to land fights where he was able to make any money and he fought numerous heavyweight contenders during his long career. He was the only fighter who fought both Rocky Marciano and Cassius Clay (before he became Muhammad Ali).
After fighting professionally for seventeen years, Archie finally got his shot at the Light Heavyweight Championship against Joey Maxim in 1952. Maxim was a brilliant boxer who possessed a machine gun like left jab. His last name in fact was taken from the Maxim machine gun. Maxim was the only fighter who held a knockout victory over the great Sugar Ray Robinson, also in 1952. Maxim was the first fighter to defeat future Heavyweight Champion Floyd Patterson. The thirty nine year old Moore defeated Maxim handily via fifteen round decision. He was finally getting the recognition he had sought for so long. Boxing fans and promoters began to take notice of “Old Man Dynamite”.
When “The Old Mongoose” challenged Heavyweight Champion Rocky Marciano for the title in 1955 it was Rocky’s last fight and it was a classic. Moore unloaded some of his heavy artillery early on and had Marciano on the deck in the second round. Moore’s skill and finesse as a fighter were not enough to fend off the “Brockton Blockbuster” who eventually wore down Archie and knocked him out in the ninth round. Moore then
fought Floyd Patterson in a Heavyweight Championship elimination bout. A youthful Patterson knocked out Moore in the fifth round to win the title in 1956.
Moore’s best fight and greatest victory was on December 10, 1958 when he took on the tough Canadian Light Heavyweight Champion Yvon Durelle. Durelle knocked Archie down thee times in the first round and appeared to be on his way to certain victory. When Durelle hit Moore with his first overhand right hand Moore fell as if he had been hit with
an axe. Moore showed his courage and resolve by getting up each time he was knocked down. He was knocked down again in the fifth round, but after that Archie started coming back. He used all his experience and guile to stage one of the most amazing comebacks ever seen in the ring. Moore gradually took control of the fight and was able to knock the tiring Durelle down in the seventh round. In the eleventh round Arichie stopped Durelle in what many people who saw the fight refer to as the greatest fight they had ever seen.
In 1962 a ring worn Archie Moore was knocked out in four rounds by Cassius Clay. It was a fight neither fighter wanted. It was Clay’s fifteenth fight and he badly needed a bout with someone who had name recognition. Moore fought simply because he needed the money.
Upon his retirement Moore did some acting. He appeared in several movies including the Carpetbagger and the Fortune Cookie. He also appeared in many TV episodes including Family Affair, Perry Mason and Wagon Train as well as numerous cameo appearances on other TV shows.
Archie Moore was now much loved by America and not just by boxing fans. “The Old Mongoose” had finally arrived. Archie wrote a book titled “Any Boy Can”. It was Moore’s attempt to give back to the community. Through his positive personality he taught kids how to survive in a troubled world.
Archie Moore passed away in 1998 four days shy of his eighty fifth birthday.
One of Moore’s favorite quotes was “If we resort to lawlessness, all we can look forward to is Civil War.”
Moore was a thinking man’s fighter, always anticipating what his opponent was going to do. He was constantly having to move back and forth between light heavyweight and heavyweight and consequently would have to lose weight to defend his Light Heavyweight Title. He would often refer to his training camp as “going back to the salt mines”. He claimed he had a secret method of losing weight quickly, but refused to reveal his secret to boxing writers stating “If I tell you guys it won’t be my secret anymore.”
Archie Moore was one of a kind. He endured many hardships but never complained. He is sorely missed by the boxing world and by America as a whole.
Comments are closed.