By Ken Hissner: Archie “Old Mongoose” Moore still holds the record for the most knockouts in boxing history with 132!
In September of 1955 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx in New York, Moore, 149-19-8, was the last opponent for heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, 48-0, who was making his sixth and final title defense.
In the second round, Moore dropped Marciano for a two count. Marciano came back in the sixth round and dropped Moore twice. It seemed he dropped Moore again in the seventh, but referee Harry Kessler ruled it a slip.
In the eighth round, Marciano dropped Moore for the third time. After eight rounds Marciano was in front 5-2, 7-1, and 5-3 in rounds. In the ninth Marciano finally finished Moore off at 1:19 of the round for the full count. Marciano never fought again, finishing at 49-0 with 43 stoppages.
Leading up to this fight in June of 1952, light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim defended against two-division and then world middleweight champion “Sugar” Ray Robinson, 132-2-2, at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York. After 13 rounds, Robinson was ahead 10-3, 9-3-1 and 7-3-3.
The heat was so bad at 104 degrees that referee Ruby Goldstein was replaced in the tenth round. Moore weighed 173 to Robinson’s 157 ½ when Robinson couldn’t continue after the thirteenth round due to heat exhaustion.
In Maxim’s next fight in December of 1952, he lost to Moore, 133-19-8, losing a lopsided decision by scores of 76-74, 87-63, and 82-68. In June of 1953, Moore again defeated Maxim in their rematch by scores of 7-6, 8-7, and 8-5 in rounds at Ogden Stadium in Ogden, Utah.
In January of 1954, they had their third match, with Moore winning again by scores of 145-137, 148-134, and 148-135 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida.
In June of 1954, Moore would have his fourth match (2-1) with Philadelphia’s Harold Johnson, 47-5, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Moore was down in the tenth round.
After thirteen rounds Moore was down by scores of 8-5 and 6-6 (but 9-8 in supplemental scoring) while ahead 9-8 on the other card. Moore stopped Johnson in the fourteenth round at 0:56 of the round.
In Moore’s next fight in May of 1955, what the state of Nevada recognized as the heavyweight championship, he defeated Cuba’s Nino Valdez, 32-8-3, at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, Nevada, by the score of 8-5 by the lone judge former heavyweight champion referee James Braddock.
In Moore’s fourth defense, he knocked out middleweight champion Carl “Bobo” Olson, 69-6, at 1:19 in the third round at the Polo Grounds in New York in June of 1955.
In between title fights, Moore had many non-title fights going 10-0. In his next fight, three months after defeating Olson, he lost to Marciano.
Moore would go on to win eight non-title fights before making his fifth defense in June of 1956, stopping Yolande Pompey, 31-2-3, in the tenth round at Harringay Arena in London, United Kingdom.
In his sixth defense in his next fight a month later, he stopped Canada’s James J. Parker, 28-5-4, in nine rounds at Maple Leaf Stadium in Ontario, Toronto, Canada.
After a non-title win, Moore would get his second chance at the heavyweight title that was vacant, taking on 1952 Olympic Gold Medalist Floyd Patterson, 30-1, at Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois.
After four rounds, he was behind by scores of 20-16, and 2017 with one even at 18-18. In the fifth round, Moore was knocked out.
Next, Moore would travel to Germany, winning a pair of non-title fights. In September of 1957, he would defend his title for the seventh time against Tony Anthony, 31-4-1, scoring a knockdown in the sixth and knocking him out at 2:29 of the seventh round at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Moore had to make six trips to the scale to make 175.
Moore would go on to have eleven non-title fights drawing in the eleventh against Howard King after having defeated him twice.
In his next match in December of 1958, in his eighth defense in one of the most known of his title fights, a “war” against Canada’s Yvon “The Fighting Fisherman” Durelle, 80-20-2, dropping him four times in the third round and out at the Forum in Montreal, Canada.
After two more non-title wins, Moore, in a third one in Italy in October of 1960 against the European champion Giulio Rinaldi, 21-5, he received a standing eight count in the tenth and final round, losing the decision.
After a pair of non-title wins, he defended his title for the ninth time in a rematch with Rinaldi at Madison Square Garden, New York, in June of 1961 for the NYSAC title recognized by California and Massachusetts since he was stripped of his NBA title in October of 1960.
After a non-title win stopping former Olympic champ Peter Rademacher in another non-title fight, he knocked out Argentina’s Alejandro Lavorante, 19-2, in the tenth round. Lavorante had to be carried out on a stretcher at the Sports Arena Los Angeles, California.
In May of 1962, Moore drew in a non-title bout with Willie Pastrano, 54-10-6, back at the Sports Arena in L.A.
Six months later, in November of 1962, Moore would face future world and 1960 Olympic Gold Medalist Muhammad Ali, 15-0, at the same Sports Arena being stopped after three knockdowns in the fourth round at the age of 51.
In March of 1963, in Moore’s final fight, he stopped wrestler Mike DiBiase due to a cut eye in the third round at Madison Square Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. His final record was 186-23-10, with a 132 knockout record.
Moore was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
