Archie Moore, the great fighter whose career spanned nearly three decades and who won the light-heavyweight title after he was well into his 30s, died at a San Diego hospice. His age, which was always a source of conjecture that he helped to promote, was 84.
Moore had joined the San Diego Hospice about a week ago, according to John W. Stump, a family spokesman.
From his age to the dieting techniques he said he received from an Australian aborigine on his world travels to his different careers, Archie Moore invented himself in a variety of ways. But his tremendous career as a fighter, which spanned the mid-1930s through 1963 and carried him all over the world, was unquestionable. He was the only fighter to hold the light-heavyweight belt for nine years.
Moore would campaign to correct perceived wrongs in the boxing community when he didn’t like how he was treated. As a result, when a sanctioning body attempted to strip him of his title for refusing to defend it, he turned to the United Nations for help.
Moore spent $50,000 on a letter-writing and advertising campaign to embarrass Rocky Marciano into defending his heavyweight title, which included a “wanted” poster of the champion. Marciano knocked Moore out when he eventually got his shot in 1955.
Moore fought about once a month during the majority of his career, with over 200 bouts, the majority of which were for tiny sums of money. He had a 194-26-8 record, and his 141 knockouts are thought to be the most ever by a professional boxer.
Despite this, he did not become a nationally (and subsequently internationally) recognised figure until he was well into his 30s.
”There’s a saying,” he once said, ”that good things come to those who wait — providing you have the ability to wait long enough.”
According to some reports, his professional career began in 1935 with a second-round knockout of one Piano Mover Jones. According to some reports, he began his career in 1936 with a knockout of the Poco Kid. In any case, he began his career as a middleweight fighter.
However, he later claimed that a ruptured ulcer in 1940 led him to lose weight, dropping from 160 pounds to 100 pounds. That was also the year of his Australian travels and the alleged secret diet that allowed him to gain weight and then suddenly lose it.
He used to say that chewing meat and obtaining the juices but not the fibre was the secret. That was spewed out by him. He claimed to have seen an aborigine consuming beef jerky in this manner.
Moore asked curiously, ”Have you ever seen a fat Australian?”
His diet also included something else. He drank sauerkraut juice with lemon juice in the morning. However, these “secrets” were revealed only after he had completed an autobiography. When reporters were around, he used to dine behind a screen at his training camp.
He was always surrounded by mystery. He claimed to have been born on December 13, 1916, in Collinsville, Illinois, but according to his mother and at least one boxing record book, he was born on December 13, 1913, in Benoit, Mississippi, a date his family confirmed.
”I guess my mother should know, since she was there,” he conceded. ”But I have given it a lot of thought and have decided that I must have been 3 when I was born.”
Archie Lee Wright was his given name, and his parents divorced shortly after he was born. He was raised by an uncle and aunt in St. Louis, and he adopted their surname.
He was still looking for a title battle in 1952, when he was fighting as a light heavyweight. Despite losing three times to former heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles, he had defeated Harold Johnson, a well respected opponent.
The light-heavyweight champion, Joey Maxim, however, declined to fight Moore. As a result, Moore started a letter-writing campaign. He began writing to well-known journalists, such as Red Smith, requesting to meet Maxim, a cautious, cagey fighter.
Finally, Maxim consented, but only on the condition that Moore guarantee him a $100,000 portion of the pot. Doc Kearns, Moore’s manager (and also Jack Dempsey’s manager), negotiated the arrangement.
Moore met Maxim on Dec. 17, 1952, when he was 39 years old (or 36, according to his recollection). Moore won the title by unanimous decision in 15 rounds and went on to become a legend thanks to his gift of gab and, perhaps, imaginative recollections.
However, he did not profit from the fight. Moore received $800 once the purse was divided.
”Well, at least we’ll be able to get some credit at a bank now,” he assured his boss.
His wacky personality clashed with his ring persona. True, he had a belly at 175 pounds. But he had a few tricks up his sleeve that later made their way into Muhammad Ali’s repertoire and are still used by many fighters today, such as the ability to hit with one hand while the other dangled at his side and then backpedal. His lash style, along with his ring knowledge, earned him the mongoose moniker.
Moore angled for Marciano despite defending his title four times in the next two and a half years. Marciano, who was thought to be indestructible, was finally forced to meet Moore due to pressure from Moore’s sportswriter pals. Moore’s mother was correct in stating that her son was almost 42 years old, making him 10 years older than the undefeated champion.
On Sept. 21, 1955, Moore had one of his finest moments when he knocked down Marciano in the second round of their fight. Marciano, on the other hand, stood up and charged back. The referee went over to Moore’s corner at the end of the eighth round and told him he wanted to stop the fight.
”The only way to go out in a championship fight is on your back,” complained the veteran challenger. Marciano knocked him out in the ninth round.
Moore challenged for the heavyweight title again the following year, which was vacated when Marciano withdrew after being stopped. Moore was introduced to Floyd Patterson, a 21-year-old. Moore was knocked out in the fifth round, despite being bloated at 196 pounds.
Moore continued to fight as the light-heavyweight champion. In 1958, he beat a brawling Canadian fisherman named Yvon Durelle in the 11th round after surviving four knockdowns.
He was champion until February 10, 1962, when sanctioning organizations revoked his title due to his failure to defend it. He was knocked out in the fourth round of his next to final bout, on Nov. 15, 1962, against a young Cassius Clay, who had not yet won the heavyweight championship or changed his name to Muhammad Ali. He was the only boxer to face both Marciano and Ali in the same contest.
Moore’s final fight was a three-round knockout of Mike DiBiase on March 15, 1963, nine months before his 50th birthday, according to the record book.
In the 1960 film adaptation of ”The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” he played Jim. In preparation for the role, he read books on slavery and tried to avoid stereotyping.
”I didn’t have time to read when I was a kid,” he said, ”so I didn’t know anything about Huck Finn and those cats. I read the book before playing the part. Now that I’ve found books, I’m really living.”
In the mid-1950s, at the height of his popularity, he married Joan Hardy, the actress Sidney Poitier’s sister-in-law. He married her for the fifth time. Moore is survived by his wife, Rena and JMarie Moore of San Diego, and Elizabeth Stump of City Heights, Calif.; four sons, Archie Jr., Billy, Anthony, and D’Angelo Moore of San Diego; and two grandkids.
Ali and Redd Foxx were part of his entourage at various times. He drifted in and out of boxing as a trainer and adviser after his final bout. At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, he served as an assistant coach for the Nigerian boxing team. He most recently worked with George Foreman in the early 1990s, when the former heavyweight champion attempted a comeback.
”He taught me his secrets of escapology and breathology,” Foreman said.
