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Archie Moore (1913-1998) was a light heavyweight
world boxing champion who set many records in
boxing. The native of St. Louis, Missouri|St.
Louis, died five days short of his 85th birthday.
He was also a social figure, and a man who got
involved in African American causes once his days
as a fighter were finally over. His nickname was
The Ol' Mongoose, and one of his records, the
knockout record, has always been up to debate:
Some say he scored 145 knockouts, which is his
generally accepted knockout mark, and boxing's all
time knockout wins record. Others say the actual
number was 144, and yet others claim it was
actually 126, and that he scored 19 knockouts
which were added to his professional record but
scored when he was still an amateur. The 126
knockouts figure would put him third among
boxing's all time knockout winners.

Moore usually found himself in trouble as a
youngster, and he was in a reformatory until 1934.
In 1935, he began his amateur career, and had nine
fights as an amateur, winning 5 and losing 4. But
he claimed that he boxed some fights under the
name of Fourth of July Kid, therefore, he might
have had more fights as an amateur.

He began his professional career in 1936, with a
six round win over Murray Allen. After a draw with
Speedy Schaeffer, he and Allen met again, and this
time Moore won by a knockout in 2. In 1937, he won
nine bouts in a row by knockout until he suffered
his first defeat, an eight round decision loss to
Billy Adams. Some historians say that fight
actually took place in 1936, but officially it
took place in 1937.  He then won seven straight
fights, six by knockout, before losing again, to
Johnny Bandit Romero by a decision in ten in San
Diego, California|San Diego in 1938. He boxed all
but one of his 12 bouts in San Diego that year. In
a rematch with Romero, he won by a knockout in
four. 

Moore had eight bouts in 1939, going 5-2 during
that span, with one no contest. He lost to fringe
contender Teddy Yarosz during that time, and his
no contest was against Jack Coggins, in eight
rounds. In 1940, Moore went on a tour of
Australia, fighting in Melbourne,
Australia|Melbourne, Tasmania, Australia|Tasmania,
Adelaide, Australia|Adelaide and Sydney,
Australia| Sydney. He won all of his seven bouts
there, including six by knockout. Upon returning
to the United States, he defeated Pancho Ramirez
by a knockout in five, but lost to Shorty Hogue on
a six round decision.

Moore had four fights in 1941, period during which
he went 2-1-1, and he drew with Eddie Booker. By
then, however, he had suffered several stomach
ulsers, with their resulting operations. So he
announced his retirement from boxing.

His retirement lasted a short period of time
however, and in 1942, he was back in the ring. He
won his first six bouts that year, including a
second round knockout over Hogue in a rematch, and
a ten round decision over Jack Chase. Then, he met
Booker in a rematch, and they had the same result
as in their previous meeting: another 10 round
draw. 

In 1943, Moore had seven bouts, winning 5 and
losing two. He won and lost the California State
Middleweight title against Chase, both by 15 round
decisions, and beat Chase again in his last bout
of that year, by a ten round decision. He also
lost a decision to Aaron Wade that year. 

In 1944, he had nine bouts, going 7-2. His last
bout marked his debut on the Atlantic Coast. That
year, his opposition level began to improve, and
he beat Jimmy Hayden by a knockout in five, lost
to Charlie Burley by a decision, and to Booker by
a knockout in eight.

He won his first eight bouts of 1945, impressing
Atlantic coast boxing experts, and earning a fight
with fringe contender Jimmy Bivins, who defeated
Moore by a knockout in six at Cleveland,
Ohio|Cleveland. He returned to the Eastern
Seaboard, and fought five more times before that
year was over. He met, among others, Holman
Williams during that span, losing a ten round
decision, and knocking him out in eleven in the
rematch. 

By 1946, Moore had moved to the Light Heavyweight
division, and he went 5-2-1 that year, beating
fringe contender Curtis Sheppard, but losing to
future world Heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles
by a decision in ten, and drawing with old nemesis
Chase. By then, Moore began complaining that,
according to him, none of boxing's world champions
would risk their titles against him. 

1947 was basically a year of rematches for Moore.
He went 7-1 that year, his lone loss being to
Charles. He beat Chase by a knockout in nine,
Sheppard by a decision in ten and Bivins by a
knockout in nine. He also defeated Bert Lydell, by
a decision in ten.

He had 14 fights in 1948, losing again to Charles
by a knockout in nine, losing to Bivins by a
knockout in the first, to Henry Hall by a decision
in ten and to Lloyd Gibson by a disqualification
in four. But he also beat Ted Lowry, by a decision
in ten, and Hall in a rematch, also by decision.

1949 was a good year for The Ol' Mongoose: He had
13 bouts that year, going 12-1. He defeated
Alabama Kid twice; by knockout in four and by
knockout in three, Bob Satterfeld by a knockout in
three, Bivins by a knockout in eight, future world
Light Heavyweight champion Harold Johnson  by a
decision, Bob Sikes by a knockout in three, and
Phil Muscato by a decision. He lost to Clinton
Bacon by a disqualification in six. 

1950 was a vacation year for Moore, by his
standards. He only had two fights, winning both,
including a 10 round decision in a rematch with
Lydell.

In 1951, Moore boxed 18 times, and he won 16, lost
1 and drew one of those bouts. He went on an
Argentina|Argentinian tour, fighting seven times
there, winning six and drawing one. In between
those seven fights, he also had a trip to
Montevideo, Uruguay, where he defeated Vicente
Quiroz by a knockout in six. He knocked out Bivins
in nine, and split two decisions with Johnson.

1952 was one of the most important years in
Moore's life. After beating Johnson, Jimmy Slade
and Clinton Bacon, knocked out in four in a
rematch, the seemingly inevitable happened, as
Moore was given an opportunity for the world title
by world Light Heavyweight champion Joey Maxim,
who had just defeated Sugar Ray Robinson by a
knockout in 14. Moore became world champion by
beating Maxim by a decision in fifteen rounds,
finally reaching his dream of becoming a world
boxing champion, at the age of 39 and 16 years
after beginning his professional boxing career.

He won all nine of his bouts in 1953, including a
10 round non title win against fringe contender
Nino Valdes of Cuba, and a 15 round decision over
Maxim in a rematch to retain the belt. He made two
more bouts in Argentina before the end of the
year.

In 1954, he made four more fights, retaining the
title in a third fight with Maxim; who once again
went the 15 round distance, and versus Johnson,
knocked out in 14. He also beat Bob Baker that
year. In 1955, he beat Valdes again, and Bobo
Olson by a knockout in three, to retain the title.
Olson was the world's Middleweight champion, and
he had gone up in weight to challenge Moore. Next,
it was Moore's turn to go up in weight and
challenge the bigger champion, when he stepped
into the ring with Rocky Marciano, world
Heavyweight champion. Moore was within seconds of
becoming world Heavyweight champion by dropping
Marciano in round two, but Marciano recovered and
knocked Moore out in the ninth to retain the belt.


In 1956, he went back to the Light Heavyweight
division, and won 13 fights in a row, including a
15 round decision to retain the world's crown
against Yolande Pompey in London, before going up
in weight  once again, and challenging for the
world Heavyweight crown. This time, it was for the
title left vacant by Marciano, and Moore lost to
Floyd Patterson by a knockout in five. Patterson
made history that night, becoming, at the age of
20, the youngest world Heavyweight champion in
history, record which he would hold until 1986. 

Moore went down to the Light Heavyweights once
again, and won all six of his bouts during 1957.
He retained the title against Tony Anthony by a
knockout in seven, and had two fights in Germany
and one in Canada.

In 1958, Moore had 10 fights, going 9-0-1 during
that span. His fight with Yvon Durelle in
particular, was of note. Defending his world Light
Heavyweight title in Montreal, Canada|Montreal, he
was dropped twice in round one, and once in round
five, but dropped Durelle in round 10 and won by a
knockout in the 11th. That fight has come out
among the greatest fights of all time on many
books, and it has become a regular fight on ESPN
Classic's boxing shows.  

In 1959, he only had two bouts, beating Sterling
Davis by a knockout in three, and then beating
Durelle, also by a knockout in three, in a
rematch, to once again retain his world Light
Heavyweight title. 

During 1960, he was stripped of his world Light
Heavyweight title by the World Boxing
Association|National Boxing Association (NBA), but
he won three of his four bouts that year, his lone
loss coming versus Giulio Rinaldi by a decision in
10 at Rome, Italy|Rome. 

The NBA promptly re-instated him as world Light
Heavyweight champion in 1961, and he won two
fights before defending his crown for what would
turn out to be his last time: He beat Rinaldi by a
15 round decision to retain the belt. In his last
fight that year, he once again ventured into the
Heavyweights, and met Pete Rademacher, a man who
had made history earlier in his career by becoming
the first man ever to challenge for a world title
in his first professional bout (when he lost to
Patterson by a knockout in six). Moore beat
Rademacher by a knockout in nine.

In 1962, he was stripped again of his world Light
Heavyweight title, this time for good. He decided
to campaign exclusively as a Heavyweight from
there on, and beat Alejandro Lavorante by a
knockout in 10 and Howard King by a knockout in
one at Tijuana. Then he drew with former world
Light Heavyweight champion Willie Pastrano in 10,
and, in his last fight of note, he faced Muhammad
Ali|Cassius Clay, then a young Heavyweight out of
Louisville, Kentucky|Louisville. 

In the days before the fight Clay predicted that
"Archie Moore/Must fall in four."  Moore replied
by saying that he had perfected a new punch for
the match: The Lip-Buttoner.

Just as Clay predicted, Moore was beaten by a
knockout in four rounds.

After one more fight, in 1963 against Mike DiBiase
in Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix, which Moore won by a
knockout in three, Moore announced his retirement
for good.

Despite retiring, he couldn't escape the
limelight, being the recipient of numerous awards
and dedications afterwards. In 1965, he received
the key to the city of San Diego. In 1970, he was
chosen as the Man of The Year by Listen Magazine,
and he received the key to the city of Sandpoint,
Ohio. 

He was elected in 1985 to the St. Louis city
boxing hall of fame, and he received the Rocky
Marciano memorial award in the city of New York in
1988. In 1990, he became a member of the
International Boxing Hall Of Fame in Canastota,
being one of the original members of that
institution. He was the oldest boxer to win the
world's Light Heavyweight crown, and is believed
to be the only boxer to have boxed professionally
in the eras of Joe Louis, Marciano and
Clay/Muhammad Ali. He was one of a handful of
boxers whose careers spanned four decades, and he
had a final record of 181 wins, 24 losses, 9 draws
and 1 no contest, with 145 official knockout wins.

Ring Magazine named Moore boxing's fourth best
puncher of all times in 2003.