September 21, 1955, 70 years ago: Rocky Marciano defends the Heavyweight Championship of the World against the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion, Archie Moore. The fight turns out to be worthy of both men.
Marciano was born as Rocco Francis Marchegiano on September 1, 1923, in Brockton, Massachusetts, outside Boston, had become champion 3 years earlier, on September 23, 1952, at Municipal (later John F. Kennedy) Stadium in Philadelphia, knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round after surviving a 1st-round knockdown himself. He came into this fight with a career record of 48-0, with 42 knockouts. He won a rematch with Walcott, knocking him out in the 1st round. He knocked out Roland La Starza, then won 2 decisions against former Champion Ezzard Charles. His last fight before this one was a technical knockout of Don Cockell.
Like a lot of great fighters, he won some fights he probably should have lost, finding some inner reserve of courage that allowed him to overcome an opponent who looked better for most of the night. His 2nd fight with Charles was an example: In the 6th round, Charles split Marciano's nose at the nostril. Charles quickly realized what he'd done, and pounded away at the nose.
Between the 7th and 8th rounds, Marciano's trainer, Charley Goldman, told him he couldn't stop the bleeding. Ruby Goldstein, one of boxing's top referees, told them that if the bleeding weren't stopped at the end of the 8th, he would call the fight off and award Charles the win. Marciano knocked Charles out in that round.
Like later boxer Sonny Liston, and baseball pitchers Satchel Paige and Dizzy Dean, Moore's origins are in dispute. His birth name is not: Archibald Lee Wright. He always insisted that he was born on December 16, 1916 in Collinsville, Illinois, outside St. Louis. His mother, Lorena Wright, who would have known, said it was December 13, 1913 in Benoit, Mississippi, in the Delta. Some people came to believe he was even older than that. Wikipedia accepts the 1913 date as correct, so I'm going to go with that.
At any rate, he and his mother were abandoned by his father, Thomas Wright, so Lorena sent him to live with an aunt and uncle in St. Louis, Cleveland and Willie Pearl Moore. He took their name because, in his words, "It was less questions to be Moore."
"The Old Mongoose" grew up in St. Louis, and and learned to box while serving in the New Deal's Civilian Conservation Corps. He was undefeated in his 1st 17 professional fights. In 1943, at 29, he won the California State Middleweight Championship. His career record was 54-5-5: He had already fought professionally 64 times. In 1947, he won the State's Light Heavyweight title. He was now 87-13-7.
Finally, on December 17, 1952, right after his 39th (or 36th) birthday, he went into the St. Louis Arena, and defeated Joey Maxim in a unanimous decision, to win the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World. This made him one of the oldest first-time champions in any weight class, but, of course, no record could be authenticated. His record was now 134-19-8. Six months later, he won a rematch with Maxim -- having fought 6 times in between. Six months after that, having won 2 fights in Argentina, he fought Maxim a 3rd time, and won again.
On June 22, 1955, at the Polo Grounds in New York, he defended the title against Carl "Bobo" Olson, then the Middleweight Champion of the World. This should have been a good fight. It wasn't: Moore, presumably 41, took Olson, 26, out in the 3rd round. It was now clear that Moore, at 149-19-8, should have a shot at Marciano. Like Marciano's 2 fights with Charles, the fight with Moore would be at Yankee Stadium. It was originally scheduled for September 20, while the Yankees were on the road, but, due to concerns over Hurricane Ione, it was postponed for one night. Marciano was 32 years old, while Moore was 41, or maybe 38.
Watching Rocky on film led Archie to believe that he would be vulnerable to a left hook. When the fight began, Archie learned that, due to the angle of Rocky's defensive crouch, he could hit Rocky with a hook only if he placed himself in position to be hit back. And in the 2nd round, it was a right hand, rather than a left, that knocked Rocky down, only the 2nd knockdown of his career, after Walcott had done it. But, as Walcott found out 12 rounds later, that was not a good sign.
Rocky got up at the count of 2. But referee Harry Kessler gave him a standing 8-count -- probably a good idea, but, under the rules of the time, not mandatory in championship fights. Archie admitted in his memoir that he went "blind and stupid with rage," going for the knockout.
And that was his mistake. Rocky pounded away, knocking Archie down 4 times. Archie stubbornly kept getting back up. Finally, in the 9th round, Rocky floored Archie for a 5th time, and he couldn't get up. Rocky Marciano was 49-0.
Speculation grew as to who Marciano would fight next, to go for 50-0. The answer turned out to be no one: On April 27, 1956, he announced his retirement from boxing. And, unlike so many other champions, he stayed retired: He never fought again.
In 1961, he hosted The Main Event, a syndicated TV show, where he would interview a celebrity, and then show a famous fight, sometimes one of his own. He was killed in a plane crash on August 31, 1969, a day short of his 46th birthday.
Moore kept fighting, and, in 1956, got a shot at filling the vacancy in the Heavyweight Championship caused by Marciano's retirement. But he lost to Olympic Champion Floyd Patterson, and that would be his last shot at the Heavyweight title.
In 1962, approaching what may have been his 49th birthday, and still officially the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, he fought a non-title bout against 20-year-old Olympic Champion Cassius Clay, and was knocked out in the 4th round. He fought once more, won, and retired with a record of 186-23-10. That's one hundred eighty-six wins, twenty-three losses and 10 draws.
Like many boxers, he became an actor. Like many boxers, he became a boxing trainer. He was in George Foreman's corner in Zaire in 1974 when Foreman fought the man who nearly ended his own career in 1962, now, of course, known as Muhammad Ali.
Archie Moore died on December 9, 1998. He was just short of turning 85. Or 82. A year later, the Associated Press named him the greatest light heavyweight boxer of all time.
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