Archie Moore Dies at 84

The heart of Archie Moore, a heart that powered him through nearly three decades in the ring, 231 bouts and a record 143 knockouts, finally gave out Wednesday. Thirty-five years after his last bout, Moore, the only man to fight Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali, died in a San Diego hospice at age 84.

“My dad lived a good life and we’re not sad,” said Billy Moore, one of eight children of the former light-heavyweight champion. “We know he’s gone home to be with the Lord and we rejoice in that.”

Despite the fact that he held the light-heavyweight title for 11 years, an especially amazing accomplishment considering it occurred in the era of the undisputed champion, Moore, in his later years, was just as likely to dwell on the one that got away.

It wouldn’t take much prodding for him to talk about his 1955 fight against Marciano, the only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated.

Moore loved to reenact the second-round inside right uppercut that floored Marciano and brought him as close to defeat as he would come.

“It was a fast punch,” Moore recalled long after his fighting days were over. “It was a punch delivered from the side. Those punches are not in action anymore because there’s nobody to teach those tricks and traits anymore. I had Rocky right there, I should have been able to finish him off. But it wasn’t to be.”

To friends, Moore would complain that the referee, Harry Kessler, had given Marciano a slow count, allowing him a few extra precious seconds to recover.

Though dazed, Marciano recovered sufficiently to knock out Moore in the ninth round.

It shouldn’t be surprising that Moore would inject a bit of controversy and intrigue into the Marciano fight. The only thing he loved more than befuddling opponents in the ring was befuddling those around him by maintaining an air of mystery and uncertainty.

His mother said he was born in 1913, Moore said it was 1916. His mother said he was born in Benoit, Miss.; he said it was Collinsville, Ill.

Even his record knockout total is in dispute. The Guinness boxing record book credits him with 145 knockouts, the Ring Record Book 143.

Moore even managed to maintain a shroud over something as simple as a diet.

He loved to tell listeners it was an aborigine diet, which he had obtained in Australia from one of the natives in exchange for a sweater. And he said it began every day with a drink of hot sauerkraut juice.

Those who knew him say it wasn’t quite so mysterious. When in training, Moore would simply bite into a piece of meat, suck out the juice and then spit it out.

But there was no mystery about his ring skills. Moore’s first fight was a two-round knockout of the Poco Kid in Hot Springs, Ark., on Jan. 31, 1936. His last was a third-round knockout of Mike DiBiase in Phoenix on March 15, 1963. That gave Moore a record of 196-26-8, with one no contest.

“In my view, he was the greatest light-heavyweight in the history of boxing and one of the greatest boxers in any division,” former light-heavyweight champion Jose Torres said. “What he accomplished after he was 30 years of age was unbelievable. He became greater and greater the older he got.”

Moore finally hung up his gloves at 49, but he wasn’t through fighting. In retirement, he continued to battle against juvenile delinquency and drug abuse through an organization he called ABC, for Any Boy Can.

President Eisenhower once invited Moore to the White House for a meeting on juvenile delinquency.

“Are you a Republican or a Democrat?” Eisenhower asked.

“Neither,” Moore said,. “I’m a diplomat.”

Fighting in an era when boxers’ purses were a fraction of what they are today, Moore also found time to make money any way he could. He sold used airplanes. He owned a restaurant in San Diego named the Chicken Shack. When he fought in San Diego, he would take the microphone from the ring announcer after his bout and invite the crowd to come over for dinner. Former Herald-Examiner and Times columnist Melvin Durslag recalled Moore once entering the ring and proudly turning his back to the camera so viewers could read the writing on his robe: “Nate Rosenberg’s Diamond Palace.”

Funds were so scarce when he fought that Moore, who then lived in New York, once took a train to Philadelphia for a fight and then took the train back the same night to avoid the expense of a room.

When he won the light-heavyweight title from Joey Maxim in 1952, Moore’s purse was $800.

He once entered the ring with writer George Plimpton for a magazine article Plimpton was writing. Moore bloodied Plimpton’s nose, but the two became lifelong friends.

“He was looking for some publicity,” Moore said of Plimpton. “I gave him a stiff jab to the nose to make him earn it.”

No surprise. Anybody who entered the ring with Moore knew they’d have to earn anything they got.

Times staff writer Tony Perry and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Archie Moore at a Glance

-Career: 1936-65 -Total bouts: 231 - Record: 196-26-8 (plus one no contest)

- Won a record 143 bouts by knockout.

- Held light-heavyweight title from Dec. 17, 1952, through Feb. 10, 1962.

- Won light-heavyweight title Dec. 17, 1952 (def. Joey Maxim, 15-round decision).

- Fought Rocky Marciano for heavyweight title on Sept. 21, 1955, was knocked out in ninth round.

- Fought Floyd Patterson for heavyweight title on Nov. 30, 1956, was knocked out in fifth round.

- National Boxing Assn. withdrew recognition as world light-heavyweight champion on Oct. 25, 1960.

- New York State Athletic Commission withdrew recognition as world light-heavyweight champion on Feb. 10, 1962.