Archie Moore
World
Light Heavyweight Champion
1952 was one of the most important years
in Archie Moore's life. After beating Johnson, heavyweight contenders
Jimmy Slade, Bob Dunlap, and Clarence Henry and light heavyweight
Clinton Bacon (knocked out in four in a rematch), Moore was finally
given an opportunity at age 3 to fight for the title of World Light
Heavyweight Champion against future IBHOF honoree Joey Maxim. Maxim
had just defeated the great Sugar Ray Robinson by a technical knockout
in 14 rounds, forcing Robinson to quit in his corner due to heat exhaustion
Against Maxim, Moore consistently landed powerful right hands, hurting
him several times en route to a fifteen-round decision. After sixteen
long years, he had finally achieved his dream. The next year, Moore
won all nine of his bouts, including a 10-round, non-title win against
then fringe heavyweight contender Nino Valdez 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 had only four fights, retaining the title in a third
fight with Maxim, who once again went the 15 round distance, and versus
Johnson, whom he knocked out in 14. He also beat highly ranked heavyweight
Bob Baker. In 1955, Moore again beat Valdez, who by that time was
the no. 1 heavyweight contender, and defended against Bobo Olson,
the World Middleweight Champion and future Hall of Famer who was coming
off a decision victory over Joey Maxim, by a knockout in three.
"The
Mongoose" received two cracks at the heavyweight championship of the
world. On September 21, 1955, Moore faced future Hall of Famer Rocky
Marciano at New York's Yankee Stadium. It was in this fight Archie
came closest to wearing the belt. A Moore surprise right hand in the
2nd round sent Marcino down for the second and final time in his career,
setting the stage for a legendary battle, but also creating controversy
as far as shared memory. In subsequent years Moore made much of Referee
Harry Kessler's handling of the pivotal moment. A half-decade on,
in Archie's autobiography, The Archie Moore Story (1960), he describes
in detail the referee, though Rocky arose at "two", continuing a superfluous
mandatory eight-count: "...Kessler went on, three, four. The mandatory
count does not apply in championship bouts (1955)...My seconds were
screaming for me to finish him and I moved to do so, but Kessler...carefully
wiped off Rocky's gloves, giving him another few seconds...he gave
him a sort of stiff jerk, which may have helped Rocky clear his head."
Moore admits to being angry enough at what he saw as interference
he went recklessly, "blind and stupid with rage", going for the knockout,
toe-to-toe. This resentment toward referee Kessler appears only to
have grown more entrenched. By the time of a recorded interview with
Peter Heller, in October, 1970 Archie had this to say: "(Kessler)
had no business refereeing that match because he was to excitable.
He didn't know what to do...He grabbed Marciano's gloves and began
to wipe Marcianos gloves and looks over his shoulder..I'll never forget
it. It cost me the heavyweight title."
This grudge, however, was not mutual. In his own autobiography,
Harry Kessler indeed recounts Marciano-Moore with a great excitement,
frequently employing exclamation marks in his punctuation, going so
far as a direct comparison to the donnybrook between Jack Dempsey
and Luis Firpo. Yet, the third man is evenhanded in his praise, taking
time over most of a chapter on the bout, to laud Moore. His praise
for Moore include the following quotes: "Archie had exuded a stalwart
confidence from his training camp..." "Archie Moore had more punches
in his arsenal than Robin Hood and all his Merry Men had arrows in
their quivers..." "Archie Moore was probably as sure a fighter as
ever set foot in the ring..." "No one ever questioned Arche Moore's
courage...". As for the knockdown, described here also in detail,
Kessler offers perspective directly contradicting Moore's saying
"I didn't bother to wipe Marciano's gloves on my shirt before I waved
them back to combat; that early in the drama, there was no resin on
the canvas." As opposed to any blind rage, Kessler states that "Archie
hesitated a couple of seconds before he came in." With humor and without
malice, Kessler even recounts the 38-year-old Moore poo-pooing any
talk of retirement at the postfight press conference, then sitting
in on bass fiddle at a hotspot in Greenwich Village until 5 A.M.!
Examination
of the original, uncut closed circuit broadcast from 1955, shows no
excesses in referee involvement. Marciano arises at "two", but the
voice of Al Berl, assigned the counting for knockdowns, continues
to "four". In harmony with Archie's further 1960 description, Marciano
has moved to the ropes and rests an elbow. Moore is already moving
toward him. Kessler flashes onscreen quickly, then away again, as
though he had meant to separate the fighters. He is perpendicular
to Marciano's chest, and his right hand waves rapidly near Rocky's
left glove. Kessler reverses out as fast as he has come into frame,
with no wiping of Marciano's gloves, and the action resumes. Marciano
recovered, and went on to knock Moore down five times, finally knocking
him out in the ninth to retain the belt. It was Marciano's sixth and
last title defense, before retiring in 1956.