Archie Moore fought for the heavyweight championship of the world for the second time on November 30, 1956, at Chicago Stadium in Chicago. It was for the vacant title left open when Rocky Marciano announced his retirement on April 27 of that same year. Floyd Patterson was his opponent, and he stopped Archie in the fifth round. Two weeks later, the ‘Old Mongoose’ turned 43, and showed no signs of retiring any time soon.
Archie did take five months off however, before returning to action on May 1, 1957 to record a ten round decision over a guy named Hans Kalbfell. One last bout in Germany a month later saw Moore knock out Alain Cherville on June 2, before returning to America to drop down to light heavyweight again.
Archie had to make six trips to the scale to make the light heavyweight limit of 175 lbs., before getting into the ring at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on September 20, 1957. Moore stopped Tony Anthony in seven, a mandatory defense of his light heavyweight title.
He returned to heavyweight right after, and finished 1957 with three straight wins. At now 44 years of age, Archie was still the light heavyweight king, but fought most of his bouts as a heavyweight.
Archie fought nine times as a heavyweight in 1958, before making his next defense of his light heavyweight title on December 10 at the Forum in Montreal, Canada against Yvon Durelle. In a battle of courage and will, Moore went down three times in the first round, and again in the fifth. On the brink of defeat, Archie summoned the necessary strength it took to knock out Durelle in the eleventh. It’s still looked upon as one of the greatest fights at light heavyweight in boxing history.
Incredibly, Archie Moore was now 45 years old, and still the best light heavyweight in the world. The more I learn about this legend, the more respect and admiration I have for him. Truly a giant in boxing history, no doubt.
READ MY BLOG ON INSTAGRAM AT kensoldtimeboxingchat
LISTEN TO MY PODCAST ON SPOTIFY AT kensoldtimeboxingchat
