Boxer Archie Moore Remembered

Boxing's Archie Moore was remembered Thursday for more than just his remarkable career.

"My husband set high standards for his children and for others," his widow, Joan Hardy-Moore, said prior to a memorial service in his adopted hometown of San Diego. "He was an extraordinary man who celebrated his life and lived it well. We were fortunate to have him."

Moore was 84 when he died Dec. 9 in a San Diego hospice. He had heart surgery a few years ago, and his health had deteriorated in the weeks before his death.

He spent 28 years of his life in the ring, a long career for any professional athlete, especially a boxer. He held the light heavyweight title for 11 years, and knocked out a record 141 opponents in 228 bouts.

He is the only fighter to go up against boxing mammoths Muhammad Ali, then still known as Cassius Clay, and Rocky Marciano. He lost both fights.

He counted among his friends boxers George Foreman, whom Moore trained, Ken Norton and Yvon Durelle, a Canadian who lost two memorable title fights to Moore in the late 1950s.

Biographer Mike Fitzgerald detailed Moore's life during the memorial service, officiated by San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender and attended by Durelle, local politicans and dozens of people who were touched by his generosity over the years.

Born in Benoit, Miss., on Dec. 13, 1916, Moore was raised by an uncle in St. Louis. As a child, he wanted to be a musician, but around age 15, during a brief stay in reform school, he decided to become a boxer.

He started his professional career in 1935 and changed managers eight times before retiring in 1963. He fought during a time when managers frequently took advantage of black boxers and he would change when he felt he was being exploited.

He took a brave stand during the Civil Rights movement after winning a fight in New York. He told a national television audience he wa donating a portion of his purse to the Freedom Riders, who challenged segregation in the South. Moore understood the risk of his decision, but also the opportunity to make a statement, his widow said.

Moore was nicknamed "The Mongoose" for his quick moves in the ring, but also "Ageless Archie" because there was always a debate over his age. Moore shaved three years off his age when he first started boxing because family records showed 1913 and 1916 as his year of birth.

He finished his career with 194 victories, 26 losses and eight draws.

After

Ex-Canadian boxing champ Yvon Durelle, who lost two epic battles to Archie Moore, talked of Moore's finer points. (AP)

He also opened a restaurant, a gym, trained boxers and started in 1965 his "Any Boy Can" program, which encouraged at-risk youngsters to stay away from drugs and violence.

He was honored by presidents Eisenhower and Reagan for his work as a world ambassador for boxing and the United States.

Moore was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990 at Canastota, N.Y. Even in his later years, he had a sharp memory and liked to illustrate his style by shadow boxing.

He lived modestly in San Diego in a home near Interstate 15 with a distinguishing feature - a swimming pool shaped like a boxing glove.

His body was cremated, and his urn will be displayed in a glass-fronted niche in about two weeks at Cypress View Mausoleum.

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