Davey Moore (boxer, born 1933)

David S. "Davey" Moore (November 1, 1933 – March 25, 1963) was an American featherweight world champion boxer who fought professionally 1953–63. A resident of Springfield, Ohio, Moore was one of two champions to share the name in the second half of the 20th century. The second, Davey Moore (born 1959) boxed during the 1980s.

Moore died on March 25, 1963, aged 29, as a result of injuries sustained in a match against Sugar Ramos.

Career highlights

Moore first gained wide attention from his performance on the 1952 U.S. Olympic boxing team, as a bantamweight amateur.^[1]

Moore made his professional debut on May 11, 1953, aged 19, beating Willie Reece by a decision in six rounds. He boxed 8 times in 1953, with a total record that year of 6 wins, 1 loss and 1 no contest.^[2]

From the beginning of his career through 1956 Moore fought a total of 29 bouts, with a total record of 22–5–1, and 1 no contest. Beginning with his April 10, 1957 fight against Gil Cadilli, Moore had an 18-bout winning streak, ending when he lost to Carlos Morocho Hernández on March 17, 1960 with a TKO. March 14, 1960, won match against Bob Gassey in first round, as a result of the knockout, Gassey lost all but 2 teeth. It was during this period, on March 18, 1959 that Moore won the World Featherweight Title from Hogan "Kid" Bassey. Moore retained the title through the remainder of his career, defending it successfully 5 times, and losing it to Sugar Ramos on March 21, 1963.^[2]

Boxing record

Moore had a lifetime professional record of 59 wins, seven losses, one draw and one no contest, with 30 wins by knockout.^[2]

1960

In 1960, he had a two-fight tour in Venezuela, winning one by knockout, and then having his winning streak interrupted with a seven-round knockout loss at the hands of Carlos Hernández. He fought three times in Mexico that year, and retained his title in Tokyo, beating Kazuo Takayama by a decision in 15.^[2]

1961

In 1961, he toured Europe for three fights, visiting Paris, Madrid and Rome. He retained his title with a knockout in one round against Danny Valdez and won three more fights in Mexico before returning to Tokyo to beat Takayama, once again by a 15-round decision, to retain the title in their rematch.^[2]

1962

In 1962, he won four bouts, returning to Europe to defend his title versus Olli Mäki, beaten in two rounds in Finland.^[2]

1963

Moore had a record of 1–1 in 1963. Following his defeat, in the second bout, Moore died of brain injuries received during the fight (see below).^[2]

Death

Moore was scheduled to face Cuban-Mexican Sugar Ramos in July, 1962 at Dodger Stadium but a torrential typhoon-like rainstorm hit Los Angeles on the night of the fight and the fight was postponed until March 21, 1963. It was shown on national television in front of a crowd of 22,000.^[1] In the tenth round Ramos staggered Moore with a left and then continued to pummel him with blows until he fell, striking the base of his neck on the bottom rope and injuring his brain stem.

Moore got to his feet for the eight-count and, despite Ramos' continuing attack, managed to finish the round on his feet, but the referee stopped the fight before the eleventh, and Ramos was declared the new WBC/WBA World Featherweight Champion. Moore was able to give a clear-headed interview before he left the ring, but in the dressing room fell into a coma from which he never emerged. As Moore fought for life, Pope John XXIII made a statement calling the sport of boxing "barbaric", and "contrary to natural principles".^[3] Moore's condition deteriorated, and he died 75 hours after the fight^[4] on March 25 at 2:20 a.m. CST in White Memorial Hospital, Los Angeles.^[3] His body lay in state at a South Los Angeles funeral home on Tuesday, March 26 for 10 hours; over 10,000 people filed by to pay respects.^[5] Moore was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield, Ohio.^[6]

Legacy

Bob Dylan wrote a song about Davey Moore's death, posing the question of responsibility. It is titled "Who Killed Davey Moore?" and was also sung by Pete Seeger and Graeme Allwright (in French). Phil Ochs wrote a song titled "Davey Moore" ^[7] which told the story of Davey Moore's death and placed the guilt on the managers and the boxing "money men" as well as boxing fans.

On September 21, 2013, the 50th anniversary of Moore's final fight, his hometown of Springfield, Ohio dedicated an 8' bronze statue in his honor. Located in a public green space just south of downtown near the neighborhood where he grew up, its dedication was attended by a crowd of nearly 250. The event was marked by the appearance of Ultiminio "Sugar" Ramos, who came from Mexico City to pay his respects. It was the first time since March 1963 that he and Moore's widow Geraldine had spoken. A pair of Moore's boxing gloves are on display in a Finnish restaurant Juttutupa in Helsinki, Finland (Säästöpankinranta 6). They were found during a renovation of a local boxing gym.

Professional boxing record

59 Wins (30 knockouts, 29 decisions), 7 Losses (2 knockouts, 5 decisions), 1 Draw[2]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	38-1-3	Sugar Ramos	RTD	10	21/03/1963	Los Angeles, California, United States	Lost World Featherweight Title. Moore died four days later due to a whiplash sustained when he hit the bottom rope after being knocked out.
Win	31-24-7	Gil Cadilli	TKO	5	18/02/1963	San Jose, California, United States	Referee stopped the bout after the fifth round due to a severe cut.
Win	65-18-5	Fili Nava	UD	10	18/02/1963	San Antonio, Texas, United States
Win	8-1-1	Olli Mäki	TKO	2	17/08/1962	Helsinki, Finland	Retained World Featherweight Title.
Win	22-5	Mario Diaz	KO	2	09/07/1962	Los Angeles, California, United States	Diaz was knocked down in the first and out in the second round at 1:21.
Win	46-11-1	Cisco Andrade	TKO	7	09/03/1962	Los Angeles, California, United States	Andrade was knocked down in the sixth round before the referee stopped the bout at 2:05 of the seventh round.
Win	45-12-9	Kazuo Takayama	UD	15	13/11/1961	Tokyo, Japan	Retained World Featherweight Title.
Win	24-7-2	Felix Cervantes	KO	5	12/10/1961	Los Angeles, California, United States	Cervantes knocked out at 1:55 of the fifth round.
Win	20-10-3	Kid Irapuato	TKO	6	19/09/1961	Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Win	24-6-2	Felix Cervantes	UD	10	17/07/1961	Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
Win	30-19-7	Gil Cadilli	UD	10	06/07/1961	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Cadilli was knocked down in the tenth round.
Win	17-5	Danny Valdez	KO	1	08/04/1961	Los Angeles, California, United States	Retained World Featherweight Title. Valdez knocked out at 2:48 of the first round.
Win	25-0-2	Ray Nobile	PTS	10	10/02/1961	Rome, Italy
Win	114-16-13	Fred Galiana	TKO	4	27/01/1961	Madrid, Spain
Win	46-7-2	Gracieux Lamperti	PTS	10	09/01/1961	Paris, France
Win	24-8	Rudy Corona	KO	7	03/12/1960	Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico
Win	18-22-1	David Camacho	KO	8	27/11/1960	Nogales, Sonora, Mexico
Win	36-11-9	Kazuo Takayama	UD	15	29/08/1960	Tokyo, Japan	Retained World Featherweight Title.
Win	18-5-3	Kid Irapuato	UD	10	01/08/1960	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	19-3-3	Frank Valdez	TKO	6	20/07/1960	Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States	Valdez was down twice in the sixth round before the fight was stopped at 1:48 of the sixth round.
Loss	12-0-2	Carlos Hernandez	TKO	7	17/03/1960	Caracas, Venezuela
Win	47-2-1	Sergio Caprari	TKO	8	22/02/1960	Caracas, Venezuela	Caprari was knocked down in the fourth, seventh and eighth rounds.
Win	24-3-1	Hilario Morales	UD	10	14/12/1959	San Francisco, California, United States	Morales was knocked down in the first round. 100-90, 100-90, 98-94.
Win	25-3	Bobby Neill	TKO	1	20/10/1959	Wembley, London, United Kingdom	Neill was knocked down four times before the referee stopped the fight at 2:55 of the first round.
Win	59-12-2	Hogan (Kid) Bassey	RTD	11	19/08/1959	Los Angeles, California, United States	Retained World Featherweight Title. Bassey did not emerge from his corner for the 11th round.
Win	59-11-2	Hogan (Kid) Bassey	RTD	13	18/03/1959	Los Angeles, California, United States	Won World Featherweight Title. Bassey's manager threw in the towel in the 13th round.
Win	31-4-1	Ricardo Moreno	KO	1	11/12/1958	Los Angeles, California, United States	Moreno was knocked down twice and out at 2:58 of the first round.
Win	40-13-5	Kid Anahuac	UD	10	25/09/1958	Los Angeles, California, United States	Anahuac was knocked down in the tenth round. 98-90, 99-89, 99-90.
Win	40-12-5	Kid Anahuac	PTS	10	28/07/1958	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win	81-50-11	Lauro Salas	UD	10	19/06/1958	Los Angeles, California, United States	98-86, 99-86, 99-91.
Win	22-4-2	Roberto Garcia	UD	10	24/05/1958	Mexico City, Mexico	Garcia was knocked down twice in the fight.
Win	14-4-2	Vince Delgado	KO	3	06/03/1958	Los Angeles, California, United States	Delgado was knocked down in the second round and out in the third at 0:48 of the round.
Win	47-12-2	Fili Nava	UD	10	20/02/1958	Los Angeles, California, United States	Nava was knocked down in the fifth and ninth round. 98-84, 98-86, 99-90.
Win	38-9-3	Victor Manuel Quijano	TKO	9	09/01/1958	Los Angeles, California, United States	Referee stopped the fight at 1:57 of the ninth round.
Win	34-13-5	Jose Luis Cotero	UD	10	08/11/1957	Washington, District of Columbia, United States	99-81, 100-89, 100-88.
Win	36-8-3	Victor Manuel Quijano	SD	10	14/08/1957	Syracuse, New York, United States	6-3, 7-2, 4-5.
Win	18-3-1	Isidro Martinez	UD	10	05/07/1957	Washington, District of Columbia, United States	Martinez was knocked down in the seventh round. 95-89, 96-89, 97-93.
Win	19-12-2	Buddy McDonald	UD	10	13/06/1957	Spokane, Washington, United States	McDonald was knocked down in the eighth round. 99-91, 99-91, 100-90.
Win	26-9-4	Gil Cadilli	UD	10	10/04/1957	Miami, Florida, United States	98-93, 98-93, 99-93.
Loss	8-2-2	Bobby Rogers	PTS	8	07/11/1956	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	14-19-7	Jimmy DeMura	PTS	6	10/10/1956	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	23-27-6	Charlie Slaughter	KO	4	05/06/1956	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Slaughter knocked out at 0:58 of the fourth round.
Win	16-4	Jimmy Hackney	DQ	6	16/12/1955	New York City, United States	Hackney was disqualified at 1:34 of the sixth round for not trying his best.
Win	29-9	Nat "Killer" Jackson	KO	2	17/10/1955	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Win	14-0-1	"The Cowtown Bomber" Ray Riojas	UD	10	19/09/1955	El Paso, Texas, United States
Loss	16-3-1	Santiago Martinez	PTS	10	16/07/1955	Havana, Cuba
Win	18-2	Pedro Tesis	PTS	10	15/05/1955	Colon City, Colon, Panama	Moore was knocked down in the fourth round.
Loss	12-2	Isidro Martinez	PTS	10	01/05/1955	Colon City, Colon, Panama	Martinez was knocked down twice in the fourth round and Moore was knocked down once in the ninth round.
Win	15-5-1	John Barnes	UD	6	18/01/1955	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Win	19-9-1	Eddie Burgin	TKO	9	07/12/1954	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States	Ohio Featherweight Title
Win	12-14-4	Dick Armstrong	KO	6	25/10/1954	Dayton, Ohio, United States
Win	12-14-7	Herky Kaminsky	PTS	10	29/06/1954	Springfield, Ohio, United States
Draw	12-14-6	Herky Kaminsky	PTS	10	18/05/1954	Springfield, Ohio, United States
Win	70-27-1	"Chillin" Charley Riley	SD	10	20/04/1954	St Louis, Missouri, United States	Moore was knocked down in the seventh round.
Win	1-3	Jack Ingram	KO	1	08/04/1954	Springfield, Ohio, United States
Win	0-2	Leo Carter	KO	2	01/04/1954	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Win	8-8-2	Bob Keeling	TKO	3	13/03/1954	Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Loss	72-24-8	Jackie Blair	PTS	10	04/02/1954	Akron, Ohio, United States
Win	10-3	Eddie Crawford	TKO	2	05/01/1954	Columbus, Ohio, United States
Win	1-2	Eddie Cooper	KO	3	20/11/1953	Dayton, Ohio, United States
Win	13-14-3	Raul "Chilibean" Prado	NC	3	22/10/1953	Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Loss	25-1-2	Russell "Baby Faced" Tague	KO	3	03/10/1953	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	1-1	Ed Hughes	KO	4	29/08/1953	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	0-4	Eddie Gonzales	KO	1	10/07/1953	Ft. William, Kentucky, United States
Win	11-13-4	Dick Armstrong	TKO	4	15/06/1953	Portsmouth, Ohio, United States
Win	5-0	Terry Book	PTS	6	01/06/1953	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	--	Ralph Capone	PTS	4	25/05/1953	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Win	0-1	Willie Reece	UD	6	11/05/1953	Portsmouth, Ohio, United States

See also

• List of lineal boxing world champions
• Lineal championship

References

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Davey Moore (boxer, born 1933).

• Modesti, Kevin (July 27, 2001). "Boxer's death inspired change in the fight game". San Francisco Chronicle. Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved June 15, 2014. 

External links

• Professional boxing record for Davey Moore from BoxRec