Archie Moore Enters The Lght Heavy Division In the Early 1970 's?

That’s one of the toughest eras in divisional history. I don’t think he’d have dominated the division like he did in the 50s.

 

He went through the best era and came out on top. 40s/50s line up was better. But it would be interesting

 

He’s the greatest LHW not named Roy Jones Jr.

 

I don't know much about Archie Moore at LHW, haven't really seen much footage other than the famous fight vs Durell.

But I'd expect Moore would be number 1 or 2 in the early 70s, as the Light Heavyweight division wasn't quite as strong as it was in the late 70s.

Muhammad, Johnson, and a few of the others hadn't made there mark yet.

So Moores biggest test would be Conteh, Cuello, Galindez, and obviously Foster.

 

If, before he becomes a light heavy in the 70s, he still fights Charley Burley, Jack Chase, Eddie Booker, Aaron Wade, Bandit Romero and all the other tough guys he fought as a middleweight, nobody that fought in the 1970s is going to show him anything he hasn't already seen.

 

But he sorta didn't really. Ezzard Charles bested him three out of three and it was only Charles lack of opportunities and deciding to move on that led to Moore being the man.

Now there's no shame in losing to Charles every time out and he'd certainly be around or at the top in any era or sub era providing Charles wasn't about.

 

Yeah Charles beat him. Not the best version of Moore yet imo. There wasn’t much film of him in the 40s and he didn’t develop into the fighter he became till late (this can be seen in a very few small clips of him he more relied on speed and power then his defensive counter punching he became known for later on). Charles is the number one imo at that weight and Moore number 2. Moore went through a tough career and anyone fighting that many guys is def gonna take some Ls especially fighting early on. Moore also beat men that beat Charles and Charles beat men that beat Archie. They were both great Charles just had his number (wish we had their second fight was supposed to be very good)

 

It’d be a bloodbath. Archie Moore was so much better then the guys of that era.

 

Once his military service was over and he came into his prime Charles only lost to Elmer Ray in his next 40 odd fights which was, of course, one of the greatest streaks in history. Ray weighed 20 pounds heavier whilst Charles was inside the light heavyweight limit. He was putting whooping's on the likes of Bivins and Marshall who beat him before he hit his straps of course. So just on the point of them beating guys that beat each other - for mine this means little Charles side because no-one was beating him once he filled out. He was a level above the 175's.

But your other points are well received. They are the top 2 for sure with Charles at #1. Moore did have a damn tough career too and fought so damn often some of those losses were bound to happen, absolutely. The guy was incredible. If Charles didn't happen to have beat him three times you'd be inclined to wonder if Moore could turn it around. I do think by the time they fought in 48 that Archie was close to the finished article tho.

Hard to say a bad word about Moore as a fighter and his sheer brilliance can be seen on film.

 

Well, he come out on top by the early 50s but the talent pool wasn’t as wide by then and he wasn’t top dog in the 40s - Charles was. But @JohnThomas1 said it all above and better than I could so I digress…

I think the 70s was a deeper era than the 50s so I do think Moore would have his work cut out to go unbeaten during that time.

 

If this is the post-Foster light heavyweights then we’re talking about a steady stream of terrific title holders from Galindez and Conteh to Saad Muhammad and Mustafa Muhammad and on to Spinks and Qawi. That all happened in less than 6 years which would take Moore through 2/3s of his 50s title reign. That’s a tough ask to come out 6-0 against those guys.

 

I don't think he could have ever been in a more competitive and challenging division than he actually was in real life.

He was an exceptional MW and was denied a title shot for so long. But eventually rose atop the murderers row, got a title shot, took it and reigned for a decade.

That being said, had Charles got the same shot Moore did Moore would never have been champion.

But if he can reign for a decade when he did, he can reign any time in history.

 

I don’t think 70s is in the ball park of talent the LHW division had in the late 40s early 50s. The list is enormous.