Archie Moore said Conn avoided him. How true is that?

Conn doesn't strike me as being the avoiding type.

 

And Mike DiBiase.

 

I recall reading about the Marciano "Wanted" posters years ago. Archie was good at getting the publicity drums rolling.

 

I could of sworn I've seen it. Isn't it like Wanted Rocky Marciano, if seen notify sherrif Archie Moore?

 

The disconnect here could be the assumption that Archie is talking about Conn at light heavy and a title shot at that weight.

No, that doesn’t add up in the timeline.

But by the time Conn resumed his career after the war as a heavyweight, Archie was already testing himself out against heavyweights even though he routinely weighed in below the 175 limit of light heavy … but then, so did Conn the first time he fought Louis and in some other bouts against heavies.

Keep in mind, heavyweight in those days meant ‘unlimited’ — you didn’t have to be above any particular weight class, just willing to fight anyone of any size.

 

Yeah but Louis did have 1 thing Archie Moore lacked. That would be the heavyweight title.

 

Def don’t think Conn avoided him. Archie may have been paranoid about that in general being turned down for many years

 

Yeah the likes of Greb and Walker were beating heavyweights weighing in at middleweight.

 

I had always wondered why Conn and Moore never met. After all, Moore is actually the older of the two. I started studying their respective records and noticed that Conn was fighting a more elite level of fighters earlier on, for example Tony Zale. He also was fighting light heavyweights while Archie was still fighting middleweights. Interestingly, Teddy Yarosz defeated both Conn and Moore within a twelve month span in the late '30s. So there would have been a window of opportunity for them to have met in the late 30s but it was a narrow one. Conn would soon win the light heavy title and after a couple title defenses went after the heavyweight title. Moore didn't really come into his own as a light heavy until the '40s. The 1946 rematch with Louis for the heavy title was essentially Billy's swan song while Archie's best work was arguably yet to come.

I have heard the story of Archie's wanted poster for Marciano - a bit of ballyhoo to help secure a title match. Between Marciano and Moore, they had virtually cleaned out the division, leaving a match between the two as the most logical and lucrative match available. Following Marciano's retirement, Moore was actually favored over Floyd Patterson in their match for the vacant title.

 

Light heavyweight ended at 175 but heavyweight was unlimited.

Conn was I think 174 when he fought Louis for the title. (And some claim much lighter, maybe weighing in while fully clothed? Or at least I’m pretty sure I’ve read that.)

In fact, the upper limits for weight classes are just that — Henry Armstrong defended the welterweight title while weighing in as a lightweight, for instance (in the eight division days).

 

Yes, but we forget that most of these fighters were MWs cum L-HWs (for example), they were in and out of fights for years at Catchweight Contests... Moore may well have been vying for a fight with Conn, but Billy too as a L-HW cum HW would also have been pushing and vying his way into lucrative fights in the higher more praised divisions.

there is probably No More NO Nonsense Proven Fighter in Boxing than Archie Moore, No Doubt there was 'Strategic' moves on the part of Conn.

 

Archie always loved to spin a tale.

In real time, I'd pick Conn.

In fantasy prime vs. prime, I'd pick Moore.

 

Archie wasn't a top 10 middleweight until 1942, when Conn left for the military. Archie was a full middleweight at this time, rarely weighing over the 160 pound limit. In fact, I believe that Archie didn't become a ranked middleweight until he beat Jack Chase at the end of 1942, long after Conn joined the service. It's not very probable for him to have avoided Archie.