On boxrec it said he was 38 for the Marciano fight, on Wikipedia it said he was 41, I was wondering where the confusion between sources arose from, and I investigated and amongst doing so, I think I’ve found the conclusion and here it is Moore claimed he was born December 13, 1916, but his mother said he was born December 13, 1913. Moore joked, "I have given this a lot of thought and have decided that I must have been three when I was born." The U.S. Census record from 1920 seems to put an end to the mystery. "Archie L. Wright" is listed as a nephew in the household of Cleveland Moore and was three years and two months old on the date of the census — January 2, 1920. So this suggests he was most likely in fact younger than his mother said and he was born 3 years after she said, which would mean he was 38 in the Marciano rather than 41. What do you think?
It makes sense. I think he was probably 38 too but it made his feats seem even more impressive if people thought he was older.
Came across my great grandma obituary the other day and she was born in 1916. Her and Archie Moore would be the same age, if he was born in 1916 and not 1913.
There have been some wild theories about boxers' ages postulated on this site, but not for one second am I buying that Archie Moore was this dude's great-grandmother.
Ring magazine reported on this census discovery many years ago. But also shown light on another disagreement Moore had with his Mother's memory. Not only did Moore state he was born in '16 rather than '13, but he also said he was born in (I think) Collinsville, Illinois, whereas, his mom said Benoit, Miss. Digging proved that, although Ma was wrong about the date, she was right about where Archie was born.