66 years ago: Rocco Francis "Brockton Rock" Marchegiano vs. Archibald Lee "The Old Mongoose" Wright

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ATG vs. ATG, in a packed Yankee Stadium. It doesn't get any more "classic" in terms of atmosphere...then, you watch the fight itself. A classic indeed, with all the fixings. The combatants made perfect foils to each other differing in age, style, and demeanor. They each tasted canvas. One scored the KO and then rode off into the sunset to not just cement his legacy but enshrine himself as legend.

The couple of long-dithering conspiracies - namely, that Moore went into the proverbial tank; or his own claim that referee Harry Kessler gave Marciano a friendly slow count - are bunkum. Thoroughly disproven by now, and not deserving of another word.

Absolutely crazy in hindsight that, of the pair of them, you'd expect the guy that was several years the senior man at 38 - or possibly 41, depending on which birth report you believe - coming up from light heavyweight only to be violently thwarted in a HW championship gambit would be the one to never again have fought afterward. Instead, mystifyingly, upon becoming the forty-ninth in that storied 49-0 (and the forty-third of 43 kayos), Archie would then go 37-4-2 in the remainder of his career.

 

Note: there was a hasty mental arithmetic slip-up on my part in the OP, slightly overcredited Moore in his post-'55 run. Even so, 37-4-2 is a hell of a thing for someone to crank out past the age of 38 (let alone 41 possibly), after getting Blockbustered no less.

 

Aye but think what he managed to do in those first three. Rock's first time being knocked down since he was caught out cold by Cream (bka Walcott) in their first encounter...second of the only pair in his career.

 

What would it have done for their respective legacies had it gone the other way, do you suppose?

Moore certainly climbs the ATG rankings a fair few spaces if he collects Marciano's cherry. As for Rocky, how much is his greatness predicated on retiring undefeated? How far does he fall if he finishes up a still-respectable but less mythic 48-1 instead?

 

So his ENTIRE standing in history is hinged on beating Moore? That wasn't quite the contemporary view, although most didn't see him becoming a GOAT candidate; he was respected at least.

 

Not really a great argument. Not all 38 year old fighters are cut from the same cloth. Moore is a certified ATG himself, was the reigning LHW champ coming off a dominant victory and excellent scalp, and would mount a very nice run and post some good wins afterward.

Was losing to a 40 year old Pacquiao "awful" for Keith Thurman? I don't really think so. Losing to a 38 year old Andre Berto now would be orders of magnitude worse.