Archie Moore comes along 20 years after he did and ends up fighting in the light heavy and heavyweight division of the 70s. How does he do? Does he get the light heavy title? Does he fight Frazier or Ali for the heavyweight title?
Moore was great, but so was Foster, they would be each other's main competition. I can't pick a winner. Forget him at heavyweight, he's got no chance there in the 70's. Moore did have incredible longevity on his side, so if he doesn't beat Foster I can see him beating Saad, Gregory, Lopez, Scott, in the late 70s - early 80's, and holding the belts then. I think eventually in the early 80's Qawi might get him, if not Dwight, then Spinks ends his reign then. He could move up to Cruiserweight circa 79 and reign there too, especially since he'd be getting older and wouldn't be forced to make 175.
Moore would have a good chance at beating Quarry, Lyle, Shavers, Norton and Young. I do agree that a young Spinks probably pulls a Patterson on an older Moore at LHW.
Sorry but I can't see him beating those guys, he got brutalized by Patterson, many forget that fight was a big upset, Moore was considered too experienced for Floyd. All those guys besides Young, can punch too. I can see him beating Young, depending on if a motivated Young shows up. Michael Spinks beats him, MS is my number one lightheavy.
I really don't see Moore beating those you mentioned. I think all of em could well stop him in fact. Not taking anything away from Old Archie, he's a legend, but I just can't see him defeating those 70 s contenders.
Shavers is so severely over-estimated. He was a complete nobody beyond the overhand right. Power was his only even decent quality, & he only had it in one hand to boot. I’d pick Moore to blast him if he wasn’t trying at too advanced an age. He beats Foster at LHW, too.
I agree with the chorus. Archie couldn't beat any of the heavies offered except Young. Jimmy was a cutie but not as cute as the Ol' Mongoose. A side note: Ring Mag ranked Archie #5 in their "hardest punchers" list. That's poppycock! Archie was not an elite puncher. He was, however, a sneaky one.
Excellent hypothesis. I could n't agree more. Archie was an amazing fighter and would be a great 175lb man in whichever era we put him in. But he would never have beaten the elite heavies such as Ali,Frazier etc.
Young Patterson's athleticism was off the charts. I would not be picking Bonavena, Quarry, Ellis over him, and I would give him a shot at the likes of Young. Case could be made that they all lost to an older, albeit more experienced Floyd. It was the one fight in which an ocean of experience could not swallow the extreme youth and physical gifts combined with cult-like training regiment of D'Amato.
99.9% of the heavies in history would not beat Ali, Foreman, and Frazier. There were top 10 fighters I believe Archie could take on.
