Had the 1980s Davey Moore been more developed before his title win, how far do you think he'd gone?

Moore was an good boxer and real tough. He could both box and slug. I think he's become underrated nowadays because he was never the same after Duran bust his ass open. If he'd had more amateur experience or more fights under the belt he'd probably held that title for a while. Even against that imperious version of Duran he held his own for a while, showing a glimpse of what he might have been capable of.

 

Moore was 96-6 as an amateur and won 4 New York Golden Glove titles when it was a huge deal still.
He lost to Donald Curry in the amateurs.
There are two schools of thought about Moore and I will let you decide which one you think you agree with:

1. Moore was never known to be good at defense and even in the unpaid ranks he was special because of his power which he did hit pretty hard. And he had a very good chin. The theory was to move him fast because his style did not translate into having a lengthy career in the pros and he could make alot of money due to his exciting style and big punch.

2. The second theory was now that Moore had the title and was becoming popular to slow down his career and work on improving certain aspects of his boxing so that he could indeed have a longer career. Enter Roberto Duran. Big Name everyone knew who he was and he still sold tickets. True he had just beaten Cuevas but the year prior had lost to unknown Laing and to Benitez. So everything pointed to Duran being in decline. But Duran still had the name. So it would be an excellent chance to showcase Moore even more to the public . As it turns out it was a huge mistake and it literally ruined Moore.

My own take is I think it was number 2 . They had a boxer that was gaining in popularity due to his action packed fights so they wanted to develope him further so they could eventually land the mega fights. But he had been moved so fast that he hadnt really learned to be a pro and was relying on his power 100%.
I remember a trainer who had started training Moore years after the Duran fight and he was trying to teach Moore how to slip a jab and for whatever reason Moore was having problems doing it. So Moore made everyone leave the gym because he was embarrased because after all he had been a world champion and now he was having trouble learning a skill that is taught in the amateurs. The trainer also stated that amateurs just starting off were hitting Moore pretty easily and that Moore would get frustrated.

 

Cobra33 seems to know more about it than me. I didn't think his boxing was that bad tbh.

 

He was very strong and he hit very hard. He also had a pretty good chin when he was at his best so he didnt really develope like he should have because his power/strength always got him through. Then throw in he had pretty good handspeed. I wouldnt say his boxing was bad per say but it wasnt good either.
Except for the very first pro fights every single fight Moore was involved in ended before the distance except for two late in his career.
He won the title by knockout. All his title defences ended in knockout so there was never really a reason to work on defensive skills which wasnt smart by his team.

 

I think he could have gone very far, and been a force. If he caught Curry at 154, it was a wrap for Donald. But unfortunately, what happened happened. With the proper fundamentals, could see him beating McCallum and Jackson. Even Mugabi.

 

I think he needed to hone his professional career with at least 20 to 25 fights before jumping in on a guy like Duran. As others have stated he thought Duran was shot and I recall people in his corner were saying his right hand would stop the former lightweight before the fight....talk about famous last words.

 

Had he fulfilled his projected potential ( if he truly had that much ) he would have easily been an ATG

 

His defense needed tightening up. The Mihara fight highlighted this very well. Duran was too complete for the youngster.

 

Moore was a lot like Mel Taylor in he had a dominant asset (his power) like Taylor had (His speed)
Against most of the fighters they faced, those assets were good enough to overwhelm the level of competition they were facing. But I remember thinking even then before their 1st losses they were getting hit easily.
It was especially alarming with Mel Taylor, a fighter that was so reliant on his speed.
I like most, thought Moore would Beat Duran. But by the 2nd rd of that fight I knew Moore was in serious trouble, Duran simply systematically took him apart. All the flaws I thought I saw with Moore in previous fights were exposed.
I don't believe Moore could've gotten much better than what he was . Duran simply got to him 1st .
But McCallum, J.Jackson, Hearns, Mugabi, and others probably would've done something similar to him because of his defensive liabilities.

 

How much seasoning gets you ready for a thumb to the eye?

 

Not with that defense. He didn't even ever seem to see punches coming and got hit flush. Never rolled with anything. He was really a 90% offense guy in there. They just don't last.