I heard Archie Moore stopped Bert Whitehurst twice

Yeah I’m here. What do ya want ? Lol

 

Experience. Moore had it. Liston didn’t

 

I know what he wants...I know what he needs...I know I am nearly equipped but not quite equipped to give it to him...due to an old, fluke gardening accident.

 

So, Magoo, you take care of it.

 

Oh gee thanks

 

When Moore fought Whitehurst in 1958, it was close going into the final round and Whitehurst threw caution to the winds and came out slugging, figuring that a good 10th could bag him the win. "With less than a minute left in the fight, the inspired Whitehurst wound up to throw a monumental left hook - leaving his chin as wide open as a drive-in theatre."

Against Liston it was a different story. Whitehurst was never in the fight and boxed smartly to last the distance.

https://ibb.co/LzzQS24n

 

In their second fight Liston knocked Whitehurst clean out of the ring in the last round,he was in the process of trying to get back in when the last bell rang and saved him from a ko.

Sonny Liston Vs Bert Whitehurst II (24.10.1958) - Full Fight Colorized Best Quality

 

Moore was better at closing off the ring, which, providing the opponent isn’t significantly bigger, would work to his advantage and trading some size off for that skill set can, in some instances (evidently here) help to get you the stoppage rather than being bigger and more powerful.

When I said ‘trading off some size for that skill set’, I didn’t mean intentionally losing weight, I mean Moore happening to be naturally smaller than Liston can help him close the ring off better with his quicker feet.

Against a guy like Cleveland Williams, this wouldn’t necessarily be the case because they wouldn’t have to hunt him down, so Liston having power and decent punch selection meant that helped him get him out of there quicker than Moore would’ve done because Williams was within the firing range which meant Liston could land knockout punches.