Superman vs Archie Moore

Just three days before this was to happen, George Reeves took his life. In his days before acting, Reeves had fought as an amateur boxer, so it is not like he was some guy off the street in this scenario---but Reeves was every bit as old as Archie Moore, being in his 40's. The two men had been friends for years, Reeves often sparring with the light heavyweight champ.

Whether this was to be an exhibition or an actual match, I have no clue, though some have speculated it was a stunt, as Archie Moore in the past had fought professional wrestlers in actual boxing matches, and Reeves for a time had 'competed' in staged wrestling events as the character Superman against guys like Gene LeBell who would don a costume similar to Reeve's and go under the name "Kryptonite".

Conflicting reports on how the fight was to be staged varies. Some say it was scheduled for two rounds, while some say it was scheduled for ten. Reeves, despite rumors to the contrary, had trained diligently for the match, either to look more fit than he had in years [it depressed him that he no longer looked like the superman of old] or to actually be prepared to give Moore an actual contest.

The contract, the media attention, was all there to back this up. It's a shame this little bit of history never came to be, and it also raises the question if Reeves did kill himself, as he was quoted as saying: "The Moore fight will be the biggest highlight of my life." He apparently, had alot to live for. Archie Moore himself was dumbfounded that his friend had apparently killed himself, saying the whole incident was bizarre.

Side Note- Just before this arranged match, Moore took on professional wrestler Sterling 'Dizzy' Davis, and had knocked him out in three rounds, giving the wrestler a cut over his left eye, dropping him three times.

 

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Nvm, I tracked down the fight poster for the event. It was scheduled for two rounds [not the rumored ten] and had to of been the real deal, as Reeves was billed as George "Superman" Reeves and not simply as the character that made him famous. Plus the facts that Reeves was shown in boxing gear, not in the costume, and him being credited for being a 1933 Pasadena Golden Gloves participant, gives credit to the notion that this was to be a legit exhibition bout, not a staged fake.

 

Excuse me, I must add that the poster I found was actually a hoax. Sorry. BUT here's page 159 of Archie Moore's biography "Ageless Warrior", where the Reeves bout was talked about in some detail.

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I might also add, that evidentially Reeves had evidentially been planning on doing a series of boxing exhibitions, Moore was just one of them, and had been training with wrestler and Judo master Gene LeBell to get back into shape. It seems apparent that Reeves was serious about these exhibitions, but had signed on to do them while he was out of work, before he agreed to do another season of Superman.

And Janitor, no, Moore's last bout was against Ted DiBiase's stepfather 'Iron' Mike DiBiase, who was the Southern Heavyweight wrestling champion at the time. Sadly, only 800 people showed up to the venue, and Moore only got $1,000. archie was hoping this fight would have been the stepping stone to a match with British champion Brian London, but when Moore's manager Doc Kearns (they had a handshake agreement) died, Moore never pursued it on his own and retired.

Oh, and before I forget, Reeves as a young man (as previously mentioned) was an amateur boxer, competing in the Golden Gloves, but due to his mother's plees for him to get out of the sport, fearing not only his good looks would be ruined [Reeves had at least seven broken noses in boxing] it would be detrimental to his well being. Reeves quit boxing and went into acting.

 

BUT.....if you ever read the comic, the fight took place on another planet, with a red sun, rather than Earth's yellow sun (that gave Superman his powers), so Superman was like a normal human being, which is why Ali won by KO in the 2nd round over Superman. It's kinda like the second Superman movie with Christopher Reeve, and he lost all his powers, and got his ass kicked in a bar fight when some guy dissed Lois.

 

Lmfao!!!