Tell me about Denny Moyer

He was a top contender, if he was around in this era were there are up to 4 world titles to win he would be champion. He beat former world champions Emile Griffith, Benny Paret, and a old Sugar Ray Robinson, Also lost to monzon and nino, the guy is a old school legend

 

great explanation

you could write a book on him, you really enlightned me about this guy









thats boxrec surfing at its finest

 

Here is a funny story about Denny Bill O`Neill shared with me many years ago, enjoy!

By Bill O`Neill

Denny Moyer was a good, tough, very PROFESSIONAL fighter. Nice, stand-up style, good movement, great chin, gutty and intelligent--had everything EXCEPT a punch. He boxed brilliantly early in his career; his first loss was to Don Jordan in a world title fight when he was only about 19, and he kept fighting right on up into his forties. Beat a lot of great fighters, but stayed in the game too long. Was from a fighting family. His father boxed, as I recall; as did Denny's brother Phil, and their sons.

But now, let me tell you a story about Denny Moyer--and I'll try to make it brief. A lifelong friend of mine named Jack Thompson was training Denny, very late in Denny's career, in a gym in Portland (Oregon), that was upstairs over a bar in a seedy section of town. The two of them, along with a young middleweight named Davey Rogers, were leaving the gym one evening when a couple of DRUNKS stopped them on the narrow stairway. "Where's Denny Moyer?" one of the drunks demanded. "I've got two hundred bucks that says he can't last one round with me!"

Jack and Denny looked at each other, and decided to go back upstairs and take the guy up on his offer. In the gym, as Jack was lacing up the drunk's gloves, the guy started cursing at Davey Rogers. Words were exchanged, and the drunk said, "Put the gloves on this punk! I'll bet a hundred dollars that says I can knock HIM out in one round, before I knock out Denny Moyer!"

So they strapped a pair of 14-oz. gloves on Rogers, who Jack tells me could really whack. The kid leveled the drunk with the first punch he threw; knocked him flat. The professionals collected the hundred, and had begun to pack up their stuff again when the drunk's friend yelled out, "Look! He's getting up!" And sure enough, the drunk staggered to his feet and said, "I didn't get my shot a Denny Moyer yet!" He and his friend threw two one-hundred-dollar bills on the ring apron and said, "Come on! A deal is a deal!"

So Jack put the gloves on Moyer, but cautioned him: "Look, don't hit this guy in the head. He has just been knocked out, and another concussion like that could get us in big trouble."

Thereupon, Moyer quickly put the guy down and out with a body punch, causing a spew of vomit that shot six feet in the air. A few minutes later, the three pros helped the drunk down the stairs and back into his favorite bar--and departed the scene, three hundred dollars richer. (Fortunately, they didn't get arrested.)

 

Below is another story about Denny Moyer that was told to me by a pal of mine who knew the Moyer brothers personally, its fricking hilarious!

THE SWITCH

Heard this one today from my friend Pat who used to be real close to Moyer and Ronnie Wilson when those two were still trying to represent themselves as contenders in the ring.

Sid Flaherty was handling the two, along Johnny Rodriguez who was Sid's trainer. Flaherty opened up a camp in the foothills outside San Diego.Within the boxing camp was a kennel that housed Sid's malmutes. From what I saw and what my pal Pat has related,I think Sid was closer to man's best friend more than his stable of fighters. Just trying to deal with Moyer and Wilson was enough to make a guy eat dog food.

I'm going to have to bend Pat's ear more about those two Irishmen. Wilson was rooming with Pat when Ronnie was getting the "heave ho" out the door from his wife for various miscodes of conduct of being a proper husband.

Moyer was brought down to San Diego to help Ronnie out being a fighter,but they both liked drinking more than fighting by that time,so all they did was help each other buy drinks for the saloon patronizing.

Training at Flaherty's camp in the foothills were a group of Mexican fighters.Pat told me they never spoke English. With Rodriguez working them, the language stayed Spanish. Moyer and Wilson,according to Pat,would get sore about hearing words that were either "feminine" or "masculine." Sometimes they thought the Mexican boys were taliking about them and didn't want them to "comprende." After a night of drinking,the Irish gladiators were really on the defense about their talk.

Pat told me one day before an afternoon training session,Moyer had had enough about not understanding a word of what was going on. One of the Mexicans he was going to spar with that day was a "hombre" Moyer never took a liking to. Before going into the ring for a workout,Moyer told Pat that he was going to **** into the guy's water bottle. And he did.

Well the sparring was going on like usual and Moyer was grinnin' ear to ear every time the Mexican was slurpping down his water. After the sparring was done for the day,Moyer saw Pat in the locker room and was laughing about how the Mexican got more than H2O in his drink.

Just then Johnny Rodriguez walked in. Rodriguez walked over to Moyer and said the Mexican fighter wanted to switch water bottles before the sparring session. Rodriguez said he just shrugged his shoulders and switched the bottles.It was Denny who was drinking "lemonade".

From what Pat told me Moyer wanted to kill the Mexican. I guess one of the other Mexican fighters saw what Denny had done and the switch was made.

The Mexican fighter who had pulled the double cross never came back to camp. It was probably for the best. I don't think Denny would heve asked him to give him Spanish lessons.

 

Nice post, RB. (I just saw your second one now.)

Denny also had a brother Phil, and both fought Sugar Ray. In the early 60's at the weigh-in for their first fight, Sugar got on the scales, got weighed, and then turned around to a friend to ask who he was fighting. When he saw Moyer, he apparantly said: "You mean I'm fighting this baby-faced kid?"

 

Here is another story about Denny from my friend Roger.

TRUTH IS A MOVING TARGET

When Denny Moyer came out to San Diego he didn't have much left. He fought way too much. He needed the money. It was risky for him to go in there,but he didn't care. A lot of those guys like Moyer, when they should have hung them up long ago,keep on fighting. They don't worry about it. Moyer certainly didn't worry about it. I don't know what he worried about. Prohibition wasn't coming back.

He plugged along at the old Coliseum. Sometimes he was in there with a young talent. He'd lose,but what his young opponents learned from Denny in the ring,they should have split their half of the purse with him. Sometimes though Moyer would have a "mark." A fighter who had no qualifications being in the ring with him. One of these guys was a fellow named Vicente Medina.

Medina's career never had any golden era. There wasn't a peak. No fights in the Garden. No Sugar Rays or Griffiths on his resume. One night he had the opportunity to chalk up a win against a man who had been in there with the aforementioned. Now when Denny beat you,you didn't wind up in the hospital. You just went back to school. You had learned a lesson. How to slip punches. How to work inside. Movement and leverage. You learned a lot when you fought Moyer.

Well that night Vicente should have filmed the proceedings. Everything Moyer could do ,Vicente couldn't. Medina was pissin' into the wind. He'd lead and couldn't follow. He countered too late. He stumbled,Moyer moved. Vicente was looking at a moving target. He didn't have enough ammunition to hit a bulls eye.

After it was over Medina stayed in Palookaville. Moyer lived there too now. The sad thing was Denny had no business taking up residence in a place like that..

 

Your info has been golden. Thanks for sharing.

 

Moyer once said after he had retired that for every trick he had in his arsenal , Luis Rodriguez would have two and then some... best fighter he ever faced by far according to him. Considering the level of opposition Denny faced throughout his career that is quite a statement.

 

Your welcome man. I`ve got plenty more stories on him and others such as "Irish" Bob Murphy, Luis Rodriguez, Jose Napoles and others that were told to me by my buddy Roger and I saved them all on a word document over the years, not that I think about I`ll start posting more of them when the opportunity arises, now with that said here is another Moyer story:

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

"So now you saw the fight,"I said to my nephew. "Aren't you glad you didn't pay the money?"
Me and my nephew Chelis finished watching the replay of DeLa Hoya's fight with Pac Man. Chelis was a big Oscar fan.
"I didn't think Oscar would not come out for the next round,"said Chelis.
"It was the fastest I saw Oscar move all night when he ran over to congradulate Pacquiao,"I said laughing.

I drove my nephew back to my sister in law's place. On the way I told him of another Champion I saw lose a fight.

Denny Moyer was not the Champion at that time. He was far from it. He was hanging on way too long. Fighting for the money. Holding a job busting tires and fighting and then drinking it away. Sober you could talk to him. When he was drunk,he'd look for an opening. Show weakness in front of him and he'd spot it and then pick on you. He'd call you out at the drop of a hat.

I don't know if it was his last bout. I can't even remember who he was fighting. I could look it up,but it doesn't matter.
"You don't remember a guy named Denny Moyer,but he was a Champ once who finished up fighting in San Diego."
"They had fights here?"asked my nephew.
"At the Coliseum downtown. It's now a furniture warehouse."
"So what happened?"
"Well Denny needed the money. He always needed the money."
"Was he a good fighter?"
"When he was young and stayed in shape he was very good. But wife problems and the the drinking and blowing all his dough. A common scenario with fighters."
"So you're telling me he lost the fight."
"I thought he was going to get killed. His face started to bust up at the end and most of the time he was in there he couldn't see.He'd fight blind."
"He must have been tough."
"So tough that he's crazy now. He's in a home from what they say."
"Did they stop the fight?"
"We were all there. We're screaming for him to stay down. The blood was pouring from both eyes. The towel came flying in. He kicked it out of the ring. Then his corner jumps in. The ****in' Irishman was fightin' his cornermen."
My nephew didn't say anything for a while.
"Oscar looked like he could go some more,"he said.
"Probably,but he knew he was going to lose."

I stopped in front of Chelis's mother's house.
"Well Chelis,good night,"I said .
"Uncle,do you think Moyer was a better fighter than Oscar?"
"Put it this way amigo, Moyer always gave you your money's worth."

 

Well that baby-faced kid showed Ray who was boss that night, even though the judges felt otherwise and gave the nod to Ray. On a seperate note I just came accross two storys while searching thru my files for more Denny Moyer stuff and I`ll share them here even though they are not about Denny. The first one is about Jerry Quarry and the second one is about Joe Frazier, here they are:


It was 1968. Jim Healy was doing a show in LA. on Channel 5. Sports talk. His guests that night were Deacon Jones and Jerry Quarry. Well Deacon had just finished second in the MVP voting in the NFL. Quarry had just lost to Joe Frazier.

Healy asks Deacon the key to his success. Deacon is all full of himself and goes on to tell the world that it has to to with confidence. Believing in yourself. All the while Quarry is sitting next to him kind of impassive listening to all of Deacon's boasting. Finally Jones turns to Quarry and says,"If I wanted to,I could be Heavyweight Champ of The World." Like a jack in the box, Quarry pops out of his seat and stands over Jones clenching his fists.

"Come on mother f----r,.Right now. I'm going to kick your ****ing ass."(Live TV).
Stone cold silence. The Deacon slumps in his chair with this chicken poop liitle smile. All the while you think Jerry's gonna pounce on him. Healy says,"We'll be back after this commercial."
After the commercial,the Deacon was gone.Probably thanking God that Quarry didn't kick his ass.


One day in the 70's, I was watching the Mike Douglas show which was broadcast from Philadelphia. Douglas's guest stars were Dick Butkus and Larry Czonka two football greats mentioned above. At the time, both were on the tail ends of their football careers and making noise about challenging Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier in a tag-team type of fight, in the ring. As Czonka explained how he would upend Ali and crush him to the mat, Butkus suggested he's love to go toe-to-toe with Smokin' Joe, before he finished him off on the ground.

Douglas waited patiently as the two blew smoke up the viewers ass about what they'd do to the two former heavyweight champs. When they finished, Douglas said he was very impressed, but there was a guy back stage who might like to comment on their plans. As the two waited to see who the mystery guest was, Douglas introduced him . . . "Ladies and gentleman, please welcome the former heavyweight champion of the world, Philadelphia's own, SMOKING JOE FRAZIER!" The look on the football heros faces said it all. They looked like they'd just found a turd in their punch bowl.

Frazier quietly walked out, with that look on his face he had when he stared down an opponent during the ref's instructions. He walked right over to Butkus, leaned down and pushed his nose against the Chicago linebacker's face and asked, "you got something you want to say to me???" The whole personna of tough Dick Butkus took an immediate dump as he gulped and squeaked out a weak . . . "Hi ya, Joe". Frazier then turned his eyes on Czonka who smiled sheepishly and mumbled, "we were just having some fun pal. How ya doing buddy, uh, we were talking more about Ali, and I thought you really whipped him last time out." With that Frazier, slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand and said, "So you guys wanna fight???" Both slinked down in their chair and started to talk about how they were just having fun and no disrespect intended, etc. Like Jim Healy, Mike Douglas called for a quick commercial.

 

The stories of the football players,the wrestlers,the athlete who knows that boxing is the only combative sport between two men that is the MOST unforgiving. The fighter knows that. Even if he knows he's not prepared. Not up to his worth. The fighter knows he will be revealed. Too bad today that many unprepared fighters try to convince a public that they are in prime condition by all their hype. And the public falls for it. I remember many years ago I was introduced to Jackie McCoy and Gato at the Coliseum. Gato was standing behind Jackie. Modest. Well dressed. Shook my hand. Like so many fighters I knew. Ronnie Wilson. Denny Moyer. Archie Moore. Many many lesser knowns.I remember my father introducing me to Kid Irapuato in Tijuana. Even Sugar Ray.Robinson, the cut above the great ones. A certain softness. Maybe they were all far away. They knew what their sport was all about. To bully and brag wasn't apt. Ali started it all. But it was his gimmick.

There's a picture of Ali standing in the center of the ring when before his fight with Terrell. Ali must have been taunting Terrell. Making fun of him. If you look at the picture,everyone behind Ali ,including the press and the announcer, is looking at Terrell with a grins on their faces. Waiting for Ernie to respond to Ali's remarks. If it was bullying or intended meanly,you couldn't tell by the grins.

Butkus. I remember the Bears came to San Diego to play the Chargers. The Bears were staying at the Town And Country Hotel. We went down to see if we could see Sayers or Butkus. Butkus came out of the coffee shop. As he walked towards us he saw us looking. He scowled and passed us like saying,"Don't bother me."

I never remember a fighter ever acting that way. The bell rings and now I do my work. My work of fighting. Hitting you to hurt you. To follow up when I get you in trouble. Hit you with everything I have in your liver,stomach,on your jaw. I'll fight clean,but I'm going to hurt you if I can. This is my sport.The way I make my living. When it's over,iI'll act like a normal person again. Remember,fighting is my occupation. My occupation is very violent,but there's no reason to show that anywhere else but inside the ring.

 

Here is another story by my pal Roger:

There used to be a middle weight who boxed in the area named Victor Basilio. I think he was originally from Brawley. When Louie Rodriguez was to fight Rafa Gutierrez here in San Diego,Basilio was on the undercard. Rodriguez was working for a shot at Benvenuti's title. I posted this before about the actual fight which looked a little funny. Louie getting the poop kicked out of him for 5 rounds. Then a big left hook in the 6th puts Rafa to sleep. My father goes up to Angelo and says,"You've got your shot" and they go into thr locker room. So much for that.

Basilio trained with Rodriguez. Louie seemed moody down here. He didn't have any one to work with that would push him. Angelo arrived the final week. I remember Jose Napoles came to camp. The Cubans were very close. They had to fight the Castro stigma along with their opponents.

Victor Basilio got a lot of work with Rodriguez. One day they put on an exhibition in Mexicali. Both camps went there for the day. The way I heard it was Basilo was sparring with Louie. Both boys are "marking" their punches. Finally Basilio is looking at Rodriguez and says to himself that Louie looks small for a middle weight. Kind of frail. They're working in there and Basilio decides to throw a good right hand. Well he catches Louie with it and he staggers back. Now Basilio comes forward.

I heard Basilio tell this back in San Diego. He said he wanted to land some more,but the next thing he saw was the sky! Basilio was flat on his back. He couldn't for the life of him understand what happened. He said Rodriguez is standing over him and told him that the understanding was we were going to "pull" our punches. Then you had to get cute. That's why you were looking up at the clouds. Do that again and you can go home.

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Here are some pictures I took of Rodriguez & Gutierrez when they were training at Newman & Herman's Gym for their San Francisco rematch in 1971; Gutierrez won this fight by a sixth round KO. Basilio also fought on the card losing by KO to Ralph McCoy in two. In the picture showing Rodriguez sparring he is doing so with Kim Booker nephew of WBOF member Eddie Booker. Kim had a decent career spanning the late sixties and early seventies. Booker beat Orlando de la Fuentes in a ten round bout on the same card.
Bobbin & Weavin

 

Good, quick, clever boxer; not a puncher. He distinguished himself at a very early age, and got his first title shot (vs. Don Jordan at WW) when he was only around 19, which was considered pretty remarkable at the time. Moyer lost a decision in that fight, which was considered among the worst title fights of all time (as most of Jordan's title fights were). Moyer floated between 147 and 160 through his career and was a perennial contender from the late '50s all the way into the '70s. His biggest claim to fame was beating Joey Giambra in the first ever jr. MW title fight and becoming the new division's first ever champion. Outside of that he fought most of the top fighters between 147 and 160, and usually came off second best, but with a few exceptions. Among his most notable fights were two grueling battles with Ray Robinson in Ray's absolute last hurrahs at the world class level. Ray managed to outwork him to a close, hard-fought decision in their first fight, but Moyer floored him and beat him in a rematch to permanently end his days as a standout contender.

Late in his career, when he was supposed to be past his prime, Moyer made something of a comeback and worked his way into title challenging status. He was given a shot at reigning champ Monzon (who was at his peak), and gave a surprisingly good account of himself. He was arguably beating Monzon for about 4 or 5 rounds, and even rocked him a couple times if I remember correctly; but then Monzon floored him and had him in some trouble, and the ref jumped in rather soon-ish and stopped the fight. It was a generally unpopular stoppage. After that, Moyer basically faded into journeyman status for the rest of his career.

 

Documentary produced by Tom Moyer about Denny and Phil Moyer.

http://afterthelastround.com/