Moore had 228 fights against the best opposition available. Almost everyone mentioned that it was remarkable that he was unmarked.
what do you consider big fights? moore fought marshall, Bivins, H williams, and H johnson in very big fights and moore knocked all of these men out. Sure patterson and ali knocked moore out, but moore was really aging and slowing down at this point. In his prime he had hundreds of fights vs top punchers and only a few were able to knock him out.
what fights have u seen? his upperbody movement/shoulder rolls/ blocking skills in the late 1940s/early 1950s he demonsrated on film were impeccable. watch moore vs bivins 1947 then get back to me
Um... what? He was stopped in his two biggest heavyweight fights, and then once when almost 50 years old and in his second-to-last professional bout against likely the greatest heavyweight of all time. Those were his only stoppage losses in the last 14+ years and 100+ fights of his professional career. He wasn't stopped in any of his showdowns in this time period with Harold Johnson, Joey Maxim, Jimmy Bivins, Bobo Olson, Nino Valdes, etc.- which WERE his big fights outside of the heavyweight title matches- and compiled a 75-3-2 record over a decade during the end of the '40s through the end of the '50s, containing all of the aforementioned fights. Moore WON the majority of his real big fights, and was only stopped by heavyweights during the stage of his career lasting over a decade in which he was one of boxing's elites.
Moore was more than good enough to be denied a shot at the light heavyweight title during his prime years. He won it at 38 and held it till he was almost 45. Moore was one of the best defensive/offensive boxers. He was a master at placing and setting up his shots in order to avoid the opponents' punches.
I have generally thought that Moore had a good defense, as we all know he had his own pretty effective defense that he employed. He wasnt really one to go on the defensive, he used the cross-arm when close and sometimes just to weather a storm. Some of his game was technically good aswell, the chin was usually tucked in when the left was being pumped out. He mixed it with so many greats in a golden era in his division so it should be considered a bit of a fpregone conclusion that some would breach his defence.
