He is still the Miami Valley’s only Olympic boxer and our only professional world champion.
More than a 60 years after his death at age 29, Moore — who was born on this date in 1933 — remains one of the Miami Valley’s greatest sports legends.
Early career
Moore took up boxing at an early age. He was just 13 years old when he first showed up at a local Golden Gloves tournament. Unfortunately for him, he was too young to fight. The minimum age was 16.
Moore eventually became the national AAU champ.
By age 18, after quitting school and getting married to his wife, Geraldine, he made the 1952 Olympic team headed to Helsinki, Finland.
He didn’t earn a medal in those Olympics but soon started an 11-year professional career.
A champion
Moore quickly moved up from Midwest headliner to a national attraction.
After taking the featherweight crown from Hogan “Kid” Bassey in 1959, he fought and won and was celebrated all over the world including England, Venezuela, Italy, Spain, Japan, Finland and throughout Mexico.
He successfully defended that title five times.
His career included 59 wins (30 by knockout), seven loses, one draw and one no contest.
• RELATED: A timeline of Moore’s biggest moments
His last fight
Moore was on a great streak, having won 59 of 66 bouts, when he met Ultiminio Sugar Ramos in their nationally televised fight at Dodger Stadium in March 1963.
He was a 2-to-1 favorite when he defended his crown against Ramos, a 21-year-old Cuban exile with a 38-1-3 record. In what Ramos’ co-trainer Angelo Dundee called a “rock-’em, sock-’em affair,” the young challenger finally took control in the 10th round when he landed several unanswered punches. As Moore tumbled backward to the canvas, his neck hit the bottom ring rope which actually was a rubber-coated steel cable.
He was up by the count of three but got caught again and was draped on the ropes as the bell ended the round. His corner stopped the fight, Moore gave a TV interview while still in the ring and then retreated to the dressing room, where he quietly talked to reporters before suddenly announcing, “My head hurts something awful.”
The impact had damaged his brain stem.
He laid down on a rub-down table, fell into unconsciousness and was rushed to White Memorial Hospital in East Los Angeles.
Roughly 72 hours later, as his wife Geraldine kept a bedside vigil, Moore died without ever regaining consciousness.
• RELATED: Bob Dylan song about Springfield boxing champion asks ‘Who Killed Davey Moore?’
• PHOTOS: Davey Moore, Springfield’s world champion boxer
After his death
More than 10,000 people, including entertainers like Bob Hope and Sammy Davis Jr., paid their respects at his wake in Los Angeles.
Once back in Springfield, Moore’s body was viewed by more than 5,000 people at Mt. Zion Church. Thousands more then lined the streets for a funeral procession of 100-plus cars as Moore was taken to Ferncliff Cemetery and buried beneath a simple, flat gravestone that proclaimed “Featherweight Champ of the World.
Much of Moore’s memorabilia was destroyed in a fire at the Springfield Cultural Center years ago.
There’s now Davey Moore Park, and the gym at Fulton Elementary, his old school, was renamed after him.
In 2013, the city of Springfield dedicated a magnificent eight-foot bronze statue of Moore — made by noted Urbana sculptor Mike Majors — that was set atop an eight-ton boulder positioned on a grassy knoll across from the old South High School.
• PHOTOS: Davey Moore statue unveiled
Columnist Tom Archdeacon contributed to this story.
About the Author
