Looking back - Roberto Duran vs. Davey Moore

It is hard to believe it has been a quarter-century since his last bout and over 4 decades since his pro debut.

Davey Moore, who made the 1980 Olympic team (but didn’t compete because of the boycott) and was a 4-time Golden Gloves champion, was an outstanding amateur. He then turned professional and had an exciting pro career that he can look back on with pride.

Bronx, New York’s Davey Moore, only fought 23 times in the paid ranks, but he certainly made a name for himself in facing some of the very best of his time.

Moore would turn pro in November of 1980 and would run off 12 straight wins. Even more impressive is the fact he was a world champion by his 9th fight and would log 3 title defenses in this championship run.

This would lead to a fight with legend Roberto Duran in the summer of 1983 in Madison Square Garden, in Moore’s home in New York City. The coronation was set for the passing of the torch from the rugged legend Duran to the hot young champion Moore.

While Duran had gone 4-3 in his last 7 heading into the fight, he brought a wealth of world-class experience. He was a legendary Panamanian tough guy who had ruled the lightweights through welterweights until he lost to superstar Ray Leonard.

Since the Leonard loss 2 ½ years previous, he’d only fought 6 times going a pedestrian 4-2.

With close to 80 fights by the time he fought Moore, many were questioning Duran’s focus and dedication at this stage of his career. It was the classic ‘out with the old, in with the new’ scenario, but Duran wasn’t quite ready to relinquish his position.

In a summer-hot MSG, amidst a very lively New York crowd, the fight quickly turned into a back-and-forth slugfest from both fighters. While Moore did land some good punches, they never deterred the always offensive Duran who was slowly chopping away at a tiring Moore.

Duran started to land vicious body shots and hurt Moore with hard head shots. After a 7th round knockdown, it was one-way traffic with Duran handing out a vicious beating on the over-matched young challenger. Moore was finally dropped and stopped in the 8th round in a fight that could have, and should have, been halted earlier by inept referee Ernesto Magana.

After the loss, Moore would fight 10 more times over the next 4 years, going 6-4. While Moore never seemed to recover physically or mentally from the Duran beating, it should be noted that his 4 losses were to a world title challenge and 3 former world champions.

Moore would retire in the spring of 1988 with a record of 18-5, with 14 KOs.

The Moore win propelled Duran into big-money fights with Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns. Duran would go on to fight an incredible 17 more years and face Robbie Sims, Iran Barkley, Ray Leonard, Vinny Pazienza, William Joppy, and Hector Camacho, among others, in closing out his incredible 119-fight career in 2000.

While Moore was most famous for the Duran loss, it should be noted that in a 23-fight career, he won a world title, defended it 3 times, was in 7 world title fights, and fought 3 world champions in his last 10 fights.

A career, both amateur and professional, that he should be proud of.

Thanks for the memories.