Friday, December 18, 1998

Archie Moore remembered for more than just boxing

By BERNIE WILSON

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO -- When a fighter has fallen for the last time, a bell is rung 10 times. For Archie Moore, the symbolic gesture tolled the end of a long and distinguished life.

"He was the best man I ever knew," said Yvon Durelle, who attended Moore's memorial service Thursday at Cypress View Mausoleum. "I was not ashamed to lose to him. He was a champion long before he fought me."

Durelle, a Canadian who lost two memorable title fights to Moore in the late 1950s, made a 17-hour trip from New Brunswick for the service.

Moore was 84 when he died Dec. 9 in a San Diego hospice. He had heart surgery a few years ago, and his health had deteriorated in the weeks before his death.

He spent 28 years in the ring, a long career for any professional athlete, especially a boxer. He held the light heavyweight title for 11 years, and knocked out a record 141 opponents in 228 bouts

Former heavyweight champion Ken Norton got the honor of holding a bell from the long-gone San Diego Boxing Coliseum as boxing official Danny Millsap rang it 10 times in a final goodbye to Moore.

"It was very emotional," Norton said after the service. "Archie, to me, was what you wanted everyone to be like. He was a very good example, a very good role model, a very good person, a very good Christian. A perfect person, just about."

More than 1,000 people attended the 1-1/2-hour, mostly lighthearted memorial, which included video clips from his brief film and television career. About a dozen large-screen televisions lined the chapel walls.

The final clip was from his role as Jim in the movie "Huckleberry Finn": "Bye everybody, God bless you," he said.

The memorial service came 46 years to the day after Moore first won the world light heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Joey Maxim. Moore was 39 at the time and his remarkable career would continue for another 10 years.

He is the only fighter to go up against Muhammad Ali, who was still known as Cassius Clay, and Rocky Marciano. He lost both fights.

Another video highlight was from one of Moore's most famous fights, his 11th-round knockout of Durelle in Montreal in 1958 to retain his title.

Durelle knocked down Moore three times in the first round and again in the fifth, but Moore rallied and won the fight with a short right.

Like a good hometown crowd, applause broke out as the grainy black and white images showed the referee holding Moore's arm aloft in triumph.

There were also clips of his television appearance on "Batman" and a scene he had in the movie "Breakheart Pass" fighting atop a moving train with Charles Bronson.

"You know the fight with Bronson was a fake -- he wouldn't have lasted five minutes with Archie," said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Kolender, a longtime friend.

Many state and local dignitaries noted Moore's benevolent works and more than one mentioned his swimming pool -- shaped like a boxing glove -- at his modest San Diego home.

After retiring in 1963, Moore opened a restaurant, a gym, trained boxers such as George Foreman, and started his "Any Boy Can" program, which encouraged at-risk youngsters to stay away from drugs and violence.

He was honored by presidents Eisenhower and Reagan for his work as a world ambassador for boxing and the United States.

Mayor Susan Golding wrapped up Moore's final years in a message she sent to the family, read at the service:

"The boxing career of Archie Moore is legendary; he was known throughout the world. But as San Diegans we had the blessing of knowing him just a little more than the rest of the world did. He had a selfless spirit. He was a man who brought out the best in others."

His body was cremated, and his urn will be displayed in a glass-fronted niche in about two weeks at the mausoleum.

Moore is survived by his wife of 40 years, Joan Hardy-Moore; seven of his eight children and an adopted niece; and four grandchildren.

"My husband set high standards for his children and for others," his widow said. "He was an extraordinary man who celebrated his life and lived it well. We were fortunate to have him."