David "Davey" S. Moore (November 1, 1933 – March 25, 1963) was an American

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

world champion boxer who fought professionally from 1953 to 1963. A resident of

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County, Ohio, Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, approxim ...

, Moore was one of two world champions to share the name in the second half of the 20th century. The second, Davey Moore (born 1959), boxed during the 1980s. Moore died on March 25, 1963, aged 29, as a result of injuries sustained in a match against

Sugar Ramos Ultiminio Ramos Zaqueira (2 December 1941 – 3 September 2017) was a Cuban-born Mexican professional boxer who was better known as Sugar Ramos. Ramos fought out of Mexico where he was adopted as a national hero. He was a world featherweight cha ...

Career highlights

Moore first gained wide attention from his performance on the 1952 U.S. Olympic boxing team, as a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

amateur. Moore made his professional debut on May 11, 1953, aged 19, beating Willie Reece by a decision in six rounds. He boxed 8 times in 1953, with a total record that year of 6 wins, 1 loss and 1 no contest.Davey Moore
boxrec.com From the beginning of his career through 1956 Moore fought a total of 29 bouts, with a total record of 22–5–1, and 1 no contest. Beginning with his April 10, 1957 fight against Gil Cadilli, Moore had an 18-bout winning streak, ending when he lost to

Carlos Morocho Hernández Carlos Enrique Hernández Ramos (April 21, 1940 – July 2, 2016) was a Venezuelan world champion professional boxer. Known professionally as Carlos Morocho Hernandez (Carlos "Dark Haired" Hernandez), he ended his career following a TKO by Scotti ...

on March 17, 1960, with a TKO. March 14, 1960, won match against Bob Gassey in first round, as a result of the knockout, Gassey lost all but 2 teeth. It was during this period, on March 18, 1959, that Moore won the World Featherweight Title from Hogan "Kid" Bassey. Moore retained the title through the remainder of his career, defending it successfully 5 times, and losing it to

on March 21, 1963. Mäki vs

1952 Olympic results

Below is the record of Davey Moore, an American bantamweight boxer who competed at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics: * Round of 32: bye * Round of 16: defeated Egon Schidan (West Germany) by decision, 3-0 * Quarterfinal: lost to Kang Joon-Ho (South Korea) by decision, 1-2

Last fight and death

Moore was scheduled to face Cuban-Mexican

in July 1962 at Dodger Stadium but a torrential typhoon-like rainstorm hit Los Angeles on the night of the fight and the fight was postponed until March 21, 1963. It was shown on national television in front of a crowd of 22,000. In the tenth round, Ramos staggered Moore with a left and then continued to pummel him with blows until he fell, striking the base of his neck on the bottom rope and injuring his brain stem. Moore got to his feet for the eight-count and, despite Ramos' continuing attack, managed to finish the round on his feet, but the referee stopped the fight before the eleventh, and Ramos was declared the new World Featherweight Champion. Moore was able to give a clear-headed interview before he left the ring, but in the dressing room fell into a coma from which he never emerged. As Moore fought for life,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

made a statement calling the sport of boxing "barbaric", and "contrary to natural principles". Moore's condition deteriorated, and he died 75 hours after the fight on March 25 at 2:20 a.m. CST in White Memorial Hospital, Los Angeles. His body lay in state at a South Los Angeles funeral home on Tuesday, March 26 for 10 hours; over 10,000 people filed by to pay respects. He was buried in Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield, Ohio.

Legacy

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

wrote a song about Davey Moore's death, posing the question of responsibility. It is titled "

Who Killed Davey Moore "Who Killed Davey Moore" is a topical song written in 1963 by American folk singer/songwriter Bob Dylan. Though the song was not commercially released on Dylan's several studio albums in the 1960s, it was popular in his repertoire for live shows du ...

?" and was also sung by

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

and

Graeme Allwright Graeme Allwright (7 November 1926 – 16 February 2020) was a New Zealand-born French singer and songwriter. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s as a French language interpreter of the songs of American and Canadian songwriters such as Leona ...

(in French).

Phil Ochs Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...

wrote a song titled "Davey Moore" which told the story of Davey Moore's death and placed the guilt on the managers and the boxing "money men" as well as boxing fans. On September 21, 2013, the 50th anniversary of Moore's final fight, his hometown of Springfield, Ohio dedicated an 8 feet tall bronze statue in his honor. Located in a public green space just south of downtown near his old neighborhood, the dedication attendees included Moore's widow Geraldine and Ultiminio "Sugar" Ramos, visiting from Mexico City. A pair of Moore's boxing gloves are on display in a Finnish restaurant ''Juttutupa'' in Helsinki, Finland (Säästöpankinranta 6). They were found during a renovation of a local boxing gym. Moore, played by John Bosco Jr., is featured as a character in the movie ''

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki ''The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki'' ( fi, Hymyilevä mies, translation=Smiling man) is a 2016 Finnish biographical drama film co-written and directed by Juho Kuosmanen. It won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festiv ...

'' that won the 'Prize Un Certain Regard' in the

2016 Cannes Film Festival The 69th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2016. Australian director George Miller was the President of the Jury for the main competition. French actor Laurent Lafitte was the host for the opening and closing ceremonies. On 15 Marc ...

Professional boxing record

References

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External links

* *https://www.wbaboxing.com/wba-history/world-boxing-association-history *https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1959 *https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1960 *https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1961 *https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1962 *https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/National_Boxing_Association%27s_Quarterly_Ratings:_1963 , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Davey (1960s) 1933 births 1963 deaths Boxers from Kentucky Deaths due to injuries sustained in boxing Sportspeople from Lexington, Kentucky Sportspeople from Springfield, Ohio Sports deaths in California American male boxers Olympic boxers of the United States Boxers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Featherweight boxers