Denny Moyer (August 8, 1939 – June 30, 2010) was an American boxer who held the world light middleweight title between 1962 and 1963. He finished his career with a 98–38–4 record.

Early life

Moyer was born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, and attended Central Catholic High School. He was the younger brother of Phil Moyer, another of Portland's finest professional boxers. Both Denny and Phil were trained as amateur boxers by their uncle, Tommy Moyer, who had been a national AAU boxing champion.

Early professional career

Moyer fought

Don Jordan Don Jordan (June 22, 1934 – February 13, 1997) was an American boxer born in Los Angeles, California and was the Welterweight Champion of the World from 1958 to 1960. His nickname was ‘Geronimo’. He was of Mexican and African American desce ...

for the world welterweight title on July 7, 1959, after just 21 professional bouts, in his home town of Portland. Moyer was outpointed, making the world title shot his first defeat. He continued to box in the best company for two years, and then won the vacant World light-middleweight title by gaining a points win over Joey Giambra. After one successful defense, he lost the title to

Ralph Dupas Ralph Dupas (October 14, 1935 – January 25, 2008) was an American boxer from New Orleans who won the world light middleweight championship. Early boxing career Dupas was the second of eleven children of a New Orleans fisherman, Peter Dupas. H ...

on points.

Sugar Ray Robinson bouts

Perhaps the most distinctive place in the history of boxing, that the boxing Moyer family from Portland will hold is that all three boxed the famous

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regard ...

. Uncle Tommy Moyer lost to Sugar Ray in New York as an amateur. Denny Moyer fought Sugar Ray in New York twice as a pro, losing the first fight on points but winning the second by 7-3 scores on all three cards. Phil Moyer had his chance with the legendary Robinson in a bout in Woodland Hills, California. He too outpointed Sugar Ray, giving the Moyer family a very respectable 2 - 2 record against one of the sports most celebrated champions.

Later career

Moyer became a middleweight and in 1970 won the American middleweight title by out pointing Eddie Pace. He lost and regained this title, then challenged

Carlos Monzón Carlos Roque Monzón (7 August 1942 – 8 January 1995), nicknamed Escopeta (''Shotgun'' in Spanish), was an Argentine professional boxer who held the undisputed world middleweight championship for 7 years. He successfully defended his title 14 ...

for the world crown in Rome, but was stopped in five rounds. Moyer continued to fight for another three years before retiring in 1975.

After boxing

After his boxing career, Moyer worked in real estate and owned a construction company. The website, Eastside Boxing reported in February 2004, that Moyer was in a Portland nursing home. Moyer died of complications from

dementia pugilistica Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse o ...

on June 30, 2010.

Amateur and professional achievements

*1956 Runner-up National AAU Welterweight Championships *1957 National AAU Welterweight Champion *1963 Jr. Middleweight Champion of the World *1971 Las Vegas Boxer of the Year *1983 Oregon Sports Hall of Fame *2001 World Boxing Hall of Fame

Professional boxing record

References

External lists

*
Denny Moyer - CBZ Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moyer, Denny Boxers from Portland, Oregon 1939 births 2010 deaths Central Catholic High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Deaths from dementia in Oregon American male boxers Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers World Boxing Association champions World Boxing Council champions Light-middleweight boxers World light-middleweight boxing champions Sportspeople with chronic traumatic encephalopathy