Rodney Moore (born February 21, 1965) is an American boxer in the welter-/cruiser-weight class. He was born in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...

, but later moved with his family to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Initially wanting to become a policeman, he changed his mind upon graduating from the I.S.T. Academy (Institute of Security and Technology) to become a boxer instead. Moore then worked as a security officer at Pennsylvania Community College and a disc jockey in various Philadelphia clubs while undergoing training as a boxer in his spare time. While he was gradually becoming a boxer he committed himself to charity and the community for which he already received several certificates and awards. Moore has had about 45 amateur bouts of which he won 43 (22 by knock-out), an achievement that earned him the Pennsylvania State Golden Gloves championship and the

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professiona ...

Golden Gloves championship. He then turned professional and became a world class contender. His first professional fight in 1983 pitted him against

Tyrone Trice Tyrone Trice (Born October 23, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 1996. He is a one-time International Boxing Council (IBC) Middleweight champion and WBA Americas Welterweight champion. Trice also had two wor ...

, in which he suffered a defeat. But he defeated Ali Saad Muhammad in 1988 to win the State Junior Welterweight title. Moore went on to defeat former world champions

Livingstone Bramble Ras-I Alujah Bramble (born Livingstone Bramble on September 3, 1960) is the former WBA Lightweight boxing Champion of the World. Bramble was raised on Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He became the first world champion from Saint Kitts and Nevi ...

in 1993 and Miguel Santana in 1989, as well as 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist

Jerry Page Jerry Louis Page (born January 15, 1961 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American boxer who won the light welterweight gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. A year earlier he won a silver medal at the 1983 Pan American Games. Amateur career Jerry P ...

. Moore had his first title shot against Charles Murray for the IBF World Junior Welterweight title, then another one against

Frankie Randall Frankie Billy Randall (September 25, 1961 – December 23, 2020) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1983 to 2005. He was a three-time light welterweight world champion, having held the WBA and WBC titles between 1994 and 19 ...

for the WBA World Junior Welterweight title, and finally one against

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for the IBF World Welterweight Championship. All in all, he had 50 professional fights of which he won 38, drew 2 and knocked out 20 opponents.

Honors

Moore was awarded the trophy for "Boxer of the Decade" in 1998 and officially awarded the title "King of the Blue Horizon" for having fought 21 times at the legendary

The Blue Horizon The Blue Horizon is a historic 1,346-seat former boxing venue in Philadelphia. ''The Ring'' magazine voted it the number-one boxing venue in the world, and ''Sports Illustrated'' noted it as the last great boxing venue in the country. The Blue ...

boxing hall. In 2004 he was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame. Also in 2004, the Philadelphia City Council honored Moore for his boxing achievements as well as his work for the youth of Philadelphia. In 2005 he was selected into the "Middle Atlantic Boxing Outstanding Alumni" at the Middle Atlantic Boxing Association Annual Awards, and in 2007 he was inducted into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame.

References

Additional Information about Rodney Moore
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Interview with Rodney Moore
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Rodney 1965 births Living people Boxers from North Carolina Sportspeople from Wilmington, North Carolina American male boxers Welterweight boxers