Moore claims Conn ducked him

[uncle ben]

This is the last interview of Archie Moore's life. In it, he is 84 years old. It was shot in May of 1998. Archie Moore passed away in December of 1998. In the interview, Moore claims that Billy Conn ducked him in the 1940's.

[JAB5239]

This is the last interview of Archie Moore's life. In it, he is 84 years old. It was shot in May of 1998. Archie Moore passed away in December of 1998. In the interview, Moore claims that Billy Conn ducked him in the 1940's.

Looking over their boxrec records Moore was hot and cold in the previous few years before Conn hung them up. On the flip side, his level of comp was very good.

At that time I would probably favor Archie. But Conn was a handful for anyone.

I don't have the time, but maybe someone could dig up the newspaper articles from that time to shed a little more light on this.

[QueensburyRules]

--- Post ww2 Conn was not the same fighter.

If in the 40s that's only a couple of years before everyone was drafted. Don't think Arch served save in the war factories that would've helped him develop his craft, a bit of an unfair advantage to returning vets. Very few baseball players were able to return to their form. Ted Williams, Hank Greenburg and warren Spahn were noted exceptions.

[uncle ben]

Looking over their boxrec records Moore was hot and cold in the previous few years before Conn hung them up. On the flip side, his level of comp was very good.

At that time I would probably favor Archie. But Conn was a handful for anyone.

I don't have the time, but maybe someone could dig up the newspaper articles from that time to shed a little more light on this.

Since Conn and RJJ had similar styles and both were fast, how Moore did against Conn may have told us something about how he would've done against RJJ.

[Dempsey-Louis]

I can't keep quiet when the term 'duck' is used in this manner. When a fighter refuses a fight, that is not in his best interest, that's doing business, not ducking.

The term ducking should only be applied when a title is being wrongly protected; this isn't (and never has been) the NFL, there are no schedule bouts. There are no obligations to be met except when claiming a title.

Fighters are entrepreneurs who sell themselves as performers (in a very brutal business, with a limited number of performances).

Billy Conn would have gained little from fighting the 'Old Mongoose,' why would he ever take such a fight?

We know it wasn't the 'color line.' We know it wasn't because he was scared of Moore's power (as compared to Louis').

So obviously, for Conn this fight (with no title attached) was too tough for too little reward. That's not ducking that's a managed career.


BTW Archie never uses the word 'duck' and seems to agree with me.

[The Old LefHook]

I believe prime Conn decisions prime Moore. The slower Archie always has the chance to time him perfectly and get the KO. Otherwise he is unlikely to win a decision over slick Billy Conn.

[BKM-]

I believe prime Conn decisions prime Moore. The slower Archie always has the chance to time him perfectly and get the KO. Otherwise he is unlikely to win a decision over slick Billy Conn.

I agree. And I think Conn has a bigger chance to get a stoppage than the other way around despite his low KO %. Moore was prone to knockdowns, and the only fighter to KO Conn was Louis a HW knockout artist who actually had to land a series of sniper-like accurate blows to get him out of there in the first fight.

[OCPancho]

Moore also claims the ref rescued the Rock against him.

[OCPancho]

Conn fighting Joe and ducking Archie doesn't make sense.

[OctoberRed]

Conn fighting Joe and ducking Archie doesn't make sense.

We are on the same page when it comes to that.