The Ageless Warrior: The Life of Boxing Legend Archie Moore

by Mike Fitzgerald, Jake LaMotta (Foreword)

In the long history of professional boxing there was only one man who fought both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali. There was only one man who recorded an astounding 141 professional knockouts. There was only one man who trained both a young Ali and heavyweight champion George Foreman. There was only one Archie Moore. Moore's vast career and exploits are finally chronicled in "The Long The Life of Boxing Legend Archie Moore, highlighting his seven-decade boxing career. Author and veteran boxing biographer Mike Fitzgerald spent several months with Moore before the boxer's 1998 death in an effort to capture the full life story of one of the 20th century's most colorful and accomplished athletes. Moore's opponent list reads like a "Who's Who" of it includes nine world champions and seven Hall of Famers. Starting his career in the middleweight division, Moore moved up in weight class in 1945. Ultimately he dominated the light-heavyweight division, winning his first world title in 1952 (at age 39) and successfully defending that title for nearly a decade. The versatile Moore often fought at heavyweight in the 1950s, twice challenging for the heavyweight crown, including an epic battle with Marciano in 1955. Following the 1960 Olympics, Moore took over training duties for Ali (known then as Cassius Clay). The two eventually parted ways before their fight in 1962. Retiring from the ring in 1963 after compiling 194 career wins, Moore remained active in boxing for the rest of his life, helping guide George Foreman to the heavyweight title in 1973 and overseeing his legendary comeback in 1987. Moore was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Archie Moore'slife wasn't just about boxing, however. "The Long Sunset also spotlights his Hollywood career in the 1960s, his five marriages, and his beloved "Any Boy Can" youth organization, which reached underprivileged youth. Featuring a foreword by the "Raging Bull." Jake LaMotta, who provides his own fond memories of Moore, "The Long The Life of Boxing Legend Archie Moore is certain to provide a never-before-seen side of one of America's all-time greatest athletes.

275 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2004

Reviews

[Dylan Borrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy learning about the greats of boxing, then you'll probably quite enjoy this book. It's not for everyone, you'll probably get lost with names if you don't have a pretty in-depth knowledge of boxing history.

It isn't perfect, little bloated at times but I was fascinated by Archie and his incredible career.

[Boxing Books Guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fantastic reading, but I am still hopeful of a more in-depth telling of the times of the Old Mongoose.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read and the writing is a above the usual boxing book. One of my top three all time favorite fighters.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archie Moore is a name that many boxing fans may recognize as he is considered to be one of the best boxers in the history of the sport. He held the light heavyweight title, fought at a time when weekly bouts for a fighter were not uncommon and holds the record for the most knockouts in a career. Between opponents and fighters he helped train, the time range that covers Moore’s career ran several decades. His career is captured in this book by Mike Fitzgerald.

The writing about Archie’s career is very good as readers who know about the man but not many details (such as this reviewer) will learn a lot about just how good a boxer Moore was. The book gets a little bogged down with the details, but this is balanced with many entertaining anecdotes about Moore and some of his quirks. One of these that is mentioned several times is about his diet. Dubbed the “Aborigine Diet” by Moore, he supposedly learned this diet when he was fighting in Australia. He would chew meat, swallow the juices, but then spit out the meat. This would allow the eater to gain all the benefits of the meat without forcing the body to digest the meat. Whether or not this was effective, it was often used by Moore as making weight was a constant challenge for him.

The book also discusses other parts of Moore’s life, such as his five marriages, his frequent travels and his dedication to improving the lives of children, something that was his calling once his boxing career was over. This part of Moore is not described in as great of detail as his fighting was, but it is sufficient for the reader to get the full picture of what kind of man Archie was.

This is one example of the many stories that will keep the reader engaged with this book. The narration of the audiobook was also noteworthy in that Telles never seemed to get too excited during action passages, nor too emotional during down times. That was important to the overall enjoyment of this book as the book as a whole was very much pro-Moore and there were very few negative aspects about him mentioned, whether the discussion was his personal or professional life. While that itself may not be bad, at times that can feel like simply a long promotional publication for the particular fighter. Fortunately, this was not the case here and readers who wish to learn more about Archie Moore will find this book will contain a lot of good information.

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[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Archie Moore’s life was remarkable enough that a simple chronology of its events in the hands of an imaginative reader would be enough to spellbind. To that extent, Fitzgerald does a commendable job of removing himself from the narration, letting Moore, those who knew him, and perhaps most importantly, the facts, speak for themselves. One puts down this book feeling informed, and intimately so because of the effort Fitzgerald put into his research and the time he spent with Moore.

As a piece of writing, however, “The Ageless Warrior…” falls short of the standard set by boxing writers like McIlvanney, Schulian, and Liebling. Granted, those were newsmen not tasked with biography, though their ability to breath life into the details, to craft a story out of them, made biographers of them all. There is no crime in failing to reach such literary heights, and Fitzgerald may be well-served in not daring fly too close to the sun. Still, there is a flatness to his prose that threatens to disengage, or encourage careless reading.

“The Ageless Warrior…” is interesting and informative, but it falls short as a piece of art (and we shouldn't assume it ever aspired to be considered one). Thankfully, its subject did not.

For biography as art see Ray Monk’s, “Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius.”