Rocky Marciano vs Archie Moore (Rocky's last career fight) official on-site 40 page programme, 20th September 1955, Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York.


Condition very good (some small marks and slight creasing on front cover and the undercard bouts have been lightly scored in pencil)

Marciano W KO 9
* At the time of this fight, Moore was announced with a record of 120-19-5.
* Moore floored Marciano in the 2nd round for a two-count, but was knocked down five times himself.
* Marciano's last career fight. He retires with a record of 49-0.

Price: £265

Rocky Marciano Tribute

To define Rocky Marciano's career, one only needs to know: 49-0. That is it. Forty-nine fights, forty-nine wins. Marciano is the only world champion to complete his career undefeated.

Marciano had a 12-fight amateur career during which he won the New England Golden Gloves title before losing to Coley Wallace in the Eastern Championships. It would be his last defeat inside a boxing ring.

Marciano turned pro with a third-round knockout over Lee Epperson on March 17, 1947 in Massachusetts. A 5-10 and 185 pounds, Marciano was smaller and slower than most heavyweights. But he had power, desire and a solid chin.

Marciano first made an impact on boxing in 1950 when he decisioned Roland LaStarza, also an unbeaten heavyweight prospect. LaStarza is just one of three men to have gone the distance with The Rock. (Don Mogard and Ted Lowry are the other two.) A year later, Rocky knocked out comebacking former heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who was 37.

That bout led to a title fight atainst 38-year-old champion Jersey Joe Walcott. Marciano overcame a first-round knockdown to win the title on a 13th-round knockout in 1952. The rematch lasted one round, as Marciano scored the 11th first-round stoppage of his career.

Rocky defended the title successfully against LaStarza and Don Cockell and also posted a pair of exciting victories over former champion Ezzard Charles. In the final fight of his career, Marciano recovered from an early knockdown and dropped light heavyweight champion Archie Moore three times en route to a ninth-round knockout. Back pain forced Marciano into retirement.

One day before his 46th birthday, on August 31, 1969, Marciano died tragically in a plane crash near Newton, Iowa. He was en-route to a birthday party.







Archie Moore fought for an incredible 27 years and knocked out more opponents --141 victims -- than anyone else in the history of boxing. He became the light heavyweight champion at the age of 39 and is the only man to have fought both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali.

Moore, who turned pro in 1936, debuted in the world rankings as a middleweight in the early 1940s. By 1945, Moore moved up to light heavyweight and although he was continually passed over for a title shot, he remained a fixture in the 175-pound rankings. Finally, in 1952, four days after his 39th birthday, Moore secured a shot against light heavyweight champion Joey Maxim. He won the title by decision and held onto it for nearly a decade.

In 1955, Moore attempted to win the heavyweight title from Rocky Marciano. Although he dropped Marciano early in the fight, Marciano rallied and stopped Moore in the ninth round. A year later, after Marciano retired, Moore met Floyd Patterson for the vacant heavyweight crown but was stopped in five.

Although he fell to bigger men, Moore was nearly unbeatable at light heavyweight. He made nine title defences and engaged in memorable contests with Maxim, Yvon Durelle and Harold Johnson. In his first fight with Durelle, the Canadian challenger dropped more three times in the first round and once in the fifth round. But Archie responded by dropping Durelle in the seventh and knocking him out in the 11th round.

Moore would eventually be stripped of the light heavyweight title by the NBA and the New York State Athletic Commission. So he simply continued to battle bigger men. He knocked out former Olympic heavyweight champion Pete Rademacher in 1961 and was stopped by Ali in 1962. Moore's age is listed as 49 at the time of the Ali fight, but some ring experts insist he was actually older since his date of birth has been disputed. Moore retired after one fight a third-round TKO of Mike DiBiase in 1963.

All totaled, Moore fought nine world champions and seven Hall-of-Famers. He had multi-fight series with some of the game's top fighters. He won four of five fights from Jimmy Bivins and Harold Johnson, he won all three fights against Maxim and lost all three of his fights against Ezzard Charles.

Moore remained active in boxing as a trainer. He once worked with a young Ali and later with heavyweight champion George Foreman.