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DAVEY MOORE vs. Wilfred Benitez
vs. Buster Drayton
vs. Roberto Duran
vs. Gary Guiden
vs. Ayub Kalule
vs. Tadashi Mihara
vs. Kevin Rooney (rds 5,6,7)
vs. Charlie Weir
vs. Buster Drayton
vs. Roberto Duran
vs. Gary Guiden
vs. Ayub Kalule
vs. Tadashi Mihara
vs. Kevin Rooney (rds 5,6,7)
vs. Charlie Weir
Davey Moore Fights on DVD
$24.95
$24.95
Fights in the set include:
SEEMINGLY, THE WORLD Gongs to Davey Moore. The muscular WBA junior middleweight champion is only 23
and on a leave of absence from Manhattan College. But in boxing, 23 is old enough; old enough to have your own
personal photographer; old enough to have your own house; old enough to have a public relations firm represent you.
Moore could have made history in 1980 by becoming the first fighter in New York City's rich boxing history to win five
Golden Gloves titles. But he failed, hotdogging away a victory
In the semifinals. Later that year, he experienced failure again, this time in the Olympic Trials finals. There has been no
failure in the three years since.
Moore may indeed have a cherished place among the best and most decorated young fighters in the game. But
something is missing. Sensational? Davey Moore is nothing less. A superstar? Not yet, but it's coming.
As of January, there were two world champions from New York City, WBA featherweight titlist Juan LaPorte, who
was born in Puerto Rico, and Moore, who is as pure Bronx as Yankee Stadium. Moore fought Gary Guiden in Atlantic
City—a 2%-hour drive from New York—on January 29. The week before the fight, there was not a single newspaper
story in the city sports sections previewing the fight. True, it was also the week before the Super Bowl, and
sportswriters were scarce. But the hometown Jets had been eliminated the week before. Wasn't Davey Moore more
newsworthy in New York City than Don Shula's IQ or John Riggins' eccentricities? Apparently not.
The Times ran a fight story in its Sunday Sports section the morning after the bout. The News and Post, however, didn't
bother to send a reporter. Both papers featured brief wire service stories. Had it been Hearns in Detroit or Hagler in
Boston, it would
have been different.
There is nothing lacking in Davey Moore to explain the void of hype. He is an exciting, offensive fighter and a
personable, intelligent man. What he needs is no great fistic secret. It is something Ali had, something that helped make
Leonard and Hearns and Arguello and Pryor. A superfight. Superfights make superstars. A name. A star to beat up on,
to conquer. Ali-Frazier; Leonard-Duran;- Hearns-Bemitez; Arguello-Mancini; Pryor-Arguello. The names belong
together and will live attached forever in our memories. Moore's title fights have been thrill-a-second brawls. They do
not, however, roll off the tongue. Try them: Moore-Mihara; Moore-Weir; Moore-Kalule; Moore-Guiden. No Moore.
-Then there was Moore-Ayala. No doubt about it, it worked. The names had been linked since Davey Moore and
Tony Ayala Jr. turned pro together as members of NBC's "Tomorrow's Champions" stable in 1981. Moore knocked
out his opponents on 1V and Ayala knocked out his. But Ayala was special; 17 years old, already ringwise, filled with
rage that exploded when he entered the ring: the epitome of the macho Mexican fighting machine.
''NBC gave us the opportunity," said Leon Washington, Moore's manager/ trainer. "But we were in the shadows there
with the Tomorrow's Champions. Ferdie Pacheco [NBC's boxing advisor and analyst] favored everyone else, especially
Ayala. We were glad to get away from that syndrome."
Moore's fourth-round kayo of Guiden was televised by CBS, where, according to Washington, "Davey can receive his
own recognition based on his achievements." But had the blueprint remained in effect, there is little doubt that Moore-
Ayala would have be e n televised in prime time by NBC, probably the network's biggest boxing presentation of 1983.
It would have been a superfight, just what Moore needed. Moore was the champion, Ayala the top contender. When
Moore defended for major bucks in South Africa against Charlie Weir, Ayala's management went to court and secured
an injunction- stopping the fight, based on the contention that their fighter deserved a title shot first. Moore and promoter
Bob Arum received a stay of the injunction, and the bout took place. Moore kayoed Weir with ease, but round one of
Moore-Ayala was judged even.
In November, Ayala returned to the ring after a month of rehabilitation for alcohol and emotional problems and kayoed
Argentina's top-rated Carlos Herrera to secure the WBA's number one ranking. Now there was nothing to stop Moore-
Aya la, the showdown anticipated by everyone in boxing.
What happened, of course, was that nothing turned into something. Ayala was arrested on sexual assault charges in
January and awaits trial. Because of prior legal problems and a 10-year probation in San Antonio for an assault
conviction when he was 16, Ayala's boxing future may be decided by the mercy of the jury that hears his case.
Aya la7 I don't want to go to Rahway Prison [to fight]," Moore said. "Most people thought he was going to bee me, that
he was a savage beast Wherever I went, it was always, 'Dave Moore, yeah! But what about Ayala When you gonna
fight Ayala?'"
''I was shocked when l heard th^l news [of Ayala's arrest],'' sail Washington. "We wanted- that figh badly, just to shut
up the critics."
At this point, Moore-Ayala is little more than a dream fight. But just whe^l it appeared that Moore was destined to co n
t i n u e ba tt I i n g u n i n s p i r i n cha I lengers I Ike G u iden a nd I n Ch u Baek and Kirkland Laing, a new name,
~~ ~ ~ indeed a legend, reappeared and now spotlight on this guy while he was looms in the immediate future. The
coming out to fight. Unfortunately, my name is Duran. Moore-Duran. The Jaw was broken, but I didn't know it. more
you-say it, the better it sounds. ~..~ Sahara ~~ ~~ _ Only hours after Moore stopped ~ timenetworkTV,
considerablelivegat~ Guiden, he attended his victory party at ~ ' "The fight is worth $2 million, with; Bally's Park Place -
Hotel. The party Breast $1 million gross for Davey,'' sat started at 8 p.m., but it wasn't until ~jNashington. "But Davey's
gonna blot 10:30 that there was real reason to bairn down. I'm glad Duran looked got celebrate. That was when
Moore- against Cuevas because now whe watched Duran demolish former Davey finishes him off, they can't sa
welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas in Los Angeles. More important, Duran Looked sharp in doing so. The
description used over and over by those who saw the fight was ''the old Duran." The glow in the ring at the Sports
Arena after Duran's win belonged not to the fighter but to Arum, who scrubbed the Moore-Ayala blueprint and recently
unveiled a new one: Moore-Duran and Mancini-Kenny Bogner in Bophuthatswana, South Africa., Big bucks, prime
Duran was completely shot.''
"Duran? I'll take him tonight if he ca fly over here," Moore said while i Atlantic City. Anything beats having 1 fight an in
Chul Baek.
- if Davey Moore knocks out Roberl Duran, it won't matter whether it's i South Africa or Atlantic City or th Bronx Zoo;
the T^jmes a nd the News an the Post and everyone e Ise wi 11 be there Moore-Duran. It has a certain ring to
And so does SuperstarDaveyMoore.
_ ~ . ^.
and on a leave of absence from Manhattan College. But in boxing, 23 is old enough; old enough to have your own
personal photographer; old enough to have your own house; old enough to have a public relations firm represent you.
Moore could have made history in 1980 by becoming the first fighter in New York City's rich boxing history to win five
Golden Gloves titles. But he failed, hotdogging away a victory
In the semifinals. Later that year, he experienced failure again, this time in the Olympic Trials finals. There has been no
failure in the three years since.
Moore may indeed have a cherished place among the best and most decorated young fighters in the game. But
something is missing. Sensational? Davey Moore is nothing less. A superstar? Not yet, but it's coming.
As of January, there were two world champions from New York City, WBA featherweight titlist Juan LaPorte, who
was born in Puerto Rico, and Moore, who is as pure Bronx as Yankee Stadium. Moore fought Gary Guiden in Atlantic
City—a 2%-hour drive from New York—on January 29. The week before the fight, there was not a single newspaper
story in the city sports sections previewing the fight. True, it was also the week before the Super Bowl, and
sportswriters were scarce. But the hometown Jets had been eliminated the week before. Wasn't Davey Moore more
newsworthy in New York City than Don Shula's IQ or John Riggins' eccentricities? Apparently not.
The Times ran a fight story in its Sunday Sports section the morning after the bout. The News and Post, however, didn't
bother to send a reporter. Both papers featured brief wire service stories. Had it been Hearns in Detroit or Hagler in
Boston, it would
have been different.
There is nothing lacking in Davey Moore to explain the void of hype. He is an exciting, offensive fighter and a
personable, intelligent man. What he needs is no great fistic secret. It is something Ali had, something that helped make
Leonard and Hearns and Arguello and Pryor. A superfight. Superfights make superstars. A name. A star to beat up on,
to conquer. Ali-Frazier; Leonard-Duran;- Hearns-Bemitez; Arguello-Mancini; Pryor-Arguello. The names belong
together and will live attached forever in our memories. Moore's title fights have been thrill-a-second brawls. They do
not, however, roll off the tongue. Try them: Moore-Mihara; Moore-Weir; Moore-Kalule; Moore-Guiden. No Moore.
-Then there was Moore-Ayala. No doubt about it, it worked. The names had been linked since Davey Moore and
Tony Ayala Jr. turned pro together as members of NBC's "Tomorrow's Champions" stable in 1981. Moore knocked
out his opponents on 1V and Ayala knocked out his. But Ayala was special; 17 years old, already ringwise, filled with
rage that exploded when he entered the ring: the epitome of the macho Mexican fighting machine.
''NBC gave us the opportunity," said Leon Washington, Moore's manager/ trainer. "But we were in the shadows there
with the Tomorrow's Champions. Ferdie Pacheco [NBC's boxing advisor and analyst] favored everyone else, especially
Ayala. We were glad to get away from that syndrome."
Moore's fourth-round kayo of Guiden was televised by CBS, where, according to Washington, "Davey can receive his
own recognition based on his achievements." But had the blueprint remained in effect, there is little doubt that Moore-
Ayala would have be e n televised in prime time by NBC, probably the network's biggest boxing presentation of 1983.
It would have been a superfight, just what Moore needed. Moore was the champion, Ayala the top contender. When
Moore defended for major bucks in South Africa against Charlie Weir, Ayala's management went to court and secured
an injunction- stopping the fight, based on the contention that their fighter deserved a title shot first. Moore and promoter
Bob Arum received a stay of the injunction, and the bout took place. Moore kayoed Weir with ease, but round one of
Moore-Ayala was judged even.
In November, Ayala returned to the ring after a month of rehabilitation for alcohol and emotional problems and kayoed
Argentina's top-rated Carlos Herrera to secure the WBA's number one ranking. Now there was nothing to stop Moore-
Aya la, the showdown anticipated by everyone in boxing.
What happened, of course, was that nothing turned into something. Ayala was arrested on sexual assault charges in
January and awaits trial. Because of prior legal problems and a 10-year probation in San Antonio for an assault
conviction when he was 16, Ayala's boxing future may be decided by the mercy of the jury that hears his case.
Aya la7 I don't want to go to Rahway Prison [to fight]," Moore said. "Most people thought he was going to bee me, that
he was a savage beast Wherever I went, it was always, 'Dave Moore, yeah! But what about Ayala When you gonna
fight Ayala?'"
''I was shocked when l heard th^l news [of Ayala's arrest],'' sail Washington. "We wanted- that figh badly, just to shut
up the critics."
At this point, Moore-Ayala is little more than a dream fight. But just whe^l it appeared that Moore was destined to co n
t i n u e ba tt I i n g u n i n s p i r i n cha I lengers I Ike G u iden a nd I n Ch u Baek and Kirkland Laing, a new name,
~~ ~ ~ indeed a legend, reappeared and now spotlight on this guy while he was looms in the immediate future. The
coming out to fight. Unfortunately, my name is Duran. Moore-Duran. The Jaw was broken, but I didn't know it. more
you-say it, the better it sounds. ~..~ Sahara ~~ ~~ _ Only hours after Moore stopped ~ timenetworkTV,
considerablelivegat~ Guiden, he attended his victory party at ~ ' "The fight is worth $2 million, with; Bally's Park Place -
Hotel. The party Breast $1 million gross for Davey,'' sat started at 8 p.m., but it wasn't until ~jNashington. "But Davey's
gonna blot 10:30 that there was real reason to bairn down. I'm glad Duran looked got celebrate. That was when
Moore- against Cuevas because now whe watched Duran demolish former Davey finishes him off, they can't sa
welterweight champion Pipino Cuevas in Los Angeles. More important, Duran Looked sharp in doing so. The
description used over and over by those who saw the fight was ''the old Duran." The glow in the ring at the Sports
Arena after Duran's win belonged not to the fighter but to Arum, who scrubbed the Moore-Ayala blueprint and recently
unveiled a new one: Moore-Duran and Mancini-Kenny Bogner in Bophuthatswana, South Africa., Big bucks, prime
Duran was completely shot.''
"Duran? I'll take him tonight if he ca fly over here," Moore said while i Atlantic City. Anything beats having 1 fight an in
Chul Baek.
- if Davey Moore knocks out Roberl Duran, it won't matter whether it's i South Africa or Atlantic City or th Bronx Zoo;
the T^jmes a nd the News an the Post and everyone e Ise wi 11 be there Moore-Duran. It has a certain ring to
And so does SuperstarDaveyMoore.
_ ~ . ^.