The Mongoose! Archie Moore! Here is the Ring's justification.
Rocky Marciano fans will be aghast at our choice, which is understandable. The late heavyweight champion finished his career with a record of 49-0 (43 knockouts), which speaks for itself. Plus, he beat Moore head to head. The problem is this: Marciano’s overall body of work is inferior to that of the Old Mongoose. Marciano successfully defended the heavyweight title only six times before retiring prematurely at 32. And he beat only two truly elite fighters, Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles (twice each). Joe Louis was badly faded when he was stopped by Marciano in 1951. Meanwhile, Moore fought and beat some of the best fighters ever in a remarkable 28-year career, in which he scored an all-time record number of knockouts.
As much as I admire the Rock, I agree with this. Moore went 14-10 against HOFers. Six of those losses were to heavyweight champions Ezzard Charles, Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali and of course Rocky Marciano.
The honorable mentions were Marciano, Floyd Mayweather Junior, Terrible Terry McGovern, Jimmy McLarnin and Carlos Monzon. They only pick five and I wish Erik Morales had gotten a mention.
The footage they show of the Durelle fight doesn't show the incredible heart of Archie Moore. This one is better. Ask yourself how the heck Moore got up from that first knockdown at the one minute mark to survive. Part of the answer is the ref. The Boston Gob himself, former heavyweight champion Jack Sharkey.
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