Archie Moore vs. Alejandro Lavorante ~ March 30, 1962

World Heavyweight Elimination Bout

Friday ~ March 30, 1962

Sports Arena ~ Los Angeles, California

Archie Moore vs. Alejandro Lavorante

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The Skinny

"The Young Gaucho vs. The Old Man"

Alejandro Lavorante {Age; 25 years, 5 months} would be involved in his most important fight of his career.

Alejandro had a record of 19-2-0 {15 KO's}, and was now ranked #4 Ring Magazine. The young, athletic
and handsome Argentinian was regarded as one of the Top 'hitters' in the Heavyweight Division.

Both of Alejandro's '2' Decision losses were 'disputed' and highly debatable, and both were in the other fighter's
hometown.

Alejandro had a busy year in 1961, with '11-Bouts, going 10-1-0 {8 KO's}.

The tall and lanky Argentinian was coming off an 'impressive' win {KO 2} over dangerous 'Philadelphia Bomber' -
Von Clay 3-Months earlier {December 29, 1961}.

Paul 'Pinky' George {Manager} >
"This fight will give us 'National' recognition. A win, and we're home-free for a Championship bout. Even a loss
will not hurt Alex. He's the most exciting Heavyweight fighter out there."

"Alex has been working hard. He's out at 6:00 AM every morning running. He will 'end' Archie's career by
stopping him. It will be by a Knockout."

The 10-Rounder was billed as a Heavyweight Elimination Bout.

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Tale Of The Tape

Alejandro Lavorante
Nickname... 'Alex' ~ 'Lavo' ~ 'Cobra'
Age........... 25 years, 5 months
Height....... 6' 3 1/2"
Reach........ 73"
Weight....... 211 lbs.
Record....... 19-2-0 {15 KO's}
Rank.......... #4 NBA / #4 Ring Magazine

Archie Moore
Nickname... 'The Mongoose' ~ 'The Old Man'
Age............ 45 years, 8 months
Height........ 5' 11"
Reach......... 75"
Weight........ 197 lbs.
Record........ 188-22-9 {128 KO's}
Rank........... * Light Heavyweight ~ 'Ring Magazine'

The Odds-Makers had the bout set with Archie Moore as a 6-5 Betting-Favorite.

Jack Kearns {Advisior for Archie Moore}
"I expect Archie to come in around 192 lbs. The man is 'ageless' {45 years, 8 months}. He'll lure this kid in,
and take him apart. We're not worried about his height or power. He doesn't have the experience yet, and
that will be his downfall."

Archie Moore >
"He's got youth, but that will work against him. He'll have a lot of energy early, but he'll wear down. I've
seen him fight before, and he usually gasses out after 5-Rounds."

"After this fight, I'll probably drop back down to 175 lbs. {Light-Heavyweight} and defend my Title against
NBA Middleweight Champion - Gene Fullmer. Then I'll go after the Heavyweight Championship."

Archie Moore, a boyhood hero of mine, was a great fighter, scrappy, hard nosed, experienced (beyond belief by today's standards), excellent all around boxing skills, very intelligent, with enough heart for five fighters, and always a gentleman in and out of the ring.
A spiffy dresser too.

Archie Moore

The Skinny,

Archie had last fought 5-Months earlier {October 23, 1961}, when he stopped TKO 6 Pete Rademacher
in Baltimore, Maryland.

Over the past 5+ Years, 'Old Man Archie' had gone 23-1-1 {13 KO's}, and had not shown
any signs of slowing down.

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The Skinny

Archie Moore and Alejandro Lavorante signed for this fight on January 20, 1962.

This gave both fighters ample time {9+ Weeks} to prepare for their March 30, 1962 bout
at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles.

Archie stated that he would come in at 192 lbs.

Alejandro was projected to come in at 208 lbs.

Archie would bring with him >
Experience, skills, and cagey defense, along with his 'Bag-of-Tricks'. There was a question about his age, and lack of proper conditioning.

'The Mongoose' would be giving up youth, size, speed and power to his Argentinian opponent.

Alejandro was involved in an intense Training Camp, where he would box 7-Rounds per Day for 9-Weeks, totaling over 400-Rounds.

Alejandro would have the big advantage in >
Youth, size, speed and power - but would be giving up a lot in experience, natural skills and defense.

Friday ~ March 30, 1962

Sports Arena ~ Los Angeles California

Attendance ....... { 13,552 }
Gate Receipts ... { $122,678 }

The Fight

In Round 1, Alejandro came out to Center-Ring and unleashed '2' left-jabs. Archie blocked one, and slipped the other. Despite
being {6' 3 1/2} and having a 4 1/2" Height advantage over Archie, it was Archie who had the longer Reach advantage {75" to 73"}.

Alejandro then tried a left-hook, and missed as Archie slipped the punch. Archie then countered with a hard left-hook to Alejandro's chest.
Alejandro look 'perplexed' and took '2' steps backwards, as he could not believe that he missed with all his punches on a 'open' Archie Moore.

Archie then spent the rest of the Round moving in low, and countering with left-hands to Alejandro's chest area. Late in the Round, Alejandro
tried to move inside and opened up, but he was met by sneak right-hand 'Bop' to the chest than had him backing up.

In Round 2, Archie set the 'tempo' by using stiff left-hands into Alejandro's mid-section. Each time that Archie moved in close, he would then
tie up Alejandro in knots. Archie then added a steady variety of punches into Alejandro's body.

In Round 3, Archie continued to frustrate Alejandro with inside mauling and by landing body punches. By Rounds end, Alejandro looked
completely frustrated, as he could not penetrate Archie's cross-handed defense.

Thru 3-Roonds, it wall Archie Moore {3-0-0 in Rounds}.

In Round 4, Alejandro was more successful, as he let his left-jab go. Archie was content to lay back and counter, while looking to drop in
a sneak-right 'Bop'.

Midway thru the Round, Alejandro landed a nice 'left-right' and then caught Archie with a solid left-hook just under his left-eye which
caused a bruise. As Archie tried to come forward, Alejandro landed a 'jarring' right-hand to the jaw that shook Archie.

But Alejandro did not follow up, and let Archie recover.

In Rounds 5 and 6 >
The action was fairly 'even' over the first 2-Minutes. But Archie was the better man over the last 30-Seconds of each Round, as Alejandro
looked a bit tired at the Bell. Archie closed at each Round by working Alejandro's thin-body with a steady flow of left-hands and right-hands
to the chest.

Scoring at the end of Round 6
* Referee - Tommy Hart ........ 3-2-1 {Even}
* Judge - George Latka ......... 4-1-1 {Archie Moore}
* Judge - Lee Grossman ........ 5-1-0 {Archie Moore}

In Round 7, Alejandro gave his best effort over the first 30-Seconds, and then faded. Archie slowly moved forward and worked Alejandro's
body and upper chest with straight punches. Then Archie backed off, and lured Alejandro in. As a 'tired' Alejandro moved in, Archie countered
with more of his sneak-right hand 'Bops'.

Fredo

Archie Moore 'never' floored Alejandro Lavorante.

The 'truth' is,

In Round 8, Archie started to really whack Alejandro. Archie gave him a thorough thrashing in this Round, and had
Alejandro bewildered and completely flustered at the mid-way point in the session.

By the end of Round 8, Alejandro was thoroughly whipped and looked exhausted.

In Round 9, Archie pounded Alejandro with a relentless body-attack. Alejandro was wobbled several times, and was
getting pounded so bad, that the crowd screamed for the bout to be stopped at the {2:00 Mark}. But late in the Round,
Alejandro made a miraculous rally, and scored with some heavy-punches over the last 20-Seconds, before wobbling
back to his corner completely exhausted at the end of the Round.

At the start of Round 10, Alejandro came out on 'wobbly legs' and was completely exhausted. He should have never
been allowed out for Round 10.

Moments into the Round, Archie landed a few solid shots into Alejandro's mid-section, and backed him up. Then Archie
slowly moved in, and let go with a 'salvo', capped off by a hard right-hand to the Heart that had Alejandro 'out-on-his-feet'.

Then Archie landed a hard left-uppercut to Alejandro's chin that spun him into the Ropes where he sagged.

Referee - Tommy Hart jumped in and stopped the bout at {0:38} of the Final Round.

It went down as a TKO 10.

Fight Purses >

Archie was guaranteed $35,000 against 35% of the Gate Receipts which were $122,678.

Archie walked out with ........ $42,910.

Alejandro Lavorante was to get 25% of the Gate Receipts.

He walked out with ............. $31,555.

Archie Moore after scoring a TKO 10 over Alejandro Lavorante.

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