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(Continued from Page
One)
_
Out to become the first light
heavyweight champion ever to
ascend to the heavyweight throne,
Archie gave it all he had in the
beginning when he floored Marci-
ano for a four count in the second
round with a right to the jaw.
_
"I blacked out just a second,"
said Rocky. "But I snapped out of
it."
_
For a while it looked as if the
crowd of 61,574, which contributed
a handsome $948,117 gate in the
Yankee Stadium, was going to see
an astonishing upset.
_
Rocky blinked his eyes. It was
only the second time in his career
that he had been floored, and a
worried expression appeared on
his face, just as it did when Wal-
cott decked him in their first fight.
_
Archie went after the the champ
with another right to the jaw but
Rocky's head was clear now and
he moved in close. Archie's big
moment was gone even though he
had Rocky bleeding from the nose
and bruised under the left eye be-
fore the hectic round was over.
_
In the third Rocky established
his pattern of victory. He started
maneuvering the crafty Moore to
the ropes and ripped him in close
with both hands.
_
There was a slight cut over
Rocky's left eye and blood dripped
from Rocky's nose, but that only served
to spur him on. Try as he would
from then on, Archie couldn't get
away from the rope traps Rocky
set for him with his bulling drives.
_
Rocky was ready for the kill in
the ninth and everyone in the park,
including Moore, knew it had to
happen. Rocky forced his game
foe to the ropes and let loose with
everything he had. Moore, his back
to the ropes in his own corner,
somehow found strength to fire two
hard shots to Rocky's jaw. Then
it happened. A short, perfectly
timed left hook thudded against
Archie's jaw and he crumpled in
his corner, a soggy left mitten over
one rope.
_
It was all over. Archie went the
way he wanted to if he had to
go - counted out. He said:
_
"When the doctor (Dr. Vincent
Nardiello) asked me if I wanted
to quit (after the eighth round) I
said no champion should lose ex-
cept in the center of the ring. I'm
happy it ended the way it did. I
wouldn't want to lose sitting in a
corner."
_
The defeat ended Moore's win-
ning streak of 21 and was the fifth
time he had been kayoed in a
career of 145 fights. It was Mar-
ciano's 49th victory in a perfect
record that included 43 knockouts.
_
Moore still had his 175-pound
title and a $241,187 purse - the
largest of his career. Rocky, too,
earned his fattest check. He will
receive $482,374.
_
The theater telecast earned an
approximate $1,125,000, of which
$350,000 went into the International
Boxing Club coffers to be shared
with the fighters. Radio added an-
other $35,000.
_
Marciano, only a quarter pound
heavier than Moore at 188 3/4, en
tered the ring as an almost pro-
hibitive 4-1 favorite.
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