ANY BOY CAN: The Archie Moore Story

by Archie & Leonard Pearl Moore ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 19, 1971

The boxing game has been fun in spite of the hardships and heartbreaks,"" says Archie (the Mongoose) Moore, former light-heavyweight titleholder and still world's KO champion (140), in this sincere but choppy, rambling autobiography punched out with the help of Lenny Pearl whom Moore calls ""my good 'write' arm."" For all his explosive power as a fighter, Archie Moore lacked the charisma of an Ali or Joe Lewis; even so there were some nifty bouts, for example when he took the title from Joey Maxim in 1952 or the thrilling Marciano fight when ""I had come within seconds of becoming the heavyweight champion, but close only counts in horseshoes."" Yet the way up the ""slippery glass mountain"" to boxing fame was not so trying as his personal difficulties: reform school at an early age, a broken marriage, a contest with peritonitis which nearly knocked him out for good, etc. It was perhaps this history of bad breaks which motivated Moore after his retirement from the ring in 1963 to start the Any Boy Can program, a Boy Scout-type project which combines quasi-military training in self-defense with the teaching of Christian moral and religious values, an effort which has earned Moore an Uncle Tom label in some quarters. He spends quite a bit of time here spreading the good word about ABC and extolling law and order, the Golden Rule (""This is beautiful""), and the Scriptures -- none of which will help his image with the militants of his race but it does form the most trenchant part of this life story. Otherwise in need of smelling salts.

Pub Date: Nov. 19, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Prentice-Hall

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION