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Davey Moore vs. Roberto Durán
Date	June 16, 1983
Venue	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBA super welterweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer
Boxer	Davey Moore
Nickname	Sensational
Hometown	The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Pre-fight record	12–0 (9 KO)
Age	24 years
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	154 lb (70 kg)
Style	Orthodox
Recognition	WBA; Super Welterweight Champion; The Ring; No. 3 Ranked Light Middleweight
Result
	Durán wins via TKO in the eighth round

Davey Moore vs. Roberto Durán was a professional boxing match contested on June 16, 1983, for the WBA super welterweight title.^[2]

Background

In January 1983, former welterweight champions Roberto Durán and Pipino Cuevas met in a non-title bout at the LA Sports Arena. Durán dominated the fight and scored a fourth-round knockout victory that put him in line for a title shot against the undefeated reigning WBA super welterweight champion Davey Moore.^[3] Despite Durán's impressive victory, he was still perceived to be on the downside of his career having lost to little-known Kirkland Laing only nine months prior and the 23-year old Moore expressed doubt that the soon-to-be 32-year old Durán would be a match for him, infamously stating "Was that Duran looking so good or Cuevas so bad?"^[4]

The fight was originally scheduled to take place on May 27 in Bophuthatswana, South Africa with a Ray Mancini–Kenny Bogner WBA lightweight title fight as the co-main event, but the event was cancelled after Mancini was forced to pull out with a fractured collarbone.^[5] Two weeks later, the Moore–Durán fight was rescheduled for June 16 (Durán's 33rd birthday) at Madison Square Garden in Moore's native New York City.^[6] Durán underwent a rigorous training schedule with his longtime trainer Ray Arcel proclaiming "Right now, he looks better than I've seen him in several years" while Durán himself stated "What will beat Moore is not only my experience, but my conditioning. If I had to pick between them, I would say my conditioning."^[7] Durán admitted that a loss to Moore would possibly lead to his retirement saying "If I lose, I'll probably retire, but I'm not thinking about losing the fight. I'm stronger, more mature, more experienced and I'm training more seriously than at any time in my career."^[8]

Moore had successfully defended his title three times, defeating all three opponents by knockout and was installed as 5–2 favorite by oddsmakers and was confident in his ability to defeat his opponent claiming that Durán "over the hill but he still has his name and beating him will take me to the big money fights. I don't expect a very long fight, it might even be over in a round."^[9]

The fight

Durán started the fight aggressively and controlled most of the fight from there on. At the end of the first round Durán threw a jab that Moore attempted to dodge, but the thumb of Durán's glove instead inadvertently poked Moore in his right eye, injuring it immediately and hindering Moore throughout the rest of the fight. Durán continued to be the aggressor in the second round and bloodied Moore's nose with a straight right. Durán slowed his attack during the third and fourth rounds allowing Moore to become the aggressor but Durán still boxed affectively and Moore's right eye was almost entirely shut and he was now also bleeding from his lip by the end of the fourth. Finally, after dominating Moore over the entire fight, Durán sent Moore down to the canvas with 15 seconds left in the seventh round. Clearly hurt, Moore was able to get up at the count of eight and was saved by the bell, though he was so dazed he went to Durán's corner rather than his own and had to be directed by the referee to get to his own. To start the eighth Moore tried to clinch Durán, but Durán was able to free himself and continued to punish Moore's head and body. After two minutes of Durán landing punches at will and with Moore offering little offensively or defensively and his face bloodied and both eyes almost shut, Moore's trainer Leon Washington threw a blood-soaked white towel in the ring to signify surrender, but referee Ernesto Magaña did not acknowledge it causing Top Rank executive Jay Edison to enter the ring leading to the fight being stopped and Durán was named the winner by technical knockout.^[10]

Aftermath

Duran became just the 7th fighter in boxing history to win world titles in three weight divisions.

Fight card

Confirmed bouts:^[11]

Weight Class	Weight		vs.		Method	Round	Notes
Super Welterweight	154 lbs.	Roberto Durán	def.	Davey Moore (c)	TKO	8/15	^{Note 1}
Super Lightweight	140 lbs.	Alfredo Escalera	def.	Gene Hatcher	UD	10/10
Middleweight	160 lbs.	Luis Resto	vs.	Billy Collins Jr.	NC	10/10

^Note 1 For WBA Super Welterweight title

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
Australia	Seven Network
Canada	Superchannel
Mexico	Televisa
Philippines	MBS 4
United Kingdom	ITV
United States	CBS

References

^ "Boxing ratings through May as released by The Ring magazine". Beaver Country Times. New York: The Ring Magazine. 15 June 1983. p. C3. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
^ "Davey Moore vs. Roberto Duran". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 11 September 2024.
^ Duran Is Winner Over Cuevas in 4th, NY Times article, 1983-01-31, Retrieved on 2024-05-12
^ Duran, Lighter, Enjoys It More, NY Times article, 1983-02-01, Retrieved on 2024-05-12
^ WBA lightweight champion Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini suffered a..., UPI article, 1983-04-28, Retrieved on 2024-05-14
^ Moore-Duran in Garden, NY Times article, 1983-05-12, Retrieved on 2024-05-14
^ Duran's Heart and Stomach Ready For Fight with Moore, NY Times article, 1983-06-13, Retrieved on 2024-05-14
^ Duran seeks third title against unheralded champion, UPI article, 1983-06-11, Retrieved on 2024-05-15
^ Duran seeks third title against unheralded champion, UPI article, 1983-06-11, Retrieved on 2024-05-15
^ He That Was Lost Has Been Found, Sports Illustrated article, 1983-06-27, Retrieved on 2024-05-15
^ "BoxRec - event".

Preceded by vs. Gary Guiden	Davey Moore's bouts 16 June 1983	Succeeded by vs. Monte Oswald
Preceded by vs. José Cuevas	Roberto Durán's bouts 16 June 1983	Succeeded by vs. Marvin Hagler