By Jeff Zimmerman
Fightnews.com® sat down with soon to be inducted Hall of Famer Michael Moorer, the former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion of the world. Moorer shared his memories of winning the WBO heavyweight title in 1992 when he stopped Bert Cooper and the upset of Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield in ’94 for his WBA and IBF belts. He also recalled the KO by “Big George” Foreman seven months later, a fight he was dominating through 9 rounds.
Moorer talked about training at the famous Kronk Gym with the late, great Emanuel Steward as an amateur then pro and opened up about his disgust for the business of boxing and the struggles that many fighters face today when their career is over including himself. He also shared insight of the heavyweight division today with thoughts on Fury-Usyk and Joshua-Ngannou plus the light heavyweight clash between Bivol-Beterbiev and much more in this riveting exclusive interview.
Always dig hearing from MM. When you look at his record, what a career!! One of the old-school warriors.
Saw him blast Rogerio Lobo out in person back in the day.
Thought the jump from Light-Heavy straight to Heavyweight might have been too much for him, but he did have a good run there. Very good fighter.
“Soon to be inducted Hall of Famer.” This is the problem with having Hall of Fames–sooner or later, they run out of athletes to induct and they end up with people who have no business being there. Moorer was an exciting light heavy and a decent heavy, but his accomplishments don’t merit the HOF.
Agreed with you.
Moorer could really crack at LH. RJJ moving up and taking him on in 1990-91 would have been something else. He really didn’t beat anyone significant at 175 and although he beat Holyfield(barely), he got obliterated in the rematch. 30 people beat Burt Cooper. He got starched by a Foreman who lost to Tommy Morrison. Got creamed by Tua in 1. Very liberal selection IMO. If him why not Tua? If Tua why not Ibeabuchi? Way too many borderline selections recently.
Yeah, Moorer got wasted by Tua. And Tua could potentially be HOF at some time. But Ibeabuchi? He had a couple of good competitive wins, but a very short career owing to his dubious character and notable criminal behavior. That’s hard to overlook.
That’s what I mean. Tua had some good wins but he’s not a HOFer, Ibeabuchi had some good wins but he’s not a HOFer, Rahman same thing. So Moorer falls into this category. He didn’t accomplish enough at LH to put him over the top. Holyfield would have been a HOFer even if he never moved up to HW. And when he did he accomplished greatness. Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson, Bowe are the only guys from that era (Foreman from his first go around) that belong in the HOF at heavyweight. Ruddock, Morrison, Moorer, Tua, Ibeabuci, Rahman, are all in the second tier. It’s the HOF not the Hall of Very Good.
Ray Mercer actually has a better case than Moorer.
Well moorer was world champion in two divisions, yeah cooper lost quite a few fights but he was close to beating holy field and moorer, and he was rated as a cruiserweight and heavyweight!! And he won two Nabf titles nonetheless, cooper was inducted two two hall of fames, not the biggest one but nice still before he passed.
This interview left me speechless. That was as `raw and honest an interview I’ve heard in quite some time, and I thought Jeff Zimmerman did a great job just letting Michael Moorer speak his mind. There’s no way Michael Moorer should be broke but, as he said, this happens to way to many fighters. I feel him on the manager and promoter stuff; they’re the odious leeches that fester this great sport and are a big part of the problem, as are those POS sanctioning bodies. He definitely deserves the nod to the HOF given his accomplishments and I’m happy he’s getting inducted.
Thanks Sweetness! That was one of the hardest interviews I have ever done! I went in with no expectations and how he opened up like that … hard to describe. Appreciate the note…
Michael Moorer was one of my great personal favorites back then. He managed to take the step from light-heavyweight to heavyweight better than most fighters which proves his greatness.
The fight against Bert Cooper is one of those few must-see-before-you-die classic fights that define an entire decade.
Still, my admiration for Michael Moorer came early when he was in the light heavyweight division, where he is one of perhaps the five greatest ever in my opinion.
Sometimes when I saw him, it felt like he was in two fights at once, one against his opponent, the other against himself.
Anyway, hats off and thanks for all the memories.
He said he was broke. It would be nice if on Youtube there was a link from classic fights to the fighter’s Gofundme page so when you appreciate a fighter and what a fighter did you can make a small donation.
If Moorer elected to box he would have been champ a lot longer but he often settle for phonebooth warefare
If ever there was a fight where styles make fights it was tua moorer
To be indestructible unbeaten and as dangerous as deontay wilder at lt heavy is one thing but then to move up and become the first ever southpaw heavyweight champ was another level
Definite hof
Jeff, you did a fantastic job interviewing Moorer, who is a very tough interview. This was a top notch. It addressed so many important components of boxing. Moorer has such a unique perspective on things and cares deeply about his fellow fighters. Many thanks to you and Michael.
This was an excellent interview. So great to see Moorer. He’s had a great career. Just an intelligent, honest, down-to-earth guy all around, from that unique place called Brooklyn. I’m a big fan of his. His approach to life I greatly admire. He’s right about fighters needing to be taken care of in retirement, and the absurdity of the percentages of money that is taken from the purse by promoters, managers, and trainers. I definitely agree with him about the divisions too. Scrap the Cruiserweight. Just have Light-Heavyweight, Heavyweight, and Super Heavyweight. He belongs in the HOF.
Lexus, Moorer was from the Pittsburgh area, not Brooklyn. I do share Moorer’s opinion about all sanctioning bodies sucking out the blood of the boxers and interest in the sport.
Was he really? Wikipedia says he was born in Brooklyn and raised in Monessen, PA. All the better. Pittsburgh is a magnificent place. That better explains his humble, down-to-earth attitude. Thanks for the correction.
Hey Jeff why not open a go fund me account for double mm fan endorsed retirement account
I will be the first to donate he earned it
M – someone needs to start one for emmanuel augustus.
That dude truly deserves it.
Great interview. It was a difficult conversation – the fact he was LH champ and beat one of the all time greats in the HW Div and was the first southpaw Heavy World Champ must be acknowledged/ merit enough to be in the HOF. Need more interviews like this – honestly and nil bravado.
Interesting inteview. 100 fight veteran Kenny Lane had a different perspective on the size of gloves used. Kenny was of the opinion that smaller gloves were safer in that larger gloves prolonged beatings and therefore an increased amount of head trauma.