top of page
Search

Sugar Ray Robinson Loses Unanimous Decision to Denny Moyer at the Garden

Feb. 18, 1962 - Ten rounds is a long way for a 41-year-old boxer to go against a target that fights back relentlessly. This was painfully obvious, especially to Sugar Ray Robinson, as he was beaten by young Denny Moyer at Madison Square Garden last night. The decision was unanimous. The 22-year-old Moyer thus avenged a setback administered by the former welterweight and middleweight champion at the Garden last Oct. 21. Moyer brought no extraordinary equipment for the task, merely the quick reflexes and the irreverence for elders characteristic of his generation. Robinson spent a good deal of time going backward in futile efforts to elude his tireless assailant. At no time did either man appear seriously hurt. But Moyer’s stiff lefts to the head clearly jolted Sugar Ray once or twice in every round. At other times, when the fighters met in the center of the ring for close-in work, it was Sugar Ray’s head that snapped back more often. Also, he was invariably the first to back away. Was this the end of the line for the man who had held the 160-pound title 5 times? “I have no retirement plans,” Sugar Ray said after the bout. “I’ll have to think it over.”

bottom of page