Boxing’s Greats of the States | Oregon: Denny Moyer

Boxers come from every corner of the globe. Sometimes, fighters are products of their environment, favoring styles prevalent in the country or state from which they hail. Various regions of the United States are considered factories for great fighters, though that certainly is not the case with each state. In this weekly Sherdog.com series, the spotlight will shine on the best boxer of all-time from each of the 50 states. Fighters do not necessarily need to be born in a given state to represent it; they simply need to be associated with it.

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Oregon may not have the richest history when it comes to boxing, but Denny Moyer certainly stood out in a small crowd.

Moyer captured the vacant WBA super welterweight crown by outpointing Joey Giambra on Oct. 20, 1962 and then added the WBC championship to his collection by doing the same to Stan Harrington a few months later. He surrendered his titles in a split decision loss to Ralph Dupas in 1963, lost his rematch to Dupas and did not get another crack at a belt until March 1972, when he came up short against an all-time great middleweight in Carlos Monzon.

The Moyer resume features wins over hall of famers “Sugar” Ray Robinson, Emile Griffith and Tony DeMarco. Though he lost 10 of his final 16 bouts, the Portland native retired with a stellar record of 98-38-4, with 25 KOs. Moyer died at the age of 70 on June 30, 2010.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Steve Forbes, Thad Spencer, Ray Lampkin