Rocky Marciano vs. Archie Moore occurred on September 21,1955 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. The match was for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship which was held by Marciano.^[4]

Rocky Marciano was a sizeable 18-to-5 betting favorite. The attendance at Yankee Stadium was 61,574 and the gross gate of $948,117.95 was the ninth highest in boxing history to that point. The closed-circuit broadcast handled by Theatre Network Television drew an estimated 320,000 fans in 129 locations and 92 cities, accumulating an additional $1,125,000 to the till and lifting Marciano’s take to $482,374 and Moore’s to $241,187, career highs for both.

Following a non-descript first round that saw the crouching Marciano driving in heavy body punches and the turtle-like Moore jabbing out of his shell defense, the challenger created the bout’s first sensation 27 seconds into round two.

Moments after Marciano landed a sweeping hook to the jaw, the champion whiffed on an overhand right that sent him off-balance.

The cagey Moore rolled away from the swing, then fired a straight counter right to the chin that dropped the champ to his knees.

Marciano jumped on Archie Moore like a ravenous piranha and chewed him up with his trademark blockbusters. Moments after taking Moore’s last gasp, a corking right uppercut to the jaw that Marciano took with aplomb, the champion landed a pair of clean concussive hooks that sat Moore down in his corner, his right arm draped over the bottom rope and his left glove grabbing the second strand. Moore, down for the fourth time, tried to haul himself up but his cornerman climbed onto the ring apron and pushed down on his charge’s left shoulder. Lacking the strength to resist, Moore fell to the floor and took the remainder of Kessler’s count.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:19 of the ninth round.

After eight rounds.

Marciano led 5-2-1, 5-3 and 7-1 on the rounds system and sweeping the sixth and eighth rounds.

Even before his seconds could lift Moore onto the stool, Marciano walked over to congratulate his worthy opponent.