SUPERMAN vs ARCHIE MOORE

[HomicideHenry]

TELL THAT TO SUPERMAN COLLINS!!!

[Robinson]

I thought the Poster was one of those you get when you go to
'Dreamland' or 'Movieworld' and they make those fake looking
Wanted posters with your family.

[HomicideHenry]

Why are u guys over looking the fact that this bout almost took place?

[Robinson]

I never said otherwise HH. I just mentioned what the poster looks
like.

IN them days we would get lots of interesting match ups. Reeves
no doubt would have had a good exhibition with Moore much the
same way Jerry Lewis nearly bested Rocky Marciano.

[HomicideHenry]

Reeves had an amateur background and had been training with Gene LeBell to get back into shape for the next season of Superman. I dont think the exhibition would have been a comedy routine, considering it was a mere two rounds and not billed as for the championship, like Marciano/Lewis was. Reeves was an athlete, Lewis wasn't. IMO, the match would be alot like Robinson/Pep were it was more like a sparring session than a serious bout.

Wouldn't mean anything, but interesting none the less.

[Robinson]

Agreed.
Hard to imagine to many actors these days doing anything like that.
Mickey Rourke being the exception, though that was 20 years ago
when we had tough guy action heroes and not metro pretty boys.

[Collins2000]

Reeves had an amateur background and had been training with Gene LeBell

Carl Glass contacted Gene LeBell who put an end to the mystery surrounding whether or not this exhibition bout was ever going to take place. Gene's answer was simple. "I'd never heard of it." These five words speak volumes.

[HomicideHenry]

I'm not saying LeBell knew anything about it. BUT it is true that Reeves and LeBell were friends, had wrestled one another, and that Gene was trying to help Reeves get back into shape. I contacted a man who runs a George Reeves fan site, and he is also friends with Carl Glass, who proved the poster was a fake, and he said that the Moore fight ironically was mentioned in a French newspaper after Reeves death---but he believes that maybe the fight never was going to take place that it was an elaborated effort to try and make studio executives see that George Reeves was an investment more so than as the Superman character.

However, the same man I emailed said he has an article from the 1950's of a man who claimed to have fought George Reeves in the amateurs. I told him if he would be willing to give that information out, that I'd be more than happy to send it to John Shep, so that he could finally put George Reeves down under the category of Actors who once were boxers.

[HomicideHenry]

I just got a book from the library and been doing more in-depth research on the last few months of George Reeves life, and according to the book 'Hollywood Kryptonite: The Bulldog, The Lady and The Death of Superman', it claims that Reeves actually had a series of exhibition bouts planned, Moore only being one of them. It gives a date of July 3rd, 1959 as being an exhibition that was cancelled [was to be held in Pittsburgh], due to low ticket sales. A set of other exhibitions throughout the Midwest had backed out as well. The Moore exhibition, however, was still in the books for taking place that Wednesday night [June 17th] in San Diego.

Not only was George to box exhibitions, it was mentioned he was to also go on the road on the wrestling circuit. It was speculated that it was the wrestling factor, that was the turn off, though many of Reeves closest friends stated that they thought Reeves boxing exhibitions was [and I quote from page 103]: "It was a lousy thing, a carnival act, and it ruined his dignity."

As for his early amateur days, this was said of Reeves:


"[Reeves] is the greatest ring prospect of 1932"

-Mannie Pineta, sportswriter-

"[Reeves] isn't a creme puff, but he doesn't have the killer instinct you need to be a fighter"

-unnamed amateur who sparred with Reeves-

According to Pineta, however, though Reeves had ability, he claims that Reeves never made it into the finals of the Pasadena Golden Gloves because Reeves mother actually paid an ex-pro to beat up Reeves before the match was to take place. Reeves, ever controlled by his mother, gave up his dream of boxing and went into acting instead.