Archie Moore

After the ABC program was opened to female participants, it changed its name to Any Body Can and continued to serve the youth of San Diego through the 1970s. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan appointed Moore to the Project Build program, which brought sports programs to public-housing residents. He was also honored with the Rocky Marciano Memorial Award in 1987. Moore suffered from declining health in the 1990s and underwent heart surgery that took away much of his physical prowess. In late 1998 he fell into a coma for two weeks and died in a San Diego hospice facility on December 10. He was survived by his wife, Joan, and eight children.

For his record of knockout punches—estimated between 129 and 144 knockouts in all—Moore was recognized as one of the greatest boxers the sport had ever seen. Although the number of knockout wins was impressive, most critics agreed with Moore's own claim that he was a consummate boxer who thought on his feet, not just a slugger like Rocky Marciano, Rocky Graziano, or Jake LaMotta, to name just a few of his contemporaries. Moore's career was also notable for its sheer length, lasting for twenty-seven years and including ten years as light-heavyweight champion. Unlike many former champions, Moore found lasting satisfaction in his post-professional days as a trainer and philanthropist. "Here I am, my ring days over, gray and balding, teaching young boys, doing what I can to fight juvenile delinquency, doing what I can to make this a better America for all of us," he wrote in Any Boy Can: The Archie Moore Story. "And when one of my boys makes it big I'm proud of him. I'm happy to have been given the opportunity to help…. That is what I am proudest of."