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Springfield to Honor Local Boxing Legend

After years of fundraising, a statue will be erected on Saturday by the old South High School in Springfield to honor boxing legend Davey Moore. It marks the 50th year after his death.

Moore was the boxing icon that inspired the Bob Dylan song; "Who Killed Davey Moore?"
 
Moore was born in Springfield.  He used boxing to climb out of Clark County to eventually compete in the Olympics and later become the featherweight champion of the world. After he was knocked out during a fight with Cuban boxer Sugar Ramos in 1963, he died a few days later.

77-year-old Geraldine Moore is his widow. She is pleased that her late husband is getting honored and that 71-year-old Sugar Ramos, who now lives in Mexico City, will attend the ceremony.

"Sugar Ramos and I, when we saw each other after the fight was over, it was a very sad time for him and was a very sad time for me," says Geraldine Moore. "And we parted as friends not as enemies."

Moore's death put the sport of boxing in a negative light.  Even Pope John XXIII called for an end to boxing, but Geraldine Moore says that's how her husband supported his family.

"People are asking me about the song that Bob Dylan wrote, 'Who Killed Davey Moore', and what did I think about and how did I feel about it? I know one thing; nobody killed Davey Moore. Davey Moore died, it was a very tragic accident, and so you can't blame anyone for that."

Public and private donors raised the $90,000 needed to fund the sculpture project. After the ceremony on Saturday, Ramos plans to put a wreath on Moore's grave.