In December,1958, the light-heavyweight boxer, Archie “Old Mongoose” Moore fought the rugged French Canadian, Yvon “The Fighting Fisherman” Durelle in one of the most memorable fights of all time. Moore, by the way, was only 3 days away from his 45th birthday.
In a classic fight that boxing fans must see to believe, the tough 29 year old French Canadian, Yvon “The Fighting Fisherman” Durelle, knocked down Archie Moore an incredible three times in the first round with brutal shots and appeared to be on his way to certain victory. However, Moore just made it to his feet each time and somehow managed to weather the storm and survive the round. Then, incredibly, he began to work his way back ever-so-slowly. But Durelle pounced on the Mongoose for four more rounds, viciously knocking down Archie Moore again in the 5th round. Still, the “Old Mongoose” would not quit. No matter how hard the shots were, each time Archie Moore got back up.
Durelle then became visibly discouraged by Archie’s firm resolve. Now it was Archie Moore who slowly began to take control of the fight from the extremely tough challenger. Moore knew every trick in the book and used each one of them to come back from the verge of defeat. Durelle finally went down in the seventh. And then again in the tenth round. The “Old Mongoose” then settled it once and for all in the eleventh round when he knocked down Durelle, as the crowd watched in disbelief. This classic fight defined the words “comeback” as well as the will to never give up.
Perhaps, like Archie Moore, you may feel like you’ve been knocked down time and time again. However, we need to get back up and show the enemy that we are more determined than he is. We need the firm resolve to win, no matter what the cost.
As II Corinthians 4:8-9 states, “We are pushed hard from all sides. But we are not beaten down. We are bewildered. But that doesn’t make us lose hope. Others make us suffer. But God does not desert us. We are knocked down. But we are not knocked out.” (New International Reader’s Version)
Just remember that, as a Christian, God is “in your corner” and if you will just get back up with a firm resolve to not quit, you will win the fight.
As Les Brown says, “If you can look up, you can get up”. So pick yourself off from the mat and get back up! We win!
1 http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=1503&more=1
2 http://www.fightkings.com/lategreats.htm
