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On Second Thought Moore Is Most Unusual Fellow By BARNEY NAGLEIt NEW YORK, N. Y., June 24. Theres no getting away from Archie Moore, not yet. The man who is to challenge Rocky Marciano in September is much too compelling a citizen to be dismissed in column length. It will take days and days to assess him. Even then hell remain a well-deep secret, a semi-mysticwho doesnt permit others to know what hes thinking. He insists the eyes are the mirrors of the soul. His are opaque. He is at once complex and simple, a story-teller and a tight-mouth, a music lover and a ring savage, a man who says many things in conversation, but who leaves only a first impression, valuable in a photographic way, but something less than permanent. "I dont want to fight Marciano for money because I never had it and Ill never miss it. What. I want is the championship," he says on one hand. On the other, "I aint gonna fight him exactly for nothing, you can bet on that." "What does this establish about Moores psyche. No head-shrinker being available, an amateur might conclude that the ancient one is capable of an ambivalence that stands him in good stead His ability to talk fast when he has to permits him to get the drop on his auditor. His laconic way gives him the same ad-. vantage. He wins coming .or going. It is this way in the ring as well, as it was against Bobo Olson Wednesday night, when Moore gave at least the first round to Olson, and possibly the second, because he was simply getting the drop on Olson, casing the joint, so to speak, before pulling the job. He is a patient man, to be sure, as established by the 19 years he has spent in the ring, a gypsy on the trail, chasing little pots of gold at the end of minor league rainbows, never quite sure where his next fight was coming from, if ever, and secure in the opinion that he was as good as they come and that hed get the big chance eventually. The kind of friends he makes, thats an indication of the kind of man he is. His friend and sponsor, Bob Reese, a Ford dealer out in Toledo, is a friend in point. Reese is a reasonably wealthy man, a stalwart of the community, a colleague of Mike DiSalle, once mayor of Toledo, later OPA administrator and, more recently, unsuccessful candidate for the U. S. Senate. When Moore met the press Thursday afternoon, Reese and DiSalle were present, leading the cheers for their man, Reese explaining that Moore was no sucker. "He could have been a great doctor and a great lawyer," Reese said, "had he the chance. Hes not a typical boxer, but talks intelligently. Hes real popular in Toledo, could be the mayor out there." Moore came upon Reese years ago, when the gypsy was on a tour, fighting the Alabama Kid in Toledo. "He came into the place wanting to buy a second-hand car," Reese recalled. "He picked out a Plymouth for 28, but had only 00. I gave him the car, he owed me 8. You know, I dont think Ive ever collected, but it was the start of a good friendship. "He comes around to the farm to shoot squirrels and cut the grass for us, and when its the birthday of my little daughter, Jackie, he never forgets to send her a card." "And he sends her dolls from wherever he is," said Bob Reese, Jr., the auto mans sonv "Hes a most unusual fellow."
