Ralph Dupas’ New Orleans Boxing Rise
By the time Ralph Dupas fought for a world title in New Orleans, he had already been a professional for thirteen years and had boxed more than a hundred times. The hometown crowd at Municipal Auditorium saw the fluent, quick-footed veteran deliver the defining night of his career. On April 29, 1963, Dupas outpointed Denny Moyer over fifteen rounds to become the WBA and WBC junior middleweight champion.
A long road to the title
Born in New Orleans in 1935, Dupas turned professional at fourteen. Trainer Angelo Dundee saw him fight as a teenager and took him to Miami, where the young Louisianan learned to sharpen his timing and movement against experienced opposition. Dupas became known as a clever boxer, difficult to pin down and quick to score. He fought across lightweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight, building a record through a punishing schedule.
The Moyer victory came in Dupas’s 123rd bout. He beat the champion again in their June rematch in Baltimore, this time defending the belts on points. The reign was brief: Italy’s Sandro Mazzinghi stopped Dupas in the ninth round in September, then won their December rematch in Sydney. Dupas had lost the championship, but the New Orleans title night remained his signature achievement.
A New Orleans boxing original
Dupas continued fighting until 1966. His career stretched across more than 130 bouts and included world title challenges against Joe Brown and Emile Griffith before the championship finally came at home. He was later inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. Dupas’s story is not a tidy rise without setbacks; it is a long, hard apprenticeship that brought a world championship back to the city where he began.
Sources: 64 Parishes historical biography; Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame profile; BoxRec career record. Read more boxing profiles.
Sources
Article Tags
Ralph Dupas, Boxing, Boxing History, Championship Boxing
