Henry Armstrong

Henry Armstrong was born Henry Jackson, on 12th December 1912, in Columbus, Mississippi, USA. Armstrong was born into poverty the youngest of eleven children. When nineteen, the Young fighter left home and travelled to Los Angeles, where he intended to make the big time. His extraordinary work rate was evident early on in his career, as an amateur he travelled the west cost on occasions fighting three or four times a week, by 1931 he was undefeated in 85 contests, 66 of them won inside the distance.

Henry Armstrong would enter the professional ranks in 1931; his nickname was “Hurricane Hank” and “Homicide Hank” due to his non-stop style. He would remain on the fringes for the next couple of years winning the California state title in 1936. The following year would be a busy year for Armstrong. He had twenty-seven bouts, winning all but one inside the distance in a feat that most likely never to be repeated. Hurricane Hank would prove his worthiness of a real title shot by knocking out former champions Mike Belloise and Benny Bass. In October 1937, in New York, Armstrong won the Featherweight title by knocking out Petey Sarron in six rounds.

Making the weight was becoming a problem and Armstrong never defended his featherweight title. Instead of taking the natural rout of stepping up to the next weight, Armstrong skipped the lightweight division to campaign at welterweight. Seven months later, he would win his second world title out pointing Barney Ross to become welterweight king. He then stepped down to the lightweight division and three months later beat Lou Ambers in a savage fifteen round encounter held at Madison Square Garden, New York. Armstrong had won titles in three divisions in a twelve-month period. In addition, with a change to the rules his place in the history books was secure as the first and only man to hold simultaneously three titles from different divisions.

Armstrong decided to concentrate on defending his welterweight title and he did so with great regularity. In October 1939, Armstrong amazingly successfully defended his title five times another feat you could never imagine being repeated in the modern day he once defended the title twice in four days. He also managed to challenge for the middleweight title in a bout he drew with Ceferino Garcia, in 1940. All the wear and tear on Armstrong’s body would finally catch up with him, he would lose his welterweight title in his twentieth defence (the seventh of year), in 1940, when he lost to Freddie Zivic in fifteen rounds, three months later Zivic needed only twelve. Armstrong’s fuel burned out quickly, and by 1940, he had lost all of his titles. However rules had been changed forbidding fighters from holding titles from different divisions simultaneously and at a time when their where only seven divisions; so a jump in weight was greater than it is for today’s fighters. Therefore, Armstrong’s legacy as being the first and only man to simultaneously hold titles from three divisions was intact and cemented into the record books. His fuel indeed burned out quickly but it made a beautiful flame while it lasted.

Henry Armstrong retired in 1945. Like many great champions, he fell in to rapid decline battling a drugs and alcohol addiction, Armstrong would win his final battle with his addiction and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1945, which in turn changed his life. Henry died in Los Angeles in October 1988, aged 75. Henry Armstrong was arguably the greatest ever welterweight and you would be hard pushed to find any list of all time greats were he was not in the top three.