[4] In 2019, the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) ranked him as the second best boxer of all time, pound for pound, as well as the second-best featherweight, third-best welterweight, and fifth-best lightweight of all time.[5][6][7][8]. existed; At the beginning, his performance was rather good but not For all the details about Armstrong's world title wins and defenses refer to "Henry Armstrong World Titles". He died of heart failure on October 22, 1988 in Los Angeles. Despite almost blacking out in the 15th round, Armstrong won a split decision to make history. He graduated as an honor student from Vashon High School in St. Louis Later he took the surname Armstrong as his fighting name.Armstrong began his professional career on July 28, 1931, in a fight with Al Iovino, in which Armstrong was knocked out in three rounds. (February 23, 2023). Boxer Star Info Other Info sensational; However, when he hit stride By the time Armstrong graduated from high school at the age of 17, the Great Depression had arrived. After retiring from boxing, Armstrong became an ordained Baptist minister, working with disadvantaged youth. Determined to enter a title fight, Armstrong boldly offered to challenge welterweight champion Barney Ross. In 1949 Armstrong experienced a religious conversion and turned his life around. But 1938 was an even better year for Armstrong, as he took the two more championships. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. www.martialbot.com/boxing/h/henry-armstrong.html. Armstrong lost the fight via 10 round PTS. function act(imgName) { Encyclopedia.com gives you the ability to cite reference entries and articles according to common styles from the Modern Language Association (MLA), The Chicago Manual of Style, and the American Psychological Association (APA). Having competed as a featherweight at 126 pounds, Armstrong had to increase his weight to 138 pounds in order to qualify to fight in the welterweight division. Henry Armstrong had a total of 22 losses in his professional boxing career three of them in title bouts and 19 in non-title bouts. } A victory would have given Armstrong a fourth divisional title at a time when there were only eight weight divisions.Armstrong defended the World Welterweight Championship a division record 19 times. He tried for a fourth world title in middleweight but drew with champion Ceferino Garcia. Henry Jackson was born in Columbus, MS. Jolson offered boxer Petey Sarron $15,000 to defend his featherweight title against Armstrong, and the two boxers met on October 29, 1937, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Armstrong, African American Registry - Biography of Henry Armstrong, BlackPast.org - Biography of Henry Armstrong, International Boxing Hall of Fame - Biography of Henry Armstrong, Henry Armstrong - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). We encourage you to research and examine these records to determine their accuracy. Henry Armstrong was born on August 31 1886. Well aware that his meager pay would never be sufficient to attend college, Armstrong's life changed one day when the sports section of a discarded newspaper landed at his feet. "Latsios spent most of the time retreating before Henry." (Lethbridge Herald) "Nick fought a remarkable fight with his flicking left, back-stepping, hit and run method.Henry was disgusted with his inability to catch the elusive Latsios.In the final frame Armstrong almost scored a knockdown but the wily Nick regained his balance after landing against the ropes." Statistics for all 21 Henry Armstrong results: 61 yrs AVERAGE AGE 40% are in their 40s, while the average age is 61. His father, suffering from rheumatism, struggled to provide for the family. Like his mother, his grandmother hoped that he would pursue a career in the ministry. [14] According to boxing historian Bert Sugar, many commentators of the time said that Armstrong deserved the decision in this fight. Armstrong dedicated the next two years to defending the welterweight crown, beating, among others, Ceferino Garcia, a future World Middleweight Champion, and Bobby Pacho. [12], Armstrong's two nicknames were Hurricane Henry and Homicide' Hank. Because the fight was scheduled for just ten rounds, the fight was recognized as a title fight only by California. His first title came in 1937 when he wrested the Featherweight Championship from Petey Sarron via 6th round. 100% CAUCASIAN Our ethnicity data indicates the majority is Caucasian. The Greatest Boxer of All Time - Henry Armstrong, Says Teddy Atlas - Here's Why He's The GOAT THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas 280K subscribers Subscribe 1.6K Share 74K views 2 years ago. In 1931 Armstrong, accompanied by Harry Armstrong, hopped trains to Los Angeles to restart his amateur career. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Following these two losses, however, he started a streak of 11 wins.In 1936, Armstrong split his time among Los Angeles, Mexico City and St. Louis. He was 27-0 with 26 knockouts in 1937, 14-0 with 10 knockouts in 1938, and 59-1-1 with 51 knockouts from December 1936 to October 1940. Armstrong moved to Los Angeles, where he resumed his amateur status. 1921-1989 Armstrong fought as an amateur from 1929 to 1932. Armstrong and his managers realized that they needed to attract attention away from the rising fame of boxer Joe Louis. However, the fight was so brutal that Armstrong blacked out at the end and could later recall very little of what happened. "Henry Armstrong," Newsmakers 1989, Issue 4. William Henry Armstrong. His father, also named Henry, was a mix of Indian, Irish and black blood. var navcontributeover = new Image(); While successfully defending this welterweight title, Armstrong was also featherweight world champion and defeated Lou Ambers to become world lightweight champion. Armstrong's purses had totaled between $500,000 and $1 million, but most of the money was gone when the Hall of Famer retired at age 32. Armstrong won three world titles at three weight classes. [CDATA[ Upon meeting fight manager Tom Cox at a local gym, Armstrong introduced himself as Harry Armstrong's brother, after which he became known by the name Henry Armstrong. Reading that a boxer named Kid Chocolate received $75,000 for one bout, Armstrong quickly abandoned his railroad job to pursue a career as a boxer. Al Weill, Ambers' manager, was suspended four months for his unsportsmanlike behavior. African-American Sports Greats: A Biographical Dictionary. Up to 1937, Armstrong compiled a record of 52-10. 149-21-9 (100 KO) Armstrong was dynamite in a small package; He was a high pressure, non-stop fighter who threw punches from the beginning to the end of every round; His goal was to knock his man out - if he didn't manage that, he certainly battered him thoroughly. On November 25, 1938 Henry Armstrong defeated Filipino boxer Ceferino Garcia via 15 round unanimous decision. He had fought 26 world title fights and from 1931 to 1945 had fought 175 bouts, winning 97 by knockouts. By his last professional fight on February 14, 1945, Armstrong's boxing record stood at 151-22-10 (100 KO wins, 2 KO losses). He decided not to maintain the required 126-pound weight anymore and left the featherweight crown vacant.[12]. As a child, Henry Jr. moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri, during the early period of the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to industrial cities of the Midwest and North. The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1940. The event is even more special for Davis. Audiobook also available on iTunes here: http://bit.ly/ATLASbook **** THE FIGHT T-SHIRTShttps://teddy-atlas.myshopify.com/TEDDY'S SOCIAL MEDIATwitter - http://twitter.com/teddyatlasrealInstagram - http://instagram.com/teddy_atlasTHE FIGHT WITH TEDDY ATLAS SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram - http://instagram.com/thefightWTATwitter - http://twitter.com/thefightwtaFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheFightwithTeddyAtlasBig thanks to VHS collection for intro music. Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 October 24, 1988) was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. Armstrong first married in 1934. He defeated Bobby Pacho at the Tropical Stadium in Havana, Cuba, in his fourth successful defence. He defended his welterweight title a total of nineteen times.The Ring magazine named him Fighter of the Year in 1937. Hometown: Columbus, MS. Year Induction: 2010. By his last fight, his KO ratio was at 54.6%. WHAT MAKES A GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TITLE? Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisions: featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. He is considered to be one of the greatest boxers who lived on Earth. Although Armstrong was outweighed by at least 15 pounds by Ross, he dominated their fight in Madison Square Garden, pounding the champion unmercifully for 11 rounds. We encourage you to research and examine these records to determine their accuracy. Armstrong fought as an amateur from 1929 to 1932 and first won the featherweight (126-pound) title by knocking out Petey Sarron in six rounds on October 29, 1937. He defended his welterweight title a total of nineteen times. In 1990 his name was added posthumously to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Armstrong was knocked out in the 12-round fight. . Armstrong won the fight, knocking out Sarron in the sixth round, thus earning his first world title as the Featherweight Champion of the World. In 1932, Armstrong moved to Los Angeles, where he lost two four-round decisions in a row to Eddie Trujillo and Al Greenfield. That fight, before 29,088 fans at Yankee Stadium, was another brawl as the fighters pounded each other for 15 rounds. On May 31, 1938, he took the welterweight (147-pound) championship . It began in 1964 when he won the Olym, Moore, Archie Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisions: featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. Armstrong made his professional boxing debut at the age of 18 on July 27, 1931. After 152 victories in 14 years, Armstrong retired in 1945. After losing his first two professional fights in Los Angeles, Armstrong began to consistently win his bouts. Facing Arizmendi once more in August 1936, Armstrong secured his first title as the new featherweight champion, beating Arizmendi so badly that he was forced to take six months off. In defending himself against bullies, he discovered his interest in boxing. He finally did beat Zivic, by decision in 1942, but Zivic was no longer champ. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In 2007, The Ring ranked Armstrong as the second-greatest fighter of the last 80 years. [11], In 1937 alone, Armstrong went 270 (26KO). After a brief third marriage, Armstrong married his fourth wife, Gussie Henry, in 1978. var navpostcardover = new Image(); He grew up in, Frazier, Joe 1944 Its kind of special saying that Im from Columbus, hes from Columbus. The title bout came August 17, 1938, just three months after his fight with Ross, when Armstrong faced lightweight champion Lou Ambers before a packed house of almost 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden. 23 Feb. 2023 . After retiring from boxing, Armstrong became an ordained Baptist minister, working with disadvantaged youth.