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Henry Armstrong was born on December 12, 1912 in Columbus, Mississippi. The Mississippi native moved to St. Louis when he was four. He later lived in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, where, after a prolific amateur career, he turned professional because he failed to qualify for the 1932 Olympic squad. Early in his career he boxed under the name of Melody Jackson. 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. On May 31, 1938, he took the welterweight (147-pound) crown from Barney Ross by decision, and on August 17 of that year he defeated Lou Ambers by decision to win the lightweight (135-pound) title. Late in 1938 he resigned the featherweight championship without having defended it, and on August 22, 1939, he lost the lightweight crown in a 15-round return fight with Ambers. Armstrong was a busy welterweight champion, successfully defending the title 19 times in somewhat more than two years. Armstrong's straight ahead, wear-him-down style was very effective, but eventually such tactics begin to take a toll on the attacker. After three more welterweight defenses and a non-title win over lightweight champ Lew Jenkins, he lost the championship when Fritzie Zivic out-pointed him in 15 rounds. His attempt to regain the title from Zivic on January 17, 1941 resulted in his knockout in the 12th round by Zivic. On March 1, 1940 Armstrong attempted to win from Ceferino Garcia the New York State version of the middleweight (160-pound) title, which was then in dispute, but the decision was a draw, permitting Garcia to retain the championship. Armstrong would retire from the ring in 1945. From 1943 until his retirement two years later he had 35 bouts, with an 11-5-1 record against top-10 competition. In an era dominated by the likes Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson, Armstronmg fought for 26 world title fights and from 1931-1945 in 175 bouts, winning 97 by KO. Anyone who ever saw "Hurricane Hank" fight would agree that he was one of the all time greats of the ring. Intelligent and a fluent speaker, he turned to preaching and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1951. He also helped run the Herbert Hoover Boys’ Club in St.Louis and trained young boxers. Armstrong died October 24th 1988 in Los Angeles. Two years later, Armstrong was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Armstrong was also one of the first inductees when the Boxing Hall of Fame opened in 1954. Note: The African-American Registry also contributed to this story. Henry Armstrong  Anthony McClean is a Researcher/Reporter/Writer for ESPN and Black Athlete Sports Network. You can also hear his sports commentaries every Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. on "Sport Talk" on WCLM-AM 1450 in Richmond, Virginia (www.wclmradio.com). WANT TO REACH THIS WRITER Copyright 2006 by BlackAthlete.net, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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