A very rare cut autograph from boxing legend
Henry Armstrong. The first and only fighter to hold three
different weight titles at the same time. Inductee to the
Boxing Hall of Fame and Ring Magazine Fighter of the year
in 1937.
Henry Armstrong £95.00
The son of a sharecropper and America Armstrong,
an Iroquois Indian, Henry Jr. was a boxer who not only was
a member of the exclusive group of fighters that have won
boxing championships in three or more different divisions,
but also has the distinction of being the only boxer to
hold three world championships at the same time. He also
defended the Welterweight championship more times than any
other fighter.
Henry Armstrong - Best fighter of all time:
A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Armstrong
moved as a youngster with his family to St. Louis, Missouri,
where he was later inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Armstrong's two nicknames were Hurricane Henry, and Hammerin'
Hank.
Armstrong started out as a professional on
July 28, 1931, being knocked out by Al Sorvino in three
rounds. Just like Alexis Arguello, Bernard Hopkins, and
Wilfredo Vazquez in the future, Armstrong was one world
champion who started off on the losing end. His first win
came later that year, beating Sammy Burns by a decision
in six. In 1932, Armstrong moved to Los Angeles, where he
started out losing two four round decisions in a row, to
Eddie Trujillo and Al Greenfield. But after that, he started
a streak of 11 wins in a row, a streak which expanded to
1933, until he lost again, to Baby Manuel. Then he went
22 straight fights without a defeat, going 17-0-5 in that
span, including a win in a Sacramento rematch with Manuel,
and five wins over Perfecto Lopez. After that, he moved
to Mexico City, where in his first fight there, he lost
to former world bantamweight champion Baby Arizmendi. He
had four more fights there, going 2-2 and losing to Arizmendi
in what was considered by Mexico and California a world
title bout (thus Armstrong losing on his first championship
try), and to Baby Casanova by a five round disqualification.
He then moved back to California, where he went 8-1-1 for
the next ten bouts.
In 1936, Armstrong split time campaigning
between Los Angeles, Mexico City and St. Louis. Some opponents
of note that year were Ritchie Fontaine, against whom he
lost by decision and then won by decision in the rematch,
Arizmendi, whom he finally beat by a ten round decision,
former world champion Juan Zurita and former champ Mike
Belloise, who also lost a decision to Armstrong.
Armstrong started out 1937 by winning 22 bouts
in a row, 21 by knockout. He beat Casanova in three, Belloise
in four, Joe Rivers in three, former world champion Frankie
Klick in four and former world champion Benny Bass in four.
After those 22 wins in a row, the inevitable happened: Armstrong
was given his first world title try, for the 126 pounds
title, Featherweight world champion Petey Sarron defending
it against him at the Madison Square Garden. Armstrong became
world's Featherweight champion knocking out Sarron in six,
and closed the year with four more knockout wins.
In 1938, Armstrong started with seven more
knockouts in a row, including one over future world champion
Chalky Wright. The streak finally ended when Arizmendi lasted
ten rounds before losing a decision to Armstrong in their
fourth fight. His streak of 27 knockout wins in a row qualifies
as one of the longest knockout win streaks in the history
of boxing, according to Ring Magazine. After the fouth bout
with Arizmendi was a bout with Fritzie Zivic's brother,
Eddie Zivic, resulting in another Armstrong knockout win,
and after one more bout, Armstrong, the 126 pound division
world champion, challenged a fellow member of the three
division champions' club, Barney Ross, then world Welterweight
champion, for the title. Armstrong, 126, beat Ross, 147,
by unanimous decision, adding the world Welterweight championship
to his Featherweight belt. Then, he went down in weight,
and challenged world Lightweight champion Lou Ambers. In
a history making night, Armstrong became the first boxer
ever to have world championships in three different divisions
at the same time, by beating Ambers on points. A few days
later, he decided he couldn't make the 126 pounds weight
anymore, and left the Featherweight crown vacant.
He dedicated the next two years to defending
the welterweight crown, beating, among others, future world
middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia, Al Manfredo and Bobby
Pacho, before defending his Lightweight belt in a rematch
with Ambers, which he lost on a 15 round decision. After
that, he concentrated once again on defending the world
Welterweight title, and made eight defenses in a row, the
last of which was a nine round knockout win over Puerto
Rico's Pedro Montanez. Then, he tried to make history once
again by becoming the first boxer to win world titles in
four different categories in a rematch with Garcia, already
world Middleweight champion, but the fight ended in a ten
round draw, Armstrong's attempt to win a fourth division's
world title being frustrated. According to boxing historian
Bert Sugar, many felt Armstrong deserved the decision in
this fight.
He went back to Welterweight and retained
the title five more times, until Fritzie Zivic was able
to avenge his brother Eddie's defeat by taking the world
title away from Armstrong with a 15 round decision. With
this loss, Armstrong's reign as Welterweight champion came
to an end, leaving Armstrong's successful defense streak
at eighteen, the most defenses by a champion ever in Welterweight
history. In 1941, they boxed a rematch, this time, Zivic
stopping Armstrong in 12 rounds.
1942 saw Armstrong go 13-1, including wins
over world champions (Fritzie) Zivic in a ten round non
title bout, Jenkins and Zurita.
1943 saw him go 10-3, with wins over world
champions Tippy Larkin and Sammy Angott in ten round bouts,
and losses to world champions Beau Jack and Sugar Ray Robinson,
also in ten round bouts.
1944 saw Henry go 14-2-1 in 17 bouts, among
those, another win over Belloise.
After winning one fight, losing one and drawing
one in 1945, Armstrong decided to retire from boxing. Apart
from the ceremonies and galas that he attended afterwards,
he led a relatively quiet life for the rest of his life.
He became a born-again Christian and an ordained pastor,
and he taught young, upcoming fighters how to box.
Armstrong registered an official record of
150 wins, 21 losses and 9 draws, with 100 knockout wins.
His exact record, however, isn't really known, because it
is said he fought some pay fights under the nickname of
Melody Jackson.
