12 Legends of Christmas: Henry Armstrong

Timeless multi-weight world champion could've dominated in any era

Name: Henry Armstrong

Nickname: Homicide Hank

Date of First Fight: 27th July 1931

Date of Retirement: 14th February 1945

Titles: World titles at featherweight, lightweight and welterweight

Biography:

Known during his career as Henry Armstrong, Henry Jackson Jr was born on 12th December 1912 in Columbus, Mississippi. Armstrong was raised during a period of great prejudice. His father, Henry Jackson Sr, was a sharecropper, and the family migrated north, which eventually led Henry Jr into a boxing club.

Armstrong based himself in Los Angeles with an eye on Olympic qualification but despite a strong amateur career that ran from 1929 to 1932, he failed to qualify for the 1932 Games and instead turned professional.

The fights, wins, draws and losses came quickly as Armstrong learned his trade the hard way. By the time he faced Petey Sarron for the featherweight world title it was towards the end of a whirlwind 1937.

Armstrong won by sixth-round KO and was named as the Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year for 1937 as he took part in 27 contests, winning them all, with 26 by knockout.

In May 1938, he widely outpointed the excellent Barney Ross to win world honours at welterweight. Just three months later he slimmed back down to lightweight to defend his title by split decision over New York’s ‘Herkimer Hurricane’ Lou Ambers. Three months after that he was back up at welterweight defeating Filipino native Ceferino Garcia across the 15-round stretch.

Moving through the weight classes, in 1939 Armstrong defeated Lew Feldman with both the lightweight and welterweight titles on the line. Armstrong lost twice to Fritzie Zivic as his momentum slowed, and a decade of hard fights took its toll. In 1943 a faded Armstrong was carried for 10 rounds by an up-and-coming force of world boxing named Sugar Ray Robinson.

Armstrong is recognised as one of the greatest fighters of all time. He held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight world titles back when there was only one champion, and it was becoming more difficult to avoid fighters of any ethnicity. Remarkably, at one point, he held those three world championships all at the same time.

Celebrated boxing historian Bert Sugar rated Armstrong as the second-best boxer of all time. He regularly appears in the top five all-time pound-for-pound lists and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, two years after his death.

A welterweight legend, Armstrong successfully defended his title at 147 pounds on 19 occasions. Overall, he took part in 1155 rounds across 180 bouts, with 149 wins.

Sometimes nicknamed ‘Hammerin’ Hank’ or ‘Hurricane Hank’, Armstrong’s style was relentless. He applied non-stop pressure to his opponents, who would need to be in top physical shape to compete with his pace. Armstrong swarmed anyone he faced from the first round, rolling shoulder to shoulder, fighting on the inside.

Away from the ropes Armstong was a quiet man who engaged in religious work after retiring. He was an ordained Baptist minister who helped mentor young people who had taken a wrong path in life. Henry also owned a nightclub called Melody Room which referenced his early career name of Melody Jackson.

Image Credit: Sweet Science, Missouri Archive.