Henry Jackson Jr. (December 12, 1912 – October 22, 1988) was an American professional

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the few fighters to win in three or more different divisions: featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. He defended his welterweight title a total of nineteen times. ''The Ring'' magazine named him

Fighter of the Year '' The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and has named a Fighter of the Year since 1928, which this list covers. The award, selected by the magazine editors, is based on a boxer's performance in the ring.BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

as the 12th-greatest

pound-for-pound Pound for pound is a ranking used in combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, or mixed martial arts, of who the better fighters are irrespective of their weight, i.e. adjusted to compensate for weight class. As these fighters do not compete direc ...

fighter of all time. In 2007, ''The Ring'' ranked Armstrong as the second-greatest fighter of the last 80 years. Boxing coach and commentator Teddy Atlas considers Armstrong to be the greatest of all time. Historian Bert Sugar also ranked Armstrong as the second-greatest fighter of all time. ESPN ranked Armstrong as number 3 on their list of the 50 greatest boxers of all time. He was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990. 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.

Early life

He was born Henry Jackson Jr. on December 12, 1912, in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterwa ...

. He was the son of Henry Jackson Sr., a

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

of African American descent and America Jackson, said to be a "full-blooded" Iroquois. As a child, Henry Jr. moved with his family to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, during the early period of the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to industrial cities of the Midwest and North. There he became involved in boxing. He graduated as an honor student from Vashon High School in St. Louis Later he took the surname Armstrong as his fighting name.

Early career

Armstrong began his professional career on July 28, 1931, in a fight with Al Iovino, in which Armstrong was knocked out in three rounds. His first win came later that year, beating Sammy Burns by a decision in six. In 1932, Armstrong moved to Los Angeles, where he lost two four-round decisions in a row to Eddie Trujillo and Al Greenfield. 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. A few notable opponents of that year include Ritchie Fontaine, Baby Arizmendi, former world champion Juan Zurita, and Mike Belloise. Early in his career, he fought some fights under the ring name Melody Jackson. In 1937 alone, Armstrong went 27–0 (26KO). Aldo Spoldi was the only opponent to take him the full 10 rounds. He kayoed Baby Casanova in three rounds, Belloise in four, Joe Rivers in three, former world champion Frankie Klick in four, and former world champion

Benny Bass Benjamin "Benny" Baruch J. Bass (December 4, 1904 – June 25, 1975), known as "Little Fish", was an American boxer. He was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, with his family emigrating to the United States in 1906; choosing to settle in Philadelphia, Penns ...

in four. Armstrong was given his first world title fight, for the title in the 126-pound weight class against World Featherweight Champion Petey Sarron at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. Armstrong knocked Sarron out in six rounds, becoming the World Featherweight Champion. Armstrong's two nicknames were ''Hurricane Henry'' and ''Homicide' Hank''. In 1938, Armstrong started his season with seven more knockouts in a row, including one over Chalky Wright, a future world champion. The streak finally ended when Arizmendi lasted ten rounds before losing a decision to Armstrong in their fourth fight. Armstrong's streak of 27 knockout wins in a row qualifies as one of the longest knockout win streaks in the history of boxing, according to '' The Ring'' magazine. Later in 1938, Armstrong, still the Featherweight division world champion, challenged Barney Ross for the title. Later a fellow member of the three division champions' club, Ross was then World Welterweight Champion. Armstrong, at pounds, beat Ross, at 142 pounds, by unanimous decision, adding the World Welterweight Championship to his belt. Armstrong lost weight in order to compete in the lower weight division, and beat World Lightweight Champion

Lou Ambers Luigi Giuseppe d'Ambrosio (November 8, 1913 – April 25, 1995), a.k.a. Lou Ambers, was an American World Lightweight boxing champion who fought from 1932 to 1941. Ambers fought many other boxing greats, such as Henry Armstrong and Tony Canzoneri ...

by split decision. Armstrong was the first boxer ever to hold world championships in three different weight divisions at the same time. He decided not to maintain the required 126-pound weight anymore and left the featherweight crown vacant.

Welterweight defenses

Armstrong dedicated the next two years to defending the welterweight crown, beating, among others,

Ceferino Garcia Ceferino Montano Garcia (August 26, 1906 – January 1, 1981) was a champion boxer born in Naval, Biliran, Philippines. He holds the most victories ever achieved by a Filipino boxer and is also the only boxer from the Philippines to become world ...

, a future World

Middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

Champion, and

Bobby Pacho Robert Pacho (August 1, 1911 – May 1, 1978) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1928 to 1941, twice challenging for the welterweight world title in 1939. After Bert Colima's career was over, Pacho was Mexican fans' most pop ...

. Armstrong defended 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. He defended it in eight fights in a row, the last of which was a nine-round knockout win over Puerto Rico's

Pedro Montañez Pedro Montañez (April 24, 1914 – June 26, 1996) was a Boxing, boxer from Cayey, Puerto Rico. Also known as ''El Torito De Cayey'' (''The Little Bull of Cayey''), he has been considered by many to be one of the best boxing, boxers in history ' ...

. Armstrong sought to become the first boxer to win world titles in four different categories in a rematch with Garcia, already the World Middleweight Champion, but the fight ended in a ten-round draw. Armstrong's attempt to win a world title in a fourth division was frustrated. According to boxing historian Bert Sugar, many commentators of the time said that Armstrong deserved the decision in this fight. Henry Armstrong (Boxer)

Returning to the welterweight division, Armstrong successfully defended the title five more times, until

Fritzie Zivic Fritzie Zivic (May 8, 1913 – May 16, 1984), born as Ferdinand Henry John Zivcich ( hr, Živčić), was an American boxer who held the world welterweight championship from October 4, 1940, until July 29, 1941. His managers included Luke Carney, ...

beat him to take the world title in a 15-round decision. This ended Armstrong's reign as Welterweight Champion. Armstrong's eighteen successful title defenses were the most in history in the Welterweight division. In 1945, Armstrong retired from boxing. His official record was 152 wins, 21 losses and 9 draws, with 101 knockout wins.

After boxing

After retiring from boxing in 1946, Armstrong briefly opened a Harlem nightclub, the Melody Room (named after his first nickname). He returned to settle again in

where, apart from the ceremonies and galas that he attended afterward, he led a quiet retirement. He became a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

and an ordained Baptist minister and youth advocate, helping to run the Herbert Hoover Boys Club. He also taught young fighters how to box. In February 1966, Rev. Armstrong appeared on the TV game show I've Got a Secret with his simultaneous triple championship as his secret.

Honors

*1937, ''The Ring'' magazine named him as

Fighter of the Year '' The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and has named a Fighter of the Year since 1928, which this list covers. The award, selected by the magazine editors, is based on a boxer's performance in the ring.''The Ring'' magazine Boxing Hall of Fame the year it was established. *In 1987, he was among those inductees from ''The Ring'' list who were absorbed into the International Boxing Hall of Fame when it was established. *In 1995, Armstrong was posthumously honored for his boxing career by being inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. *In 2007, ''The Ring'' magazine ranked Armstrong as the second-greatest fighter of the last 80 years. *In 2007, ESPN ranked Armstrong as number 3 on their list of the 50 greatest boxers of all time.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * The story of his life is retold in the 1949 radio drama
The Saga of Melody Jackson
, a presentation from '' Destination Freedom'', written by Richard Durham
The Official Henry Armstrong Web Site

Henry Armstrong Foundation Web Site

on the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) web site *
National Boxing Association's Quarterly Ratings: 1938 – BoxRec

National Boxing Association's Quarterly Ratings: 1939 – BoxRec

National Boxing Association's Quarterly Ratings: 1940 – BoxRec

The Ring Magazine's Annual Ratings: Lightweight--1930s – BoxRec

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Henry American male boxers African-American boxers Native American boxers 1912 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Native Americans American people of Irish descent Boxers from Mississippi Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery Featherweight boxers World featherweight boxing champions World colored welterweight boxing champions International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Columbus, Mississippi Boxers from St. Louis Welterweight boxers World welterweight boxing champions Lightweight boxers World lightweight boxing champions World boxing champions African-American Christians Baptists from Mississippi 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States Vashon High School alumni