boxing history: October 13, 1939
Henry Armstrong KO 2 Howard Scott, Minneapolis.
Armstrong retains World Welterweight Title.
Armstrong’s 2nd defense in 4-days!
He had 5 TITLE fights in October of 1939:
Oct 9 Al Manfredo, Des Moines, IA, TK 4
-Welterweight Championship of the World
Oct 13 Howard Scott, Minneapolis, MN, KO 2
-Welterweight Championship of the World
Oct 20 Ritchie Fontaine, Seattle, WA, TK 3
-Welterweight Championship of the World
Oct 24 Jimmy Garrison, Los Angeles, CA, W 10
-Welterweight Championship of the World
Oct 30 Bobby Pacho, Denver, CO, TK 4
-Welterweight Championship of the World
HIS RECORD OF 181 FIGHTS = 150-21-10 (101 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
Henry held three world titles – Welterweight, Lightweight, Featherweight – in a period when only eight weight divisions existed; At the beginning, his performance was rather good but not sensational; However, when he hit stride in the mid 1930s, Armstrong was as good as anyone has ever been; During 1937, he was 27-0 with 26 knockouts; In 1938, he was 14-0 with 10 knockouts; From December, 1936 until September, 1940, Henry compiled a 59-1-1 record (51 KOs) competing against the best in the world
Born: Henry Jackson Jr., December 12, 1912 – Died: October 22, 1988, was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong. He is universally regarded as one of the greatest fighters of all time by many boxing critics and fellow professionals.
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 (at a time when there were only 8 universally recognized World Titles), 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.
In 2007, The Ring ranked Armstrong as the second-greatest fighter of the last 80 years. Bert Sugar also ranked Armstrong as the second-greatest fighter of all time.
Armstrong was named The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1937.
Armstrong defended the World Welterweight Championship a division record 19 times.
Armstrong 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 defeated sixteen world champions.
After he quit boxing, he became an ordained minister and devoted himself to underprivileged children.
Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
Ranked 2nd on The Ring’s 2002 list of The 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.
