Six years later he moved back to Los Angeles. When Armstrong was four years old, his father moved the family to St. Louis, where he and Armstrong's older brothers found work at the Independent Packing Company. Please be sure to subscribe! Like his mother, his grandmother hoped that he would pursue a career in the ministry. Nonetheless, Armstrong had achieved his goal, becoming simultaneously the undisputed champion of the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions. Two local boxers fighting in inaugural Henry Armstrong Boxing Classic, The event will be held in Columbus on Saturday, Former wrestler tied to TANF scandal pleads guilty to conspiracy in federal court, 42K Mississippians without power after strong winds cause outages, JPD investigating after vehicle riddled with bullets on Maria Drive, Caver Ks 10, JSU baseball run-rules rival Alcorn State for 7th straight win, JSU footballs Blue and White game receives date, Tougaloo College to play Texas A&M Texarkana in first round of NAIA championship, Request a First Alert Weather School Visit. 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. Father Charles Godfrey Armstrong. He graduated as an honor student from Vashon High School in St. Louis Later he took the surname Armstrong as his fighting name.Armstrong began his professional career on July 28, 1931, in a fight with Al Iovino, in which Armstrong was knocked out in three rounds. Intelligent and articulate, he turned to preaching and was ordained a Baptist minister in 1951. On file we have 73 email addresses and 55 phone numbers associated with Henry in area codes such as 757, 941, 401, 609, 314, and 32 other area codes. Here he gained his first boxing experience, winning a competition among the pinboys. "Henry Armstrong There are 1 person related to this person in our records. Henry Armstrong fought a total of 183 times during his professional career. Facing Arizmendi once more in August 1936, Armstrong secured his first title as the new featherweight champion, beating Arizmendi so badly that he was forced to take six months off. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. 100% CAUCASIAN Our ethnicity data indicates the majority is Caucasian. On November 25, 1938 Henry Armstrong defeated Filipino boxer Ceferino Garcia via 15 round unanimous decision. American boxer and television commentator. Henry J Armstrong has a residential history of 3 addresses in 2 cities and now lives at 3411 Kip St, Philadelphia, PA. Henry can be reached via 2 phone numbers. Securing a contract with Cox for three dollars, he had almost 100 amateur fights, in which he won more than half by knockout and lost none. Two years later he was ordained as a Baptist minister at Morning Star Baptist Church. The 23-year-old boxer was raised in Pearl, but is from Columbus. The event is named after the late Mississippi boxer, Henry Armstrong, who, in 1938, became the first boxer to ever hold three world titles at the same time. Chester Slider, John Thomas, Sugar Ray Robinson, Beau Jack, and Willie Joyce are some of the boxers who have beaten Armstrong. Armstrong worked on his athletic abilities, often running the eight miles to school. Armstrong was inducted into Ring magazines Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954. He won 14 fights before bypassing the lightweight title and challenging welterweight champion Barney Ross for his crown on May 31, 1938. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. . Up to 1937, Armstrong compiled a record of 52-10. After several more amateur fights, Armstrong moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a professional career. The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. // -->. We encourage . 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. out - if he didn't manage that, he certainly battered him thoroughly His debut as an 18-year-old pro was inauspicious, as he was knocked out in the third round by Al Iovino on July 27, 1931, in Pennsylvania. Seven months later, a fading Armstrong finally lost his welterweight title after the 19 successful defenses, including six in 1940. Armstrong won his most significant fight when he overcame alcoholism. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In an attempt to gain popularity and therefore more important fights with bigger purses, they set a goal of winning titles in three different weight divisions, an accomplishment no boxer had ever achieved. October 20, 1939: Armstrong successfully defends the NBA and The Ring welterweight titles against Richie Fontaine, winning the fight via 3rd round TKO. Gale Research, 1989. http://www.galenet.com(December 13, 2000). The Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1940. He was a 3-weight-class world champion. After school, he worked as a pinboy at 23 Feb. 2023 . In 1936, entertainer Al Jolson and actor George Raft underwrote the purchase of Armstrong's managerial contract from Edward Mead.Armstrong knocked out Petey Sarron in six rounds in 1937 to win the World Featherweight Championship, and was named "The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1937.