Born: December 12, 1912
Hometown: Columbus, MS
Year Induction: 2010
Deceased : October 22, 1988
Vashon High School (St. Louis, MO)
Failed to qualify for 1932 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team; turned pro
Moved to Los Angeles; changed name to Henry Armstrong (1932)
Career record 151-21-9 with 101 knockouts (Third All-Time behind Archie Moore & Sugar Ray Robinson)
Only boxer in history to simultaneously hold three world titles in three different weight classes: Featherweight, Welterweight, Lightweight (1938)
Fought in 26 World Title Fights
Defended his welterweight title record 19 times in two years; 5 times in 21 days (October 1939)
Fighter of the Year Internation Boxing Hall of Fame (’37)
Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year (’38)
Win 46 consecutive bouts (Streak ended 1939)
Joined Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis as first three mondern era boxers elected to Boxing Hall fo Fame (1954)
Inducted Black Athletes Hall of Fame (1975)
Inducted Internation Boxing Hall of Fame (1990)
Inducted St. Louis Walk of Fame (May 21, 1995)
Listed among 100 Greatest Black Athletes of the 20th Century
Henry Armstrong Day Columbus, MS (October 13, 2008)
Henry Armstrong had a variety of interests. He was a published poet who penned an autobiography entitled Gloves, Glory and God.
Armstrong appeared in three films; Keep Punching (1939); The Pittsburgh Kid (1941); Joe Palooka Champ (1946). At one point, he was managed by Hollywood entertainer Al Jolson and actor George Raft.
The eleventh of 15 children, Armstrong fought under a variety of names early in his career, uncluding “Melody Jackson”. Following his retirement from the ring, Armstrong became an ordained Baptist minister in 1951 in Los Angeles, CA.
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