| Show i Liuni Li FRANK K BAKER TELEGRAM SPORTS EDITOR Henry Armstrong who holds both the featherweight and the welterweight championships of the wor world d has come a long way in half a dozen years The dusky battler who also will attempt to take the li lightweight title from Lew Ambers next month walked eight miles to the home of a boxing manager and eight miles back back all all for nothing noth noth- ing back ing-back back in 1932 N That was in Los Angeles only a few weeks after the colored boy soy then 18 years old old had gone to the west coast from St. St Louis Fights Tights were few ew- ew and far far- between for the young battler and when Manager Manag r Tom Cox was forced to sell his boxers another manager Wirt Ross bought Henry for Armstrong fought for Ross with ordina ordinary y s success for three years A few close students of the game saw a 8 brighter future for or the dusky puncher however and when Eddie Meade sought to buy him he found that the boys boy's monetary value had increased exactly 40 times Henry was training for his bis fast really important t bo bout t a round 10 engagement with Baby Arizmendi of Mexico l when Meade went shopping Ross asked and al although although al- al though Meade didn't have the money himself he thought so much of of- the proposition as as' as asa a Bargain that he sold Al JoSon Jolson Jolson Jol- Jol son and George Raft the motion picture stars on the deal too and got them to finance th the deal jointly The colored battler trounced ced Arizmendi soundly and carried on with one sensational victory after another True a lot of his quick k knockouts were scored over foes who were of f ordinary caliber to o s say say- y the least But Armstrong has been a busy fig fighter ter He has traveled far and often There simply were not en enough ugh topnotch opponents for all his matches so Henry fought and whipped whoever happened to be at hand As a result Armstrong has been a boon t to the promoters promoters promoters pro pro- whose houses or drawing territory were not large enough to warr warrant t expensive ve cards Henry was a sufficient sufficient card to fill the houses so the the- promoters didn't have to spend big money on on other talent And by beating one after another with dispatch an and a display of g good od punching punching punching punch punch- ing Henry did all all' that was asked of him and managed to satisfy the c customers who after all were there ther to see him knock mock out his rivals Armstrong has lost only one fight since he whipped Arizmendi and stepped thereby stepped thereby into the limelight that on a foul Ut He stopped topped Petey Sarron of Birmingham to win ivin the featherweight crown Observers tried trick with virtually virtually vir vir- everything he had to kayo Barney Ross who was on the floor only once in his brilliant career It is significant too that the only man ever to floor Ross one Ceferino Garcia is the man rn-an credited by Armstrong as being the toughest opponent he ever faced After seeing pictures of the Ross Armstrong-Ross fight at atthe atthe atthe the Capitol theater however I wonder if il the d dusky sky champion champion champion cham cham- pion of two divisions might not yet come face lace to face with with the more grim realities of the fight game even as did Joe JoeLouis JoeLouis JoeLouis Louis when he first met Max I cannot help wondering how Armstrong will react if be lie meets somebody who can straighten him up with a afew afew afew few solid punches Certainly he lie had to take absolutely no punishment from Ross who waged a defensive battle at least three-fourths three of ot the time It is one thing to be on top quite another to be fighting to save ones one's own neck The pictures show Armstrong boring boring bor- bor bor bor- ing lag in from the start almost using his bis head bead for a battering ram His victory was more a case of youth and superior condition than anything else Ross appeared virtually unable unable unable un un- un- un able to lift tift his ha hands ds in his own defense in the late rounds yet Henry couldn't put him away Jt It would be interesting to see sec Henry pitted against somebody who will really punch him around a bit So maybe his bis meeting with Ambers next month wont won't be an anticlimax after all The original House of David baseball team will make an another another another an- an other trip to 10 Salt Lake this summer after an absence of several seasons and the announcement that they will play Pinney Beverage Bev Bev- er ge of the Industrial league at Community park here Sund Sunday Sundar y afternoon August 7 is good news to diamond fans The Long Haired boys have always been a popular attraction attraction attraction tion with Utah fans who have l learned ar ed to expect a genuine program program program pro pro- gram every time they take the field The Davids are noted for their special pepper ing First Baseman Tucker and Doc Tally These two veteran warriors are bonafide members of the Benton Harbor sect A number of players have been recruited from professional ranks to round out th the team |
