Show speaking akina ol of sports Long Campaign tests greatness of armstrong by B y ROBERT mcshane released by western newspaper union I 1 TN N YOUR next argument as to the greatest lighter fighter of all time pound for pound take a quick look atthe at the record of hammering henry armstrong one of the most tireless fighting machines of boxing history at one time henry held three world wo ad boxing titles its a bit involved evolved even now but this Is the general idea holder of the featherweight lightweight and welterweight titles armstrong won the first crown when he knocked out petey sarron sarion to fight as a featherweight a man must weigh pounds or under he made the weight all right and after the laurels were his he tore into a few additional steaks to put on weight then he be proceeded to whip barney ross boss for the welterweight title these matters taken care of he bought himself a new robe to wear in the ring on the back was em bl blazoned atoned henry armstrong featherweight champon champion welter 1 47 iya 5 11 1 11 q 1 1 I na 17 i F HENRY ARMSTRONG weight champion between the two he h e left space for the lightweight part of it 14 a seemingly premature prognostication but henry proved to be an admirable forecaster tor for not long afterwards he licked lou ambers and won the lightweight crown heart of a heavyweight armstrong throws more leathea leather than any other puncher in the air ring often he sacrifices quality tor for quantity which means that he tosses at least three punches to his opponents one he has moved at that windmill pace for the past 10 years and ac according cordin g to doctors his heart is as big in actual physical dimensions in men ens lons as that of a heavyweight unquestionably henry Is one of the ring marvels of all time superhuman per pe hanian is one of the words used most often to describe the great negro fighter tireless and ter rifle are others but the legend of superman was flattened long ago no fighter is impervious to punishment nor can henry go on forever at the pace he set for himself long ago the long years of campaigning have taken quite a lot out of armstrong r his recent fight with lew jenkins the cinderella man proved that though he administered a terrible beating to the lanky hun gry looking lookin texan henry was more sluggish than usual and his pun punches ches lacked some of their old time snap nap but never forget that hat henry Is still king of the welterweights welter weights the fighter who removes that crown from his bis brow will have earned it he has fought the cream of the crop in fact the cream of three crops and has proved just a little better than the best of his competition the same old finish lew jenkins expected to be a setup set up for the dusky mitt thrower and for the first two rounds it looked like the fight was going against henry who never was a particularly par ti c fast starter but the t end nd was the same or even a little more definite than usual completely dazed jenkins able to answer the bell tor for the seventh round interesting were the comments made by boxing authorities the next day one of the leading press association writers stated that armstrong took everything jenkins dished out and waded in with a two handed attack that would have broken through a stone wall henry lone of the greatest of all time U most ost experts agree that armstrong sard ng ts Is quite a ways past his peak but all of them agree that his name belongs on any list of all time truly great battlers A few old timers might claim that hed bekasy for the great fighters of the past but at any reasonable weight say pounds hammering henry deserves a unanimous vote tor for top ranking sport shorts while jack dempsey was busting up that wrestler in atlanta one night recently mr and mrs gene tunney were among the social lights applauding pla lily pons in new york twice tice during the sea season son of 0 11 1912 eddie collins of the philadelphia athletics stole six bases in one game josh devore holds the mark for most stolen bases during one inning in which he purloined tour four sacks it happened in the ninth i frame of a game played way w sy back ld in 1912 |