Show speaking of sports long campaign tests greatness of armstrong by ROBERT MeS mcshane HANF released by western newspaper union TN YOUR OUR next argument as to the t greatest f fighter of all time pound for pound take a quick look at the record of hammering henry armstrong one of the most tireless fighting machines of boxing history at one time henry held three world boxing titles its a bit involved 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 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 proceeded to whip barney ross 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 blazoned henry armstrong featherweight champion welter X A 0 L I 1 HENRY ARMSTRONG weight champion between the two he left space for the lightweight part of it a seemingly premature prognostication but henry proved to be an admirable forecaster for not long afterwards he licked lou ambers and won the lightweight crown heart of a heavyweight armstrong throws more leather than any other puncher in the ring often he sacrifices quality 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 according to doctors his heart is as big in actual physical dimensions men as that of a heavyweight unquestionably henry is one of the ring marvels of all time superhuman pe is one of the words used most often to describe the great negro fighter tireless and terrific 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 his recent fight with lew jenkins the cinderella man proved that though he administered a terrible beating to the lanky hun gry looking texan henry was more sluggish than usual and his punches lacked some of their old time snap but never forget that henry is still king of the welterweights welter weights the fighter who removes that crown from his 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 fast starter but the end was the same or even a little more definite than usual completely dazed jenkins able to answer the bell 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 ugh a stone wall henry is is one of the greatest of all time most experts agree that armstrong is quite a ways past his peak but all of them aggei agree that his name belongs on any list of all time truly great battlers A few old timers might claim that hed be easy for the great fighters of the past but at any reasonable weight say pounds hammering henry deserves a unanimous vote for top ranking |