Word: armstrong
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Having punched the welterweight (147 Ib. maximum) crown off Barney Ross's head, Henry Armstrong, already holder of the featherweight (126 Ib. maximum) title, became the first fisticuffer in the long annals of pugilism to wear both crowns at the same time...
Altogether, Henry Armstrong is a fairly rare individual. His strength and his stamina astound fight fans. Although his legs are spindly, his shoulders and arms are as brawny as a stevedore's. At the end of 15 rounds of whirlwind boxing last week, he was breathing no harder than the average person who climbs a flight of subway stairs. His amazing stamina doctors attribute to slow heart action. His powerful arms and shoulders Henry Armstrong attributes to his first job: swinging a sledge hammer in a railroad section gang...
Born Henry Jackson, he was known as a "sissy" among his St. Louis schoolmates because of his skinny legs and dainty hands -and the fact that he thought football too rough. He wanted to be a surgeon. One of the older boys in the neighborhood -one Harry Armstrong-taught him to box to protect himself against bullies. After graduating from high school, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles with his coach to try to earn some money to go to college. They soon found themselves in the Los Angeles bread lines. There a local fight promoter named Tom Cox picked them...
...Wirt Ross, a shrewd fight manager, saw possibilities in Henry Jackson, offered Promoter Cox $250 for the skinny-shanked featherweight's contract. The first thing Wirt Ross did was to change Henry Jackson's name to Henry Armstrong. The name worked like a charm. Henry Armstrong became a two-fisted swinger who went into the ring punching and never stopped until he knocked out his exhausted opponent...
Among the spectators who saw him defeat Baby Arizmendi, onetime featherweight champion, at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field 22 months ago was Blackface Singer Al Jolson. Impressed, Singer Jolson agreed to lend his friend, Fight Manager Eddie Mead, $5,000 to buy Armstrong's contract. Under the management of Mead, Armstrong piled up 37 victories in a row, became the outstanding boxer...