If Henry Armstrong were fighting today

HOW MANY TITLES IN DIFFERENT WEIGHT CLASSES WOULD HE HAVE WON?

Henry Armstrong, aka Homicide Hank, is one of the 10 greatest fighters ever, period. He won the World Featherweight Championship, moved up to win the World Welterweight Championship, moved back down to win the World Lightweight Championship, then moved up again to draw with the World Middleweight Champion in a fight he should have won. To top that off, the Middleweight Champion he came up short against, Ceferino Garcia, he had already beaten as a Welterweight. Armstrong even managed to hold all 3 of his titles simultaneously, a feat never before or ever again accomplished in the same weight classes. And if that wasn't enough, he still holds the record for most Welterweight title defenses at the count of 19.

Armstrong fought from 1931 to 1945, amassing a record of 149 wins, 21 losses, and 10 draws. 101 of his victories came by KO. This record doesn't even include his fights under the name Melody Jackson. From January 1937 to August 1939 Armstrong went on a 46-0 run, the professional record of Joe Calzaghe. In this run alone Armstrong's resume was better than Calzaghe's entire 15 year career. When all was finally said and done for Armstrong, he had beaten the following hall of famers:

Midget Wolgast
Baby Arizmendi (x3)
Benny Bass
Chalky Wright
Barney Ross
Lou Ambers
Lew Jenkins (x2)
Fritzie Zivic
Sammy Angott

What's perhaps even more amazing is how Armstrong's official professional career even began. In his pro "debut", he was knocked out. Yet, despite the fact that Armstrong won and lost to the hall of famers listed above and more (most notably one of the greatest of them all, Sugar Ray Robinson), he was never again knocked out. The only other time he was stopped was against Fritzie Zivic, and that was due to cuts perpetrated by dirty tactics.

Armstrong was dynamite in a small package; He was a high pressure, non-stop fighter who threw punches from the beginning to the end of every round; His goal was to knock his man out - if he didn't manage that, he certainly battered him thoroughly

Henry held three world titles - Welterweight, Lightweight, Featherweight - in a period when only eight weight divisions existed; At the beginning, his performance was rather good but not sensational; However, when he hit stride in the mid 1930s, Armstrong was as good as anyone has ever been; During 1937, he was 27-0 with 26 knockouts; In 1938, he was 14-0 with 10 knockouts; From December, 1936 until September, 1940, Henry compiled a 59-1-1 record (51 KOs) competing against the best in the world

My question for 606 members is if he was fighting today how many titles in different weight classes would he have won?

Depends really. Given the fragmentation of the titles, hes obviously talented enough to win a belt in ever division between featherweight and welterweight.

However given that there are more divisions now, and the politics involved with the various sanctioning bodies, he may not have felt the need to climb through so many and might have settled below welterweight.

If he were fighting today and with the plethora of belts he would win from FW up tp MW. That's 7 belts. Add to that weight stips and who knows? Probably up to LHW.

At WW only two guys I believe would be nailed on certs to beat him. That's the 2 Sugar Rays.

MW and LH? Not a chance for me. He would never even contemplate it. Have to remember that even at his heaviest he was only around 142 pounds.

Mayweather and Pacquiao are the only ones there really that could potentially stop him. Armstrongs record dictates he would start as favourite but I make the other two guys fairly live underdogs.

Don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that he beats the likes of Chavez at middleweight who is an inferior fighter to Garcia

Would love to see how much leather he could throw over a 12 round fight, his relentlessness would make anyone over that distance look pedestrian in comparison, also with 24 hour weigh ins he'd probably win titles at bantamweight as well.

Bantamweight to light middleweight for me

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that he beats the likes of Chavez at middleweight who is an inferior fighter to Garcia

Would love to see how much leather he could throw over a 12 round fight, his relentlessness would make anyone over that distance look pedestrian in comparison, also with 24 hour weigh ins he'd probably win titles at bantamweight as well.

Bantamweight to light middleweight for me

Chaves would be a step to far imo given that he came in at 180 in his last fight. Just too big for Armstrong.

I think the modern weigh ins thirty-six hours before a fight would be a double-edged sword for Armstrong; it would probably extinguish any chance of him performing at Middleweight as he did in his time (let's not forget, Garcia was really a natural Welterweight anyway) but, at the same time, it would probably allow him to compete at Super-Bantamweight too, or Bantamweight at a stretch, as Ghosty has alluded to.

There's a possibility, then, of Bantamweight to Light-Middleweight at a stretch. Eight weight classes if, for some reason, he wanted his career to take that path. All very hypothetical, mind you, and I'd much rather a fighter achieved true greatness in one or two divisions than be a footnote in eight.

He could make the SMW holder come down to 161 and insist he weighs no more than 165 come fight time. That would sufficiently drain him, weaken him etc.

I know of one active boxer who does that and gets away with it.

Oscar De La Hoya?

BW
SBW
FW
SFW
LW
LWW
WW
LMW,

That's 8 which I feel he could have won at

If Armstrong was fighting today, he will just be one more boxer that Floyd will be shamelessly ducking after accusing him of being a PEDs user bec what he's accomplished is unreal.

Interesting how PBF writes such a good article and does not contribute to the debate.Very interesting.

andygf wrote:Interesting how PBF writes such a good article and does not contribute to the debate.Very interesting.

Maybe because I haven't been online, I would love to have as much time as you do but some people are busy.

Interesting you haven't added anything to the article instead of having a cheap pop at me.

NoMasDinero wrote:If Armstrong was fighting today, he will just be one more boxer that Floyd will be shamelessly ducking after accusing him of being a PEDs user bec what he's accomplished is unreal.

Henry Armstrong wouldn't avoid olympic style drug testing to duck the best fighter of all time in Floyd Mayweather like a certain "boxer".

88Chris05 wrote:I think the modern weigh ins thirty-six hours before a fight would be a double-edged sword for Armstrong; it would probably extinguish any chance of him performing at Middleweight as he did in his time (let's not forget, Garcia was really a natural Welterweight anyway) but, at the same time, it would probably allow him to compete at Super-Bantamweight too, or Bantamweight at a stretch, as Ghosty has alluded to.

There's a possibility, then, of Bantamweight to Light-Middleweight at a stretch. Eight weight classes if, for some reason, he wanted his career to take that path. All very hypothetical, mind you, and I'd much rather a fighter achieved true greatness in one or two divisions than be a footnote in eight.

Henry Armstrong would wipe the floor with everyone apart from Floyd Mayweather and Sergio Martinez.

It wouldnt even reach the stage where Floyd would be asking for drug testing. Floyd (and his Daddy) would be so scared of Armstrong, he would just outright hide from him.