20 Facts About Henry Armstrong

Henry Armstrong defended his welterweight title a total of nineteen times.

Henry Armstrong is currently ranked by BoxRec as the 12th-greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all time.

Henry Armstrong was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural class of 1990.

Henry Armstrong graduated as an honor student from Vashon High School in St Louis Later he took the surname Armstrong as his fighting name.

Henry Armstrong began his professional career on July 28,1931, in a fight with Al Iovino, in which Henry Armstrong was knocked out in three rounds.

In 1932, Henry Armstrong moved to Los Angeles, where he lost two four-round decisions in a row to Eddie Trujillo and Al Greenfield.

Henry Armstrong kayoed Baby Casanova in three rounds, Belloise in four, Joe Rivers in three, former world champion Frankie Klick in four, and former world champion Benny Bass in four.

Henry Armstrong was given his first world title fight, for the title in the 126-pound weight class against World Featherweight Champion Petey Sarron at Madison Square Garden.

Henry Armstrong knocked Sarron out in six rounds, becoming the World Featherweight Champion.

In 1938, Henry Armstrong started his season with seven more knockouts in a row, including one over Chalky Wright, a future world champion.

Henry Armstrong lost weight in order to compete in the lower weight division, and beat World Lightweight Champion Lou Ambers by split decision.

Henry Armstrong was the first boxer ever to hold world championships in three different weight divisions at the same time.

Henry Armstrong decided not to maintain the required 126-pound weight anymore and left the featherweight crown vacant.

Henry Armstrong dedicated the next two years to defending the welterweight crown, beating, among others, Ceferino Garcia, a future World Middleweight Champion, and Bobby Pacho.

Henry Armstrong defended his Lightweight belt in a rematch with Ambers, which he lost on a 15-round decision.

Henry Armstrong defended it in eight fights in a row, the last of which was a nine-round knockout win over Puerto Rico's Pedro Montanez.

Henry Armstrong sought to become the first boxer to win world titles in four different categories in a rematch with Garcia, already the World Middleweight Champion, but the fight ended in a ten-round draw.

Henry Armstrong returned to settle again in St Louis, Missouri where, apart from the ceremonies and galas that he attended afterward, he led a quiet retirement.

Henry Armstrong became a born-again Christian and an ordained Baptist minister and youth advocate, helping to run the Herbert Hoover Boys Club.

In February 1966, Rev Henry Armstrong appeared on the TV game show I've Got a Secret with his simultaneous triple championship as his secret.