As Marvin Gaye sang again within the day, “Ain’t nothin’ like the true factor, child,” and as of late how boxing followers yearn for “the true factor,” for significant competitors and real greatness. You’ll recall how a number of years again Floyd Mayweather Jr. took to calling himself “The Greatest Ever,” ‘TBE’ for brief, and whereas most took the self-accolade with an enormous grain of salt, the actual fact others didn’t tells all it’s essential know in regards to the lack of perspective some combat followers have regarding the historical past of pugilism. The reality is the Golden Age of boxing is a good distance gone now, many years in the past, and the true greats achieved feats right now’s fighters can solely dream about.
Take, for instance, the person they known as “Murder Hank,” the one and solely Henry Armstrong, with out query one of many biggest stress fighters within the sport’s historical past, a dynamo of continuous aggression who attacked and reduce down opponents like a buzz-saw on wheels. In 1937 alone he fought 27 occasions, capping one of many biggest single years in any boxer’s profession by battering Petey Sarron to seize his first world championship. Give it some thought: 27 fights in a single yr. All wins, all however one by KO. That’s greatness.
So is the truth that in Could of the next yr he jumped all the best way up from featherweight to welterweight to problem fellow all-time nice Barney Ross. After dominating Ross, he dropped down in weight and challenged one other champion and Corridor of Famer, Lou Ambers, out-toughing “The Herkimer Hurricane” in a brutal 15 spherical struggle and thus successful the light-weight crown. Armstrong would vacate the featherweight title, however for a quick time he held three of boxing’s eight conventional world championships on the similar time, a feat by no means to be duplicated. And we gained’t even get into how in March of 1940 he challenged for the middleweight title — in opposition to one more nice champion, Ceferino Garcia — however needed to accept a draw, although most at ringside thought he deserved the choice.
Within the meantime Armstrong maintained his hectic schedule, notching win after win in opposition to actually formidable competitors. This was an period very totally different from ours, when the ranks had been crowded with wonderful combating males, not diluted by superfluous weight courses and meaningless titles, and when the followers of the time demanded that high pugilists check themselves in opposition to probably the most harmful rivals.
And the straightforward fact is one can be hard-pressed to discover a higher stretch of wins in all of boxiana than those Armstrong piled up in his prime. The record of battlers he bested throughout these years, along with Sarron, Ross, Ambers and Garcia, contains such names as Child Arizmendi, Benny Bass, Juan Zurita, Frankie Klick, Lew Feldman, Chalky Wright, and Lew Jenkins, a line-up of champions and title challengers that, collectively, eclipses Mayweather’s whole document when it comes to high quality opposition. And that’s only a pattern of the numerous fighters battered by Armstrong’s churning fists.
To be extra particular, and to additional cement the argument, let’s have a look again at what Armstrong was as much as in 1936. In February of that yr, Henry misplaced by resolution to Richie Fontaine. One month later he avenged the defeat after which started a really unimaginable run, successful all however three of 65 fights in fewer than 5 years. The three matches he didn’t win included the aforementioned draw, a disqualification, and a extremely controversial loss to Ambers of their rematch when referee Arthur Donovan deducted 5 factors from Henry for fouls, inflicting Ambers’ resolution win to be extensively considered an injustice; Armstrong had in truth, for the second time, gotten the higher of “The Herkimer Hurricane.” Give it some thought: 65 tilts in 55 months in opposition to among the finest fighters in boxing historical past, and never one actually legit defeat. Discuss “the true factor.”
Following the controversial loss to Ambers, which had solely bolstered Armstrong’s status as the best boxer alive after Joe Louis, Henry targeted his energies on defending his 147 pound title. He was truly a bit small for a welterweight, however that didn’t cease “Hammerin’ Henry” from racking up probably the most title defenses within the division’s historical past, nineteen in complete, earlier than the one-and-only Fritzie Zivic toppled him in an enormous upset. However earlier than he ever crossed paths with “The Croat Comet,” Armstrong notched title protection quantity fourteen in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri when he took on one Joe Ghnouly, aka “The St. Louis Bearcat.”
The challenger was no slouch himself with 59 wins on his document, however he was not on the identical degree as his crosstown rival. In different phrases, Ghnouly was a gifted boxer, a legit contender who had gone the gap with Ross and Child Chocolate and had overwhelmed Eddie Cool, however Henry Armstrong was on an entire different degree, a real all-time nice; certainly, and not using a hint of hyperbole, we are able to say Hank was one in all The Greatest Ever. He floored Ghnouly 3 times in spherical one, which prompted the challenger to get on his bicycle and hold his distance as finest he may over the following few rounds, earlier than three Armstrong left hooks ended the match within the fifth.
And simply twenty days later, there was “Murder Hank” in Madison Sq. Backyard, stopping in 9 rounds challenger quantity fifteen, Pedro Montanez, and provoking The New York Occasions to rave about Henry’s fistic “savagery,” declaring that “no man close to Armstrong’s inches or poundage may have survived [his] blistering firepower.”
Two knockouts in two world title defenses in simply shy of three weeks. That’s how they used to roll, of us. A unique time and a unique form of combat sport, when boxing followers may watch true legends do battle. And knew “the true factor” once they noticed it.
— Michael Carbert
