Full Name: Henry Melody Jackson Jr.
Nickname: Hurricane Henry, Homicide Hank
Weight Class: Welterweight
Birthdate: December 12, 1912
Birthplace: Columbus, Mississippi
Record: 151-21-9, 101 KOs
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5'5 ½"
Reach: 67"
Trainer: Al Silvani

Accomplishments

• 1937 The Ring Fighter of the Year
• Only boxer in history to hold world titles in three different divisions simultaneously
• Defeated 16 world champions
• Inducted into the International Hall of Fame in 1990
• Ranked 2nd in The Ring's list of the 80 Best Fights of the Last 80 Years

Biography

Henry Melody Jackson Jr. was born on December 12, 1912 in Columbus, Mississippi. He later moved with his family to St. Louis, Missouri, where he developed his boxing skills. Jackson, who fought under the name of Henry Armstrong, started out as a professional on July 28, 1931, being knocked out by Al Sorvino in three rounds. His first win came later that year, beating Sammy Burns via a six round decision. In 1932, Armstrong moved to Los Angeles, where he started out losing two four round decisions in a row to Eddie Trujillo and Al Greenfield, but after that, won 11 fights in a row, a streak which extended to 193, until he lost again to Baby Manuel. Then he went 22 straight wins, going 17-0-5 in that span, including a win in a Sacramento rematch with Manuel, and five wins over Perfecto Lopez.

In 1936, Henry campaigned between Los Angeles, Mexico City and St. Louis. Some notable opponents that year were Ritchie Fontaine, against whom he lost by decision and then won by decision in the rematch, Arizmendi, whom he finally beat by a ten round decision, former world champion Juan Zurita and former champ Mike Belloise, who also lost a decision to Armstrong.

In 1938, Armstrong started with seven more knockouts in a row, including one over future world champion Chalky Wright. The streak finally ended when Arizmendi lasted ten rounds before losing a decision to Armstrong in their fourth fight. His streak of 27 knockout wins in a row qualifies as one of the longest knockout win streaks in the history of boxing according to The Ring. After the fourth bout with Arizmendi was a bout with Eddie Zivic, resulting in another Armstrong knockout win.

After one more bout, Armstrong, the 126 pound division world champion, challenged a fellow member of the three division champions' club, welterweight champion Barney Ross for the title. Armstrong beat Ross by unanimous decision, adding the world Welterweight championship to his accomplishments. Then, he went down in weight, and challenged world Lightweight champion Lou Ambers. In a history making night, Armstrong became the first boxer ever to have world championships in three different divisions at the same time, by beating Ambers on points. A few days later, he decided he couldn't make the 126 pounds weight anymore, and left the Featherweight crown vacant.

He spent the next two years defending the welterweight crown, beating Ceferino Garcia, Al Manfredo and Bobby Pacho, before defending his Lightweight belt in a rematch with Ambers, which he lost on a 15 round decision. After that, he concentrated once again on defending the world Welterweight title, and made eight defenses in a row, the last of which was a nine round knockout win over Pedro Montañez. Then, he tried to make history once again by becoming the first boxer to win world titles in four different categories in a rematch with then Middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia, but the fight ended in a ten round draw.

He went back to Welterweight and retained the title five more times, until Fritzie Zivic was able to avenge his brother Eddie's defeat by taking the world title away from Armstrong with a 15 round decision. With this loss, Armstrong's reign as Welterweight champion came to an end, leaving Armstrong's successful defense streak at eighteen, the most defenses by a champion ever in Welterweight history. In 1941, they boxed a rematch, this time, Zivic stopping Armstrong in 12 rounds.

Armstrong registered an official record of 150 wins, 21 losses and 9 draws, with 100 knockout wins. His exact record, however, isn't really known, because it is said he fought some pay fights under the nickname of Melody Jackson.