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Henry Jackson Jr. (1912-1988) was a world boxing
champion who fought under the name Henry
Armstrong.

The son of a sharecropper and America Armstrong,
an Iroquois Indian, Henry Jr. was a boxer who not
only was a member of the exclusive group of
fighters that have won world titles in three or
more different divisions, but also has the
distinction of being the only male to hold three
titles at the same time, a distinction he will
hold forever, because long after recording his
feat, boxing organizations ruled that male
fighters can now hold only one division's world
championship(s) at the same time, and boxers are
nowadays forced to retain only one title and give
up the other if they hold more than one title at
the same time. He and Ann Wolfe (four world titles
in different divisions at the same time), are the
only ones to have conquered titles in three or
more divisions at the same time in all of boxing's
history.

A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Armstrong moved
as a youngster with his family to St. Louis, where
he was later inducted into the St. Louis Walk Of
Fame. Armstrong's two nicknames were Hurricane
Henry, and Hammerin' Hank.

Armstrong started out as a professional on July
28, 1931, being knocked out by Al Sorvino in three
rounds. Just like Alexis Arguello and Wilfredo
Vazquez in the future, Armstrong was one world
champion who started off on the losing end. His
first win came later that year, beating Sammy
Burns by a decision in six. 

In 1932, Armstrong moved to Los Angeles,
California|Los Angeles, where he started out
losing two four round decisions in a row, to Eddie
Trujillo and Al Greenfield. But after that, he
started a streak of 11 wins in a row, a streak
which expanded to 1933, until he lost again, to
Baby Manuel. Then he went 22 straight fights
without a defeat, going 17-0-5 in that span,
including a win in a Sacramento,
California|Sacramento rematch with Manuel, and
five wins over Perfecto Lopez. After that, he
moved to Mexico City, where in his first fight
there, he lost to former world Bantamweight
champion Baby Arizmendi. He had four more fights
there, going 2-2 and losing to Arizmendi in what
was considered by Mexico and California a world
title bout (thus Armstrong losing on his first
championship try), and to Baby Casanova by a five
round disqualification. He then moved back to
California, where he went 8-1-1 for the next ten
bouts. 

In 1936, Armstrong split time campaigning between
Los Angeles, Mexico City and St. Louis. Some
opponents of note 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.

Armstrong started out 1937 by winning 22 bouts in
a row, 21 by knockout. He beat Casanova in three,
Belloise in four, Joe Rivers in three, former
world champion Frankie Klick in four and former
world champion Benny Bass in four. After those 22
wins in a row, the inevitable happened: Armstrong
was given his first world title try, for the 126
pounds title, Featherweight world champion Petey
Sarron defending it against him at the Madison
Square Garden. Armstrong became world's
Featherweight champion knocking out Sarron in six,
and closed the year with four more knockout wins. 

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
Ring Magazine. After the fouth bout with Arizmendi
was a bout with Fritzie Zivic's brother, Eddie
Zivic, resulting in another Armstrong knockout
win, and after one more bout, Armstrong, the 126
pound division world champion, challenged a fellow
member of the three division champions' club,
Barney Ross, then world Welterweight champion, for
the title. Armstrong, 126, beat Ross, 147, by
unanimous decision, adding the world Welterweight
championship to his Featherweight belt. 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 dedicated the next two years to defending the
welterweight crown, beating, among others, future
world Middleweight champion 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 Puerto Rico's Pedro Montanez. 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 Garcia, already world
Middleweight champion, but the fight ended in a
ten round draw, Armstrong's attempt to win a
fourth division's world title being frustrated. 

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. In 1941, they boxed a rematch,
this time, Zivic stopping Armstrong in 12 rounds. 

1942 saw Armstrong go 13-1, including wins over
world champions (Fritzie) Zivic in a ten round non
title bout, Jenkins and Zurita. 

1943 saw him go 10-3, with wins over world
champions Tippy Larkin and Sammy Angott in ten
round bouts, and losses to world champions Beau
Jack and Sugar Ray Robinson, also in ten round
bouts.

1944 saw Henry go 14-2-1 in 17 bouts, among those,
another win over Belloise.

After winning one fight, losing one and drawing
one in 1945, Armstrong decided to retire from
boxing. Apart from the ceremonies and galas that
he attended afterwards, he led a relatively quiet
life for the rest of his life. He became a newborn
Christian and an ordained pastor, and he taught
youngers how to box. 

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.

Armstrong is a member of the International Boxing
Hall Of Fame.

After retiring from boxing, Henry Armstrong became
a Baptist minister.

On his passing in 1988, he was interred in the
Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles,
California.