Henry Armstrong
“Homicide Hank”
Titles & honours
- World Featherweight Champion (1937)
- World Lightweight Champion (1938)
- World Welterweight Champion (1938)
Biography
Henry Jackson Jr., born Columbus, Mississippi in 1912, is the only fighter in history to hold three world titles in three different weight classes simultaneously (October 1938 – August 1939). He won the world featherweight title from Petey Sarron in October 1937, the lightweight title from Lou Ambers in August 1938, and the welterweight title from Barney Ross three months earlier in May 1938 — defending welterweight 19 times across 1938-1940 (still a record). Armstrong's style was perpetual motion: he threw 100+ punches per round at his peak, working the body relentlessly. After failing to win a fourth title at middleweight in 1940, he retired in 1945 and became a Baptist minister. The Armstrong Triple Crown era ran from 1937 to 1940; no fighter has matched it since.