Henry Armstrong vs Jimmy Garrison

A fourth welterweight title defence in sixteen days brought another victory for Henry Armstrong, though Jimmy Garrison lasted the full ten rounds. At the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on 24 October 1939, Armstrong retained his championship on points against the Kansas City challenger. The contest followed victories over Al Manfredo on 9 October, Howard Scott on 13 October and Richie Fontaine in Seattle just four days before the Garrison engagement. All three had been stopped; Garrison resisted that outcome despite an eighth-round knockdown.

Armstrong weighed 138 pounds, comfortably below the welterweight limit, while Garrison was reported at 139½ pounds. The champion secured a clear advantage over the ten rounds, but could not bring the contest to the early conclusion achieved in his preceding appearances. Garrison remained in the fight long enough to force Armstrong to complete the scheduled distance. Referee George Blake controlled the action and also served as the sole scoring official, under the system employed for the contest.

The principal incident came in the eighth round, when Armstrong put Garrison on the floor. The challenger rose after a count of one and prevented a further knockdown as Armstrong attempted to follow his advantage. His resistance drew an appreciative response from the spectators. Garrison survived the remaining rounds, but the knockdown reinforced the champion’s superiority rather than introducing a change in the direction of the contest. At the final bell, Blake awarded Armstrong the points verdict. No numerical tally accompanies the recorded decision.

The result continued Armstrong’s successful championship tour, with another engagement already arranged against Bobby Pacho in Denver on 30 October. Garrison had lost clearly, but had completed ten rounds against a champion whose recent opponents had been unable to do so. The two met again in Cleveland on 11 December, when Armstrong won inside seven rounds. In Los Angeles, however, Garrison’s recovery from the eighth-round knockdown ensured that the championship was settled by the referee’s decision.

I reckon Garrison deserves credit for making Armstrong complete ten rounds here. Henry had stopped Manfredo, Scott and Fontaine earlier that month, then defended again just four days after Seattle. That schedule tells you why his engine mattered so much. Fans got a champion who kept turning up and doing the work.

Garrison went down in the eighth, got up after a count of one and prevented another knockdown. I respect that, but lasting the distance doesn’t make a fight close. Armstrong earned the decision; Garrison’s achievement was staying competitive enough to reach the bell against a considerably better fighter.

This was the first of four meetings, and Armstrong won every one. He stopped Garrison in their next encounter, then beat him twice more years later. For me, that settles their relative standing. Garrison was a respectable contender, but Henry repeatedly proved he had his measure. There’s no need to dress this up as an evenly matched rivalry to appreciate the challenger’s toughness.