Henry Armstrong vs Phil Furr

Reigning three-division world champion Henry Armstrong retained the world welterweight championship by knocking out Phil Furr in the fourth round at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on September 23, 1940. The end came after one minute 45 seconds of the round, bringing a quick conclusion to a scheduled 15-round contest before a crowd of approximately 16,000. Furr, a Washington favourite who had earned his opportunity after establishing himself among the leading welterweights of the time, was unable to withstand the champion once Armstrong increased the pace. It proved to be Armstrong’s final successful defence of the championship he had taken from Barney Ross more than two years earlier.

Furr was not an unknown quantity in Washington boxing. He had been competing regularly at Griffith Stadium and Turners Arena and, four years earlier, had gone ten rounds with former champion Barney Ross at the same outdoor stadium. Earlier in 1940 he had defeated Steve Mamakos but had subsequently lost a ten-round decision to the highly regarded Cocoa Kid at Griffith Stadium in July. That contest had carried considerable importance because the National Boxing Association had pressed for Armstrong to meet the winner. Cocoa Kid won, but Furr eventually received the championship engagement. Armstrong came to Washington in the midst of one of the most demanding schedules ever undertaken by a reigning champion. During 1940 alone, he had already stopped Joe Ghnouly, Pedro Montanez, Paul Junior twice and Ralph Zannelli, while also meeting middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia in a non-standard title contest and lightweight champion Lew Jenkins in a non-title match.

Armstrong did not immediately throw himself at Furr with the abandon for which he had become famous. The challenger was given some opportunity in the early exchanges to use his boxing and movement, while Armstrong worked forward behind his characteristic crouch, shortening the distance a little at a time. Furr tried to keep the champion outside, where he had a better chance of avoiding the constant body attack and short hooks Armstrong used so effectively at close quarters. It was only a temporary success. Once Armstrong established his range, he began forcing Furr backwards and making him fight under pressure rather than allowing him room to box. Furr was put down as Armstrong’s attack gathered force, and from that point the difference between the two men became increasingly plain.

By the third round Armstrong had taken command. His method was the familiar one: he pressed forward continuously, working from body to head and giving his opponent little opportunity to set himself. Furr tried to answer and was not disposed to surrender his ground voluntarily, but Armstrong’s speed at close range and the volume of his punching left him with little time in which to organise an attack of his own. Furr was floored during the champion’s advance and, although he regained his feet and survived the round, the respite between rounds did not materially improve his position. Armstrong had found the distance at which he wanted to work, and there was no suggestion that he intended to allow the challenger back into the contest.

The finish came swiftly in the fourth. Armstrong resumed his pressure from the opening bell, and Furr was again driven onto the defensive. The champion crowded him, punching in compact bursts and preventing him from escaping into open space. Furr went down under the attack but again managed to rise. Armstrong gave him little opportunity to recover. He closed immediately, continued firing at a challenger whose resistance had plainly weakened, and sent him down for the last time. Furr could not beat the count, and the bout was over at 1:45.

There was little argument about the result. Furr had been a capable and experienced challenger on familiar ground, but he was facing Armstrong during the closing stages of one of the most remarkable championship reigns in boxing history. Armstrong had won the welterweight crown from Ross on May 31, 1938, while still holding the featherweight championship, and shortly afterwards added the lightweight title by defeating Lou Ambers. Although the lightweight crown had returned to Ambers in 1939, Armstrong continued defending the welterweight championship at a rate almost unimaginable in later eras. Furr became another in a lengthy succession of challengers who found themselves unable to keep the champion away once he began his sustained advance.

The victory left Armstrong with a professional record of 111 wins, 13 defeats and eight draws as then recorded, and extended a welterweight championship reign in which activity was as notable as success. There was, however, little time for celebration. Eleven days later Armstrong was scheduled to defend the title again, this time against Fritzie Zivic at Madison Square Garden. That contest would bring his reign to an end when Zivic won a 15-round decision on October 4. The Washington victory over Furr therefore stands as the last successful defence of Armstrong’s welterweight championship, ending with the champion still performing in the relentless manner that had carried him through one of the busiest title reigns the division had seen.

As there’s no film of Armstrong against Phil Furr, I can only judge the fight from the newspaper and boxing reports of the time. What we do know is that Furr was a legitimate contender, rated among the leading welterweights, and Armstrong went through him in four rounds while defending the title yet again.

The Armstrong fights I have watched tell you everything about the sort of problem Furr was facing. Armstrong was a hurricane of a man. He didn’t just walk forward throwing punches; he crowded you intelligently, got his head onto your chest, shortened his shots and never gave you enough room to breathe, think or set your feet. Plenty of pressure fighters waste energy. Armstrong didn’t. His work was compact, relentless and technically far better than people sometimes realise.

By 1940 he was still defending the welterweight title at an extraordinary rate, stopping good fighters one after another before meeting Furr. That matters, because this wasn’t a champion turning up twice a year fresh as a daisy. Armstrong was fighting constantly and still overwhelming men.

Furr lasted into the fourth, but the reports make it clear Armstrong had taken over once he found his rhythm. I can’t pretend to tell you exactly what every punch looked like without film, but the result fits everything we can see of Armstrong elsewhere. He was one of the all-time greats, and at his best, very few fighters in boxing history could match that combination of pressure, stamina, and sheer volume.