Henry Armstrong vs Richie Fontaine 3

A challenger who had once beaten the champion was knocked down seven times before his corner surrendered in the third round. Henry Armstrong retained the world welterweight championship against Richie Fontaine at Seattle’s Civic Auditorium on 20 October 1939, ending their third meeting by technical knockout. Promoted by Nate Druxman and scheduled for fifteen rounds, the contest settled a series that had begun with two points decisions in 1936. Fontaine won their first encounter in Oakland on 26 February; Armstrong reversed that result at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles on 31 March. By the time they met in Seattle, Armstrong had become a world champion in three divisions.

Armstrong arrived during a particularly active run of welterweight defences. He had stopped Al Manfredo in four rounds at Des Moines on 9 October and Howard Scott in two at Minneapolis four days later. Those victories followed the loss of his lightweight championship to Lou Ambers in August, but his welterweight title remained intact. Fontaine, from Missoula, Montana, could point to his previous success against Armstrong, although the champion was firmly expected to retain his crown. Their earlier meetings had each lasted ten rounds; this championship encounter would be decided well before either man approached that distance.

The decisive change came in the second round. Armstrong identified a right hand below the ear, delivered during an exchange at centre ring, as the punch that first disabled Fontaine. The challenger dropped to his knees and afterwards said he remembered nothing from that point. He went down four more times before the bell. The contemporary Associated Press account described counts ranging from none to four, rather than five falls without a count. Fontaine repeatedly regained his feet quickly, but his balance and ability to resist had been badly affected. The bell ended a round in which Armstrong had established complete control.

Fontaine emerged unsteadily for the third. Armstrong continued looking for openings and knocked him down for a six-count. The challenger struggled upright, only to be sent face-first to the canvas by a short left jab. His corner threw in the towel before referee Tommy Clark completed the count, ending the contest at two minutes and three seconds. The Associated Press report recorded five knockdowns in the second round and two in the third, seven altogether, before approximately 6,000 spectators. The finish was a technical knockout through the intervention of Fontaine’s seconds, rather than a completed ten-count.

The result gave Armstrong the deciding victory in their three-fight series and completed his third consecutive stoppage that month. His schedule allowed little pause: four days later he defended against Jimmy Garrison in Los Angeles, winning over ten rounds, and on 30 October he stopped Bobby Pacho in Denver. Seattle had supplied another successful defence within that demanding programme. Fontaine’s earlier victory remained part of their history, but once Armstrong’s right hand broke his resistance in the second round, the challenger could no longer make the championship meeting competitive.

I reckon this shows how far Armstrong had moved on since Fontaine beat him in 1936. They’d split two points decisions, but their third meeting ended with Fontaine’s corner throwing in the towel. That earlier win deserved respect; it offered little protection against the champion Armstrong had become.

The telling detail for me is the right below the ear in the second. Fontaine said he remembered nothing afterwards. He kept getting up, but recovering your feet isn’t the same as recovering your balance. Five knockdowns in that round left him in no condition to defend himself, and two more followed in the third. His seconds were right to stop it.

Armstrong had already stopped Manfredo and Scott that month. I admire that work rate, but the accuracy matters here: one well-placed right changed the contest, and he finished the job without allowing Fontaine to recover.