Editing Henry Armstrong (section)

==Early career==
Armstrong began his professional career on July 28, 1931, in a fight with Al Iovino, in which Armstrong was knocked out in three rounds. His first win came later that year, beating Sammy Burns by a decision in six. In 1932, Armstrong moved to Los Angeles, where he lost two four-round decisions in a row to Eddie Trujillo and Al Greenfield. Following these two losses, however, he started a streak of 11 wins.<ref name="BoxRec">{{cite web|url=http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/009018|title=BoxRec: Henry Armstrong|access-date=16 April 2018}}</ref>

In 1936, Armstrong split his time among Los Angeles, Mexico City and St. Louis. A few notable opponents of that year include Ritchie Fontaine, Baby Arizmendi, former world champion [[Juan Zurita]], and Mike Belloise.<ref name="BoxRec" /> Early in his career, he fought some fights under the ring name '''Melody Jackson'''.<ref name="UPIObit">{{cite news|last1=Ryan|first1=James|title=Boxer Henry Armstrong dead at 75|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/10/25/Boxer-Henry-Armstrong-dead-at-75/2193593755200/|access-date=16 April 2018|agency=UPI|language=en}}</ref>

In 1937 alone, Armstrong went 27–0 (26KO). Aldo Spoldi was the only opponent to take him the full 10 rounds. He knocked out Baby Casanova in three rounds, Belloise in four, Joe Rivers in three, former world champion [[Frankie Klick]] in four, and former world champion [[Benny Bass]] in four.<ref name="BoxRec" /> Armstrong was given his first world title fight, for the title in the 126-pound weight class against World [[Featherweight]] Champion [[Petey Sarron]] at [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]]. Armstrong knocked Sarron out in six rounds, becoming the World Featherweight Champion.<ref name="BoxingDictBio">{{cite book|last1=Grasso|first1=John|title=Historical Dictionary of Boxing|date=2014|publisher=The Scarecrow Press, Inc.|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=978-0810878679|pages=44–45}}</ref>

Armstrong's two nicknames were ''Hurricane Henry'' and ''Homicide' Hank''.<ref name="ha">{{cite web|url=http://www.henryarmstrong.net/BIOGRAPHY.html|title=Biography of Henry Armstrong|author=Armstrong Family|access-date=2009-04-16|year=2009|publisher=Official Henry Armstrong website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511003744/http://www.henryarmstrong.net/BIOGRAPHY.html|archive-date=2009-05-11|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1938, Armstrong started his season with seven more knockouts in a row, including one over [[Chalky Wright]], a future world champion. The streak finally ended when Arizmendi lasted ten rounds before losing a decision to Armstrong in their fourth fight. Armstrong's streak of 27 knockout wins in a row qualifies as one of the longest knockout win streaks in the history of boxing, according to ''[[The Ring (magazine)|The Ring]]'' magazine.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

Later in 1938, Armstrong, still the Featherweight division world champion, challenged [[Barney Ross]] for the title. Later a fellow member of the three division champions' club, Ross was then World [[Welterweight]] Champion. Armstrong, at {{frac|133|1|2}} pounds, beat Ross, at 142 pounds, by unanimous decision, adding the World Welterweight Championship to his belt. Armstrong lost weight in order to compete in the lower weight division, and beat World [[Lightweight]] Champion [[Lou Ambers]] by split decision. Armstrong was the first boxer ever to hold world championships in three different weight divisions at the same time. He decided not to maintain the required 126-pound weight anymore and left the featherweight crown vacant.<ref name="BoxingDictBio" />