The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-12-12
NEGRO FIGHTER CROWNED CHAMP
 BY J. P. STAFF
Henry Armstrong Greatest Athlete of I038 Reveals
 United Press Poll
By HARRY FERGUSON United Press Sports EditOr)

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 New York, Dec. 12-(UP) Henry Armstrong, only man who ever held three world boxing championships at the same time, was crowned today as the greatest athlete of 1888 in the United Press annual poll of sports writers representing every section of the nation.
 The honor came to the kinky- haired little Negro as sort of birthday present, for he was born 26 years ago today in St. Louis youngest of family of 13 children.
 Eight years ago he was driving around the country in decrepit fiivver, fighting for dimes and quar- ters; today he is recognized as a man who may be the greatest fight CT, pound for pound, that ever lived.
 Armstrong was as closely pressed in this poll as he ever was in the ring against a Ross, an Ambers or a Garcia. He barely beat out Don Budge, the great tennis player who turned professional near the end of the year.
 Armstrong got 36 per cent of the votes cast in answer to this QueS- tion: ''Who was the greatest ath- lete of 1888 and why?"
 Budge got 30 per cent of the votes and 10 per cent went to Johnny Wander Nicer of the Cincinnati Reds who pitched two consecutive no-hit games last summer. There were scattered votes for Patty Berg, dom- inant figure in women's golf; Glenn Cunningham, a great runner; Ace Parker, professional baseball and. football player; Whizzer White, triple threat man for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the Professional Football league; Hank Greenberg, the De- troit Tigers home run hitter; and Sammy Enead, biggest money win- ner among the professional golfers.
 But Armstrong and Budge domi- mated the voting and it was a neck and neck race down to the last few ballots.
 Typical of the comment of those voting for Armstrong was that of \ ob AtOocS Okl4Ao V4 b11C xvCW York Post, who wrote:
 He won three titles within a few months, the only man in the history of boxing to perform such a feat, and successfully defended one cham pionship twice within three months of winning it."
 To which Lisle Shoemaker, sports editor of the San Diego Sun, added: Armstrong beat 'em high, he beat 'em low and he beat lem in the mid- dle. He didn't ask for quarter, no, not even for four bits. Holding three titles in fairly tough competition must make him great"
 A typical spokesman for the Budge bloc was Jack Bell of the Miami Daily News, who wrote:
 Don Budge-Because he won his championships and completed the greatest record of any amateur ten- his player in the history of the sport. He met and defeated all kinds of opponents in all kinds of weather on all kinds of courts, both at home and abroad. In other words, he was as good as he had to be whenever he had to be-"
 These voting for Budge empha- sized that the not only made slam of all the worlds major tennis titles, but that he was the dominant man on the court when the Ameri- can team went out to defend the Davis club against Australia.
 ArmStrong's march to the top started in October, 1897, when he knocked out Petey Sarron in six rounds at Madison Square Garden and won the featherweight cham- pionship of the world. As he grew, he found that his natural fighting weight was around 133 pounds and he began to campaign against welterweights and lightweights.
 On June l, 1888, he climbed into the Madison Square Garden Bowl against Barney Ross, welterweigkt champion. What followed was slaughter. Ross, as gallant a boy as ever hit the canvas, took a terrible beating but managed to last 15 rounds. The welterweight title passed to Armstrong on the unani- nous decision of the referee and the two judges.
 Armstrong's sternest test came this fall when he went after Lou Ambers' lightweight title. They met in Madison Square Garden and Armstrong won split decision. Not until the next day did anybody be- sides Henry know how hard fight It had been. Physicians said Henry swallowed more than a quart of blood during the battle.
 Henry gave up his featherweight title late this year and concentrated on defending the lightweight and welterweight championships.