Armstrong never had a hard punch, he just hits often and never stopping. If he could hit hard, he would have knockout Barney Ross, as Ross fought wide open. Robinson had it all.
101 KOs in 152 wins? Ya, not a hard puncher. Ross was just really tough. He was only ever floored once. Armstrong may not have been Tony Zale or a devastating puncher like that, but he enough power to produce that many knockouts.
If you take a good look at his record, he fought the same fighter 3 to 4 times never losing, and other fighters 2 -3 times (winning) each, now multiply that by 20 fighters, did you get my point. It has been sometime since I last calculated the number of fights, that were push overs/ in for a payday. Now, I am not saying that I have this exactly correct, but I am not far off. It does prove one think though, they all where not competition. What it does achieve is an inflated resume'. NY sportswriters mentioned that a lot fighters, took the easy way out and laid down.
He went 2-2 against Willie Joyce after coming back from retirement. How is that a pushover opponent? We’re talking about one of the better fighters in the history of the most loaded division to never win a strap. Stop conversing with Ron Davis. He’s a relative of Davey Day and he’s been peddling this agenda on boxing forum after boxing forum for years now.
That said, while he goes overboard, Day does seem to have been a hell of a fighter. He fought two way wars with the likes Armstrong, Ambers, Angott (3 times), Arizmendi, and Montanez. He went 2-5 in those fights officially, but from what I’ve read at the behest of Mr. Davis, he maybe could’ve gone 5-2 with better luck. Most were very close bouts. It’s interesting that a fighter of that caliber can completely slip through the cracks.
15 stoppages in 19 defenses, with 11 of them coming in the first 5 rounds. I think if anything Armstrong is underrated as a puncher.
In an historical sense, I’d agree. Mainly because wouldn’t even be a Welterweight in later eras. During his time he proved to be a great puncher at every weight, though. Welter included. It’s not all attrition if you’re getting them outta there in the first few rounds. The man hit very hard.
Armstrong was a great fighter, a great puncher and a great welterweight (although he was never more than a lightweight really). The idea that his record was mainly built up on stiffs who laid down is nonsense. Sure, there were lots of "filler" fights. Fighters back then fought often, it was a job, they had bills to pay. And people would come out and pay to see them.
I don't think Davey Day slipped through the cracks. He's often been cited as one of the great Jewish fighters, or the last great Jewish fighter of the days when there were dozens of good Jewish fighters in America, and Chicago specifically.
Where? I’ve only ever read about him from Ron Davis’ various posts on Internet forums. I don’t recall a single discussion involving him otherwise. He doesn’t even have a basic Wiki.
