Dick Tiger vs Henry Hank

My uncle Allen S. Rosenfeld,who wrote a 600 plus page book on Charlie Burley,saw it and said that Tiger was just too good for him.My uncle is a huge fan of both Tiger and Hank,but being from Detroit really loved Hank.From what he told me,Joey Giardello would never claim that Hanks
fights with him were fabricated-as they apparently were in 'The Hurricane'.The first fight I ever saw live was Hanks fight with Chick Calderwood,who-without double checking,I think was the Europeon 175 lb. champ.I remember Hank won easilly;he was a big-time puncher.

 

Yes, I have it on tape.

Sure was!! One of the best middleweight clashes ever IMO. Tiger really dished out a lot of punishment, but Hank was game and never stopped coming and throwing. Also one of Tiger's best pre-championship performances.

Notable middleweight contender for several years. Big puncher, iron chin. His biggest win was probably a decision over future champ and HOFer Joey Giardello. He lost a close, disputed split decision in a thrilling rematch with Giardello that was The Ring's Fight of the Year, and is also considered an all-time classic. He actually had some boxing ability (as he showed later on as a LHW), but often tended to dispense with defense and slug, sometimes to his own detriment. He could be taken by a slick boxer too, as Gene Armstrong showed. After the Tiger loss, he moved up to LHW, and made some waves by losing a close, very questionable (IMO) split decision to leading contender Mauro Mina, who was fighting for the first time in the US and had intended Hank as a "showcase" fight for him. I felt Hank actually outboxed him for most of the early rounds, then faded late (think DeLaHoya-Tito) but still should've gotten the decision, or at least a draw IMO. Hank had a few good wins at LHW and got himself ranked there, but he never found the same success there as he had had at MW, and he soon settled into the role of a journeyman and fringe contender. The only fighter ever to stop him in his career was an up-and-comer named Bob Foster, who stopped him in the 10th round of what was supposedly another war. A year or so later (by which time Hank was well past his prime) he went the full distance with Foster, but lost on points.

 

The tape references the Pender-Terry Downes upcoming MW title fight on home tV.

I saw Hanks fight several times on TV back then.

Those were great days of MW's.

 

After the fight with Tiger, Hank said the weight he had made was too light, that he couldn't get any steam into his punches. He came in at about 158, had been knocking everybody out (Bowdry, Calhoun etc.) at 160-164

 

One of the best fights Ive seen at the weight...A must see.

 

Hank's biggest flaw IMO was his inactiveness. At times during bouts he could've had the upper hand in, he seemed to just coast and give up rounds. When he let his hands go he was very formidable, but he'd often go too long after a particularly devastating combo to start letting them go again. His bout with Gene Armstrong is a good example of this, though Gene was a very good boxer in his own right, and his lateral movement could've had something to do with it.

 

I`ve got a brief two minute clip of the second Foster/Hank bout, and in it Hank actually has Foster on the backfoot and boxing cautiously as Hank keeps wading in with those wild and dangerous hooks of his. Not very often you see Foster fighting off the backfoot against anybody, goes to show what kind of respect he had even for a past his prime Hanks power and aggression.

 

Another thing about Hank. In more than one instance he was either the first, or only person to knock out a given fighter, in one case both were true (the undeafeated Rudy Ellis). Also note how many times he came on to knock out or overcome an opponent in round 10 (had George Benton helpless on the ropes at the end of the 10th; Rubin Cartedr couldn't do that). And boy, was he fun to watch; wish there were more films from the late 50' and early 60's