Henry Armstrong (Barney Ross) vs Floyd Mayweather (Corrales) Who Wins?

So, there was a place that the Marx brothers used to hang out with guys like Jack Benny, George Burns, some fighters, Al Jolson, etc. It was a popular joint, very Jewish. There was a popular record on the radio back then and it was called "You've Gotta See Mama Ev'ry Night (Or You Can't See Mama At All)." The year was 1923, the singer was Sophie Tucker. George used to order the sea bass, every time they hung out there. Every time. One day, Groucho immediately pounced on George's tiresome order and joked "If you can't sea bass every night, you can't sea bass at all." Everyone laughs, George included.

But Groucho does it every day afterward, because George orders sea bass every day afterward, like he had before. And Groucho says it every time as though it were just as witty and shiny new as ever it had been. George gets annoyed. He's not going to be heckled out of his favorite meal by this joke. Damn it. But he is getting increasingly more agitated by this joke, right? So, after a while, he goes to the waiter before sitting down, and he says, "Hey, kid, you gonna be our waiter?... Okay, listen, don't ask me what I want at the table, just bring me the sea bass." and the waiter, without hesitation bellows "IF YOU CAN'T SEA BASS EVERY NIGHT, YOU CAN'T SEA BASS AT ALL!"

Anyway, that's how I think this fight is gonna go.

 

Brother Armstrong would beat him half to death, not a close fight, that’s almost the P4P 1# vs a guy who would be a good contender in most other eras and far away from a long time top 10 P4Per.

 

I don’t think anyone wants that, I don’t think I’m smart enough either.

 

Armstrong

 

I honestly don’t think people are factoring in enough the drastic difference in reach between the two. Armstrong beat a lot of all of famers but none of them had the reach advantage Floyd would have over him. Floyd knows how to use his reach. Really the only fighter hall of famer he fought that had comparable reach is Robinson and he was past his best then and lost all 10 rounds.

 

Floyd had 5" of reach over Hank.

Sammy Angott had 3", Tippy Larkin had 4", Fritzie Zivic had 4". Hank beat them all.

On the converse, Maidana had a similar reach to Hank and gave Floyd all sorts of problems.

Hank's footwork and motor would shrink that advantage in quick order.

 

Armstrong. Way too busy for Floyd

 

It's not just about the reach. It's about utilizing the reach. That 5 inch reach advantage looks like a telephone pole if used properly. Floyd was in his late 30s against Maidana. We are talking about a 24 year old Floyd. I personally don't think any of those fighters you named are as good or better than Floyd. I see Floyd just utilizing his movement and keeping the fight at a distance. Keeping him at distance with his jab and counter punching. When Armstrong gets close, tie him up. Rinse wash and repeat. With a style like Armstrong, there are two ways to beat it. Either back him up or box from distance. Considering no one backed him up, you out box him from distance.

 

All the above are good points. We know what Floyd would try to do. But it remains that Armstrong knew how to defeat distance, both in reach and footwork. And Floyd never faced the sort of pressure and work rate that Hank brought to the table. And in this case, we can't just say that the talent pool wasn't any good. He beat all sorts styles and among them 10 Hall of Famers.

Now, there are no correct answers here. Both fighters are great enough for an argument to be made on both sides. But if I were to spend my money on one or the other fighter, assuming both fighters have the same benefits of camp and film and training, et. al., I would pick Armstrong.

 

Respect. Good points. I can't really argue with any of them. I just honestly think from watching the fights that he has had against the opponents that we have seen him against, he hasn't fought an opponent with the skill level and abilities of Floyd outside of Sugar Ray Robinson (which isn't on tape). I haven't seen him against someone who utilizes their reach at a high level. I haven't seen him face someone with the defensive and counter punching capabilities of Floyd. I will admit there is some ignorance on my part because maybe he has and we just haven't seen the fights. But from what I've seen, I think he would have A LOT of problems dealing with those types of things. At the same time, we know Floyd has seen pressure. We have seen Floyd at times struggle with it. We have also seen Floyd (more often than not) dissect it. Now he hasn't seen a pressure fighter at the level of Armstrong which is why I can't disagree with your opinion.

Another thing I think about as well is the size difference. Henry Armstrong while strong for his size was still IMO smaller than Floyd. Henry size wise looks like Pacquiao. I have never seen a smaller fighter pressure Floyd and not get either stopped or totally out boxed. The pressure fighters that have given Floyd problems were bigger or the same size as him. I honestly feel like I'm being unfair to Armstrong because there's much more tape of Floyd than of him. I haven't seen any fight where a guy had an elite lead hand to make Armstrong think or use elite distance control. Yeah, I'm simplifying it a bit. Armstrong had head movement. He did bob and weave to help get himself inside but I haven't seen him do that against someone that uses elite distance control. It's much harder to do those things against fighters who have significant reach advantages and knows how to use them.

 

This is another of those scenarios where I don't see how one guy wins - though he may be an all-time great. Armstrong's relentless pressure would make Floyd wish he's back fighting Castillo. Floyd doesn't hit hard enough to deter Armstrong from barging in, much less put him out; and he sure ain't outworking Armstrong. So where is the path to victory? Personal bias here: I don't ever favor low-activity, defensive maestros against swarmers in general, unless the former can hit really hard - or the latter has a glass jaw. Neither is the case here.