I'm intrigued to find out more about this Lightweight fighter who fought during the 1930's. All I know is that he split a series with Henry Armstrong and he had an impressive unbeaten streak of 30 plus fights against very good opposition (including Tony Canzoneri). Outside of that I don't know a great deal regarding the rest of his career. Is there anybody from the forum who'd have extensive and in depth knowledge of his resume? Also where would you regard his all-time standing in the divisions history to be? Any informative replies would be greatly appreciated, thanks. :thumbsup
I can't offer too much. He had excellent legs and utilized good movement during his youth. His trademark punch was an unusual one for a boxer who fought out of an orthodox stance. Ambers had a left uppercut he could use like a jab, doubling and tripling up on it. He was one of the few fighters of his era who could uppercut effectively with both hands (predating Wilfredo Gomez by nearly a half century). Tony Canzoneri was his idol, and he worked as a sparring partner for Canzi. Later, under the management of Al Weil, and tutelage of Charley Goldman, he first challenged Canzi for the LW Title in 1935. Although he was still young, Tony was an old boxer, with much ring wear, and had declined sharply by this time. But Canzi conserved his legs, dropped Ambers twice, and outboxed him skillfully in one of the most saavy ring displays ever filmed. However, it was only a matter of time, and a year and a half later Ambers decisioned Canzi in a rematch to take the title. When he defended the title against Armstrong, Hank was still a natural lightweight. He was in fine shape after he was through sending Barney Ross into retirement, completely unmarked, and beaming broadly. But Ambers busted up his face, cutting and fattening Armstrong's lip, swelling up his eye, and causing him to swallow a cascade of his own blood, fluid Hank was puking back into a bucket in his dressing room after their contest. Armstrong may have dominated Ambers, but Lou made him pay for it. In the photograph of the referee raising Hank's arm afterwards, Henry looks like hell. (In fact, I can't think of another photograph off-hand where the face of the boxer whose arm is being raised looks so bad.) Arthur Donovan robbed Armstrong of that LW championship in his rematch with Ambers, taking away enough rounds from Hank on low blow penalties to give the title back to Lou, but Ambers did manage to close his eye again, making Armstrong again look the part of a loser. It's safe to say that Ambers was Armstrong's toughest opponent in championship competition until Hank lost the WW Title to Zivic. It's largely based on the way a post-prime Canzi handled Lou in their 1935 meeting that I believe the peak Canzi who repelled Billy Petrolle over 15 rounds in 1932 might have gotten the best of a peak Armstrong. The top featherweights, lightweights and welterweights of that era were all tough as nails, a key argument for ranking Armstrong over SRR in all-time P4P status. The champions of that era in those weight classes were in no way the beneficaries of any kind of talent void. A rubber match between Armstrong and Ambers would have been no sure thing for Hank, and may well have been brutal enough to abbreviate his WW reign. (Lou made no move to try claiming Armstrong's WW championship after their rematch, an indication of the greater prestige the LW distinction was held in during that period. Like Benny Leonard, he wasn't interested in moving up to what many still considered something of a ******* division.) Where the history of that division is concerned, Gans, Duran and Leonard are generally listed at the very top. An argument could be made for placing Ambers among whatever the second tier of perfomers at 135 happen to be. The IBHOF inducted Canzi and Armstrong into their inaugural class of 1990. Ambers was added in 1992, a fair reflection of his standing among the lightweights.
Did he train after fighting? If so i am almost sure i have a big article on him (and including his comments) from a long long time ago.
fascinating stuff.the ist round i saw i thought was the last they both looked fatigued.i was surprised it was the 1st half of the fight.however they just seemed to increase the pace as it went on.armstrong must have been the fittest guy ever.what i found particularily fascinating was their low held gloves,particularily ambers,both seemed to rely entirely on head and upper body movement for their defence,although in armstrongs case also his incessant attacking style.real tough guys.
