Henry Armstrong vs. Fritzie Zivic 'I' ~ "The Most Vicious Battle"

[Bill Paxtom]

October 4, 1940

Henry Armstrong
Age......... 27 years, 10 months
Height..... 5' 5 1/2"
Reach..... 67"
Weight.... 142 lbs.
Record.... 110-12-8 {77 KO's}

'Hammerin Hank' is on an incredible run.

Since March 1936 {4 years, 7 months}, Henry has gone a remarkable 69-2-1,
and with both of the losses being highly controversial.

During that time-span, the 'Little Warrior' has won Titles in '3' different divisions.

And as a Welterweight, Henry has gone 21-0-0 {16 KO's}, including defending
his Title '20-Times' since May 1938.

Also, Henry is coming off a Title Defense {KO 4} over Phil Furr in Washington D.C.
just 11-Days earlier {September 23rd}.

[Bill Paxtom]

September 28, 1940

While Henry Armstrong was set as a {4-1} Betting-Favorite, there were those
who stated that this would Hammerin Hank's toughest defense.

Fritzie Zivic came into New York on September 26th, and immediately showed
the Boxing Pundits that he was more than capable of handling Henry.

Fritzie was impressive in sparring-sessions, and was labeled 'The Miracle Mauler'.
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Sportswriter - Jack Cuddy {UPI} >

Fritzie Zivic is at his 'peak' as a fighter. This spindle-shanked muscular Croatian
is a seasoned performer. He's fast, smart and will be a tough adversary for Henry.

I'm not so sure that the 'Little Buzz-Saw' can take him so easily. The {4-1}
Betting-Odds are too long. These two are much closer matched than that.

Henry is a 'whirlwind', but Fritzie is bigger and stronger.

[Bill Paxtom]

Odds

The day of the October 4, 1940 bout.

If you bet on Henry Armstrong, it was {1-3}.

If you bet on Fritzie Zivic, you got {3-1}.

The 'late' Pittsburg money came in on Fritzie, which dropped the Odds
from {4-1} to {3-1}.

Also, there was a 'rematch clause' signed, that gave Henry a rematch on
January 17, 1941 > if he lost.

Fight Purse Guarantee's
* Henry Armstrong..... $9000 > {Against 40% of the Net Receipts}
* Fritzie Zivic ............. $3000 > {Against 15% of the Net Receipts}

According to New York sources, Fritzie Zivic bet $700 of his purse on
himself, to 'Knockout' Henry Armstrong.

Jack Cuddy stated that Fritzie got 8-1 Odds on scoring a Knockout,
which have netted himself another $5600.

[Bill Paxtom]

October 4, 1940

Madison Square Garden

* Promoter .......... Mike Jacobs
* Attendance ....... 12,081
* Gate Receipts ... $29,212 {Gross} ~ $24,643 {Net}

"The Fight"

In the Opening Round, Fritzie showed that he could out-muscle Henry, and
started off as the aggressor. Fritzie landed a variety of solid left-hands and
had the Champion staying outside.

But Henry came out with guns blazing in Round 2, and out-boxed the Challenger
with fast-hands. Despite being the smaller man {4 1/2" shorter}, Henry
out-punched Fritzie from the outside with both fists blazing.

But, Fritzie {145 1/2 lbs.} showed that he could take it from the fast-punching
Champion {142 lbs.}

Henry continued with his assault in Round 3, but Fritzie was able to muster up
a few solid 'slashing' left-hands into Henry that appeared to bother the Champion's
left-eye.

Henry gave Fritzie a 'bad-beating' in Rounds 4 and 5 - and slammed Fritzie with
an assortment of blows. Henry was clearly the more polished of the two combatants,
and was the Ring General.

The fighters went 'toe-to-toe' in Round 6, and slammed each other with
hard punches. Henry was showing superior technique and brawn. But Fritzie
was showing that he was the stronger man with youth and size, as he took
Henry's best shots and was still there in front of him. Fritzie edged out Round 6.

In Round 7, Henry started out fast and scored with jabs from mid-range. But
Henry's whirlwind-attack style was not seen. By the {2:00 Mark} of Round 7,
Henry was looking a little worn down by the strength of the Challeger.

Fritzie was using his trademark-style of rough in-fighting, by using his head,
elbows and forearms as weapons to damage the Champion's face.
Round 7 was 'Even'.

In Round 8, it was Fritzie's turn to 'dish-it-out', as he caught Henry with some
solid left-hands, and right-uppercuts. Fritzie 'stunned' Henry, and rained blows
on the 'Little Warrior', and the tide of the bout swung over to the Challenger.

In Round 9, Fritzie and Henry again slugged it out, as each took turns whipping
in hard blows. Henry tried to out-strength Fritzie on the inside by whipping in
bolo-punches, but he found the Challenger surprisingly strong. Henry used his
boxing-skills to edge out the Round.

Fritzie continued to hit Henry with stabbing-and-slashing punches, and targeted
the Champion's brows over his eyes.

Thru 9-Rounds, the Champion had a solid lead on the Scorecards, but he was
taking a rough going by the bigger Challenger.

Jack Cuddy scorecard .... {5-3-1} Henry Armstrong
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In Round 10, Fritize took it to Henry in a 'bad-way'. The Challenger busted up the
brows over Henry's eyes by slashing punches into his face.

Suddenly Henry had 'blurred vision' as blood flowed into both eyes. Fritzie then
wailed away and 'rained' blows on the Champion's head.

Fritize knocked the 'mouthpiece' out of Henry's mouth when he landed a vicious
right uppercut into his jaw. Henry's face was now a 'raspberry mess' as blood
came from his mouth.

Henry teetered on weakened legs, and he was nearly stopped as Fritzie slammed
away in dominating the one-sided Round.

As the Round ended, both of Henry's eyes were nearly closed, but the Champion
would not quit.

[Bill Paxtom]

Henry Armstrong vs. Fritzie Zivic 'I'

'Round 11'

'Little Henry' came back hard, and again used his superior boxing-skills to
keep Fritzie outside over the first-half of the Round. But Fritzie just kept
roughing the Champion up with left-hands and right-uppercuts.

By now, Henry could barely see out of his closed eyes, and Fritzie just
kept pumping in square-punches on Henry's bruised face.

But Henry refused to give in, and offered up some late attacks of his
own, bringing cheers from the crowd.

Henry did just enough to edge out the Round.

Henry was holding on to a close {6-4-1} lead in Rounds.
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'Round 12'

Fritzie forced the fight, and mauled Henry with his arms and shoulders.
Henry just didn't have the size to out-muscle Fritzie.

Each time that Henry tried to score with a whirlwind-flurry, Fritzie would
tie Henry up and side-step him. Then Fritzie would rip right-hands underneath
that sapped the Champion's strength. Fritzie continued to pump-in left jabs
and just did enough to take the Round.
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In Round 13, Fritzie continued to pump-in left-jabs into Henry's face. By the
mid-way point in the session, Henry began to noticeably tire.

Fritzie was clearly the better conditioned fighter, as he took clear control
of the bout, and slammed in hard left-hands that had the Champion reeling on
tired legs over the last-minute of Round 13.

[Bill Paxtom]

At the end of 13-Rounds >

Henry Armstrong still lead on 2 of the 3 Scorecards.

* Referee - Art Donovan ....... 7-6-0 > {Henry Armstrong}
* Judge - Marty Monroe ........ 7-6-0 > {Henry Armstrong}
* Judge - John Peters ........... 6-5-2 > {Fritzie Zivic}

Henry, who got staggered in Round 8, and battered in Round 10, was
still clinging to a slim points lead, thanks to his early bout domination.

Despite getting slammed around in Round 10, Henry still was able to
'muster up' his own attack in Round 11, as to not let his Championship
to slip away.

On the other hand, Fritzie looked fresh and was easily scoring with 'snappy'
left-jabs each time that Henry moved in. Fritzie's size and strength had taken
over, and Henry's whipping punches had not bothered Fritzie.

Henry had started to fade in the second-half of Round 12, and was visibly
tired in Round 13, as Fritzie scored with repeated left-jabs and right-hand
'Bolo' punches to the body.

If Henry could 'scrape by' and hold Fritzie 'even' for one more Round, he could
quite possibly hold on to his Title by a Draw.
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'Round 14'

Fritzie came out with left-jabs, and quickly forced Henry to cover up. Henry was
looking through swollen eye-lids, and his face was a 'Raspberry' mess.

Fritzie added in assortment of right-uppercuts, which took everything out of Henry.

The Champion was battered and tired at the end of Round 14, after absorbing
a series of steady punches.

[Bill Paxtom]

'Round 15'

Coming out for the 'Final Round', the bout was still up for grabs, as '2'
of the Scorecards had the bout 'Even'.

At the bell, Fritzie came out fast and immediately battered the tired and weary
Champion. By the end of the first-minute, it was obvious that Henry had
nothing left, as Fritzie was walking through the Champion's weak punches.

Fritzie then slammed Henry with hard left-jabs, and solid right-crosses. Fritzie
then drove Henry all over the Ring, and had the fading Champion reeling on
wobbling legs.

By the {1:30 Mark}, the hand-writing was on the wall for Henry.

At the {2:40 Mark}, Fritzie stung Henry with a hard combination, and then
drove Henry sputtering with a series of lefts-and-rights to the head.

At the {2:57 Mark}, Fritzie unloaded and caught Henry on the side of the
head with a hard right-hand, driving Henry to his right. Fritzie moved in
and push/punched with another right-hand and Henry went down to the
canvas and landed on his right ear as the bell sounded ending the bout.


Scorecards
* Referee - Art Donovan ....... 8-7-0 > {Fritzie Zivic}
* Judge - Marty Monroe ........ 8-7-0 > {Fritzie Zivic}
* Judge - John Peters ........... 8-5-2 > {Fritzie Zivic}

* New York Times ................ 8-7-0 > {Fritzie Zivic}