Fritzie Zivic vs. Henry Armstrong 'II' ~ 'The Rematch'

[Bill Paxtom]

Friday ~ January 17, 1941

Madison Square Garden

Attendance .............. 23,190 {Sell Out}
Note: 5000 Standing Room Only tickets were sold.
Note; Approximately 10,000 people were turned away.

Gate Receipts .......... $78,242 ................... {Net Receipts; $66,817}

Fight Purses
* Fritie Zivic ............ $19,836 ................... 30% of the Net Receipts
* Henry Armstrong .. $19,000 ................... Contract Guarantee

Betting Favorite ....... Henry Armstrong ..... {5-8}

Street Skinny .......... Fritie Zivic bet several thousand dollars on himself to win.

[Bill Paxtom]

"Henry Armstrong 7-5 To Regain Crown"

Harold Conrad >

The 'Dusky Dynamo' is the fan favorite to regain his Welterweight Championship
over conqueror Fritie Zivic.

But the boys on Jacobs Street think that Henry has seen better days, and that his
eyes will never hold up against the Pittsburg Mauler.

While Henry will go down as one of the Greatest Fighter in History, he is not the
Henry of old. Only 3-Months ago, he looked washed up at the end of his 15-Round
bout with Fritzie Zivic.

In that bout, Henry set the pace for the first 7-Rounds, as Fritzie did little other
than stick out a left-jab. But Henry under-estimated Fritzie, and the 'Pittsburg
Mauler' came on like gang-busters from the 8th Round and on, as he targeted
Henry's eyes.

Though that bout was close, it was the Challenger who took it to Henry over the
second-half of the 15-Rounder. And Fritzie badly busted up Henry around the
eyes and mouth.

Though Henry has scar-tissue over both eyes, and an ongoing problem of swelling
up, he still can pull off some of his magic. He is not the 'perpetual-motion' fighting
machine of old, but he has superior technique and boxing skills.

In recent sparring sessions, Henry has changed up and is using a stand-up boxing style
from the outside, instead of charging in and flinging. This style will allow him to avoid
Fritzie's hard left-jabs and close inside right uppercuts.

In my opinion, 'Henry Is The Choice' by a close 15-Round decision.

While Fritzie Zivic is a good fighter and is under-rated in his ring talents, he will never
be as good as Henry Armstrong was in his Hey-Day. I believe that Henry still has
enough skills left to build up a points lead over the first 10-Rounds. And if his eyes
hold up, he will have enough of a points lead to hold off the hard-charging Zivic
down the stretch.

[Bill Paxtom]

"The Fight"

Round 1 >

Henry came out in the 'opening round' in a different style. Instead of flying
in with his trademark bobbing-and-juggling weaves with a snorting-attack,
Henry came forward in a semi-crouch.

Henry was flat-footed as he shuffled in face-first. The Champion - Fritzie Zivic
stood back, and patiently stabbed at Henry by using stiff left-jabs.

Fritzie, with nearly a 5" Height and 4" Reach advantage, peppered Henry's
face with steady jabs throughout the middle-session of the Round.

Whenever Henry moved in close, Fritzie ripped him with looping right-uppercuts.

By the {2:00 Mark}, Henry was already sporting reddened eye-brows, and a
gash on his lower lip.

Round 1 .... Fritzie Zivic
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 2 >

Fritzie came out strong, and he shook Henry early with '2' jarring right-hands to the
head. Fritzie then sent Henry sideways with another right-hand to the head.

Fritzie continued with his right-hand assault, as Henry showed every bit of the long
years of wear-and-tear of '350' Amateur and Professional bouts.

But the 'Lil Warrior' would not cave, and just past the {1:30 Mark} Henry opened
up with his own 'two-fisted' assault, as he backed Fritzie into a Corner, where he
wailed away with both fists.

Round 2 ..... Fritzie Zivic
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Round 3 >

It was "Henry's Last Stand", as the former Champion came out banging with hard hooks
to Fritzie's head.

Henry caught Fritzie with a 'left-right' to the head, and sent the Champion staggering back
after tagging him with a hard-hook to the chin.

Henry jumped right in, and slammed Fritzie with another hook, and again the Champion's
legs buckled.

Henry chased, as Fritzie retreated. But Henry nearly stumbled 'twice' to the canvas after
chasing Fritzie and swinging wildy.

But by the {2:00 Mark} Fritzie was battling back, and he opened up a 'gash' under Henry's
right-eye when he caught him with a hard right-uppercut.

The 'aging fast' Henry looked completely exhausted at the end of the 3rd-Round.

Round 3 ..... Henry Armstrong
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Master]

Zivic was tall for a welterweight

[Bill Paxtom]

Zivic was tall for a welterweight

Fritzie at 5' 10" was one of the tallest Welterweights at that time.

And his reach was 71". He was deadly with the left-jab, and threw a
looping right uppercut that tore his opponents apart.

Add that with his roughness, tough Croatian fighting spirit and steady job
as a Boilermaker {thick forearms}, and that equaled one tough Pittsburg
Mauler.

He was 'not' an easy guy to fight, as Fritzie was a notorious fouler, using
his elbows, forearms, head and shoulders to slam his opponents while in close.

Also, Fritzie was at his best from > mid-1940 thru mid-1941.

This was a 'bad' matchup for 'Lil Henry'.

[Bill Paxtom]

'Rounds 4 and 5'

Fritzie gave Henry a frightful beating. The Champion thudded Henry with
left-jabs, short hooks and right uppercuts.

Each time that Fritzie landed a right-uppercut to the chin, Henry's head
rocked like a 'Bobble Doll'.

But Henry tried in vain to find an opening. When Henry moved in close, he
tried to lay a heavy left-hook into Fritize's right side.

But Fritzie was too smart, as each time Henry tried to unload left-hooks to
the body, the Champion would drop his right arm by his side to protect his Liver.

The 'pug-nose' Champion was catching every blow on his arm's as Henry flung
in punches.

By the end of Round 5, Henry's left-eye was half-closed after taking several hard
right-hands square on the eye-brow.

Thru '5' Rounds, Fritzie had a comfortable 4-1-0 lead in Rounds.

[Bill Paxtom]

'Round 6'

Fritzie came out to put a 'hurting' on Henry. The Champion ripped in left-jabs
and caught Henry with jarring right-uppercuts.

Henry's mouth was now bleeding, and his mouth was hanging open as he was
tiring badly.

Fritzie landed a jarring right-hand to Henry's chest, which sent him stumbling
on weak legs.

Mid-way through the session Fritzie caught Henry with a short right-uppercut
to the jaw, and Henry went down to one-knee.

Henry was up without a 'count', but he was stunned. Now Henry was moving
backwards, and was warding off Fritzie's punches by putting up an open right
glove and keeping it high.

When Henry tried to mount an offense, his punches were mere 'pushes', and
he had nothing behind them.

Henry was hanging on at the end of Round 6.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Round 7'

Fritzie again slammed Henry with both hands, which included hard hooks and
short right-uppercuts. Fritzie looked like a 'blacksmith' hammering away on
hot soft iron and pounding it into shape.

Fritzie opened up a 'gash' under Henry's left-eye, and the 'little' Warrior was
battered about the Ring as Referee - Arthur Donovan looked in.