BoxRec

..or were there extenuating circumstances for the two losses.

Yes he did.

It would be hard to think of many case when a great fighter lost twice badly to a fighter who was that much inferior to him. This seems to be a classic case of one fighter having a better fighter's number.

Jenkins could punch on an incredible level.

He did what Henry Armstrong at his best could not do.

And he did it twice.

Jenkins' opponents like Fritzie Zivic always talked about how incredible his punching power was.

Lew was a murderous puncher and Ambers had the misfortune of running into a motivated and sober version on two occasions.

What I've pieced togather from various news articles is that Al Weill stated that Ambers had noticeably lost handspeed, and had had alot of difficulty making weight in the first loss. Also, he became a parent and had gone into business which led to rumours that he had lost some of his desire for boxing. Not surpringly the two stoppage losses to Jenkins came in his last 3 fights. Weill told him to retire after the 2nd loss, which to me sounds more like saying "you haven't got it anymore" rather than "he just had your number"

Ambers had two savage wars with Henry Armstrong which I'm sure took a lot out of both men. All the credit to Jenkins regardless for punching out such a tough man as Lou Ambers, a feat the hard-hitting welterweight Al Davis (who knocked out old Tony Canzoneri) couldn't manage, which is very telling of Jenkins's power.

Jenkins was legit but he ran into some tough opponents in Henry Armstrong, Bob Montgomery, Fritzie Zivic and Sammy Angott. Never was the same man after those fights.

Watch Lou Ambers take it from a rampaging Armstrong, knowing he would win the decision if only he could survive the late rounds against Armstrong who had had numerous points deducted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFKq520Raio

I think he left a lot in the ring there in order to reclaim his lightweight title.

Jenkins was only in peak condition for a few fights.

His history of not training is well known.

Seamus wrote:What I've pieced togather from various news articles is that Al Weill stated that Ambers had noticeably lost handspeed, and had had alot of difficulty making weight in the first loss. Also, he became a parent and had gone into business which led to rumours that he had lost some of his desire for boxing. Not surpringly the two stoppage losses to Jenkins came in his last 3 fights. Weill told him to retire after the 2nd loss, which to me sounds more like saying "you haven't got it anymore" rather than "he just had your number"

Bingo.

Did Weill say that BEFORE or AFTER Ambers lost to Lew Jenkins?

Marciano couldn't stand Al Weill and retired partly because he wanted to be free of Weill.

I believe Weill may have said it after the 2nd fight, but there was a reference to Ambers no longer having blinding speed in a Sarasota Herald-Tribune article prior to the 2nd fight.