Henry Armstrong vs. Al Tribuani
Henry Armstrong 138 lbs beat Al Tribuani 146 lbs by UD in round 10 of 10
- Date: 1943-03-22
- Location: Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Referee: Irving Kutcher
- Judge: Al Voice
- Judge: Frank Knaresborough
Ten rounds of non-stop slugging that left many of the spectators almost as limp as the combatants at the finish. Both fighters fought on after the bell in rounds 2, 3 and 4. The crowd was so loud the fighters could not hear the bell. There was not a clinch in the entire bout. A paid indoor attendance record of 12,633 is the 8th largest in Philadelphia boxing history. A policy was in place for this bout to permit all uniformed U.S. Military personnel to attend at no cost (a wartime gesture). Over 3700 additional attended, making it the largest attended indoor bout in Philadelphia boxing history. Receipts were reported at $32,915.25.
Time and time again he (Armstrong) whipped over a series of hard rights from in close that jarred his opponent. This happened in the third, fifth and tenth, but on each occasion Tribuani called on some hidden reserve and rallied to get in a few punches himself. AP
"Armstrong won by a wide margin over his younger and less experienced foe, but took lots of punishment in the late rounds." UP
"Armstrong gave away eight pounds, but Trib had to take weight off to make 146 1/4, so he was weakened. It was a great fight and Armstrong was never beyond the danger of being tagged himself, and you could see he knew it." Philadelphia Daily News
Quotes
Armstrong, a 5 to 1 favorite, admitted afterwards that it was a "tough fight." "I was fighting a superman because he's ambitious and a win over me would have put him right up there," Henry said, "It was tough."
Carpenter, president of the Phillies for 29 years before yielding the post to his son Ruly in 1972 was an early financial backer of Tribuani. He was a ringsider at the Armstrong-Tribuani fight. "As I remember it" "Al fought him to a standstill. Armstrong didn't win on points legitimately. He did get the decision and I won't complain about it." "It was a remarkable fight, one of Al's finest ring performances. "After the fight I remember Armstrong's manager asking 'Who is this guy [Tribuani] he's of championship caliber'" "Armstrong after the fight told his manager that Al was one of the better fighters he had ever faced" Wilmington News-Journal October 27. 1988