Lou Ambers’ Lightweight Resilience: The Herkimer Hurricane
Lou Ambers earned the name “Herkimer Hurricane” with a relentless pace and a career built on rematches. The lightweight from Herkimer, New York, first came up short against Tony Canzoneri. He kept working back toward the champion, and their second title fight changed his standing in the division.
The road back to Tony Canzoneri
Ambers turned professional in 1932. On May 10, 1935, he met Canzoneri for the vacant lightweight championship and lost a 15-round decision. BoxRec’s record of their first meeting identifies the title as vacant following Barney Ross’s departure from the division. Their rivalry gave him a clear measure of what he needed to improve. On September 3, 1936, Ambers met Canzoneri again and won the title by decision after 15 rounds.
That victory began Ambers’s first championship reign. He faced the leading lightweights of the period, including a non-title bout with former welterweight champion Jimmy McLarnin, who beat him over ten rounds on November 20, 1936. The loss did not cost Ambers his title; it showed the level of opposition he continued to seek beyond mandatory defenses.
Two fights with Henry Armstrong
Henry Armstrong took the lightweight crown from Ambers with a 15-round split decision in August 1938. The two met again a year later. Ambers reclaimed the title by decision on August 22, 1939, ending Armstrong’s reign as lightweight champion. Their two bouts remain the defining rivalry of Ambers’s career: first the loss to a historic multi-division champion, then a hard-fought return to the top.
Ambers lost the championship to Lew Jenkins by third-round stoppage in May 1940. They fought again in February 1941, and another stoppage loss brought his professional career to a close. Ambers was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992. His story is remembered through two distinct title runs and the composure to win back the crown after losing it.
Sources
- BoxingInsider: Lou Ambers, the “Herkimer Hurricane”
- Los Angeles Times: Ambers’s championship fights
- BoxRec: Lou Ambers vs. Jimmy McLarnin
- Henry Armstrong Foundation: Armstrong’s 1938 title victory
Sources
Article Tags
Lou Ambers, Boxing, Boxing History, Championship Boxing
