Davey Lee Armstrong (June 9, 1956 – February 8, 2021) was a boxer from the United States.

Amateur career

Armstrong was born in

Puyallup, Washington Puyallup ( ) is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. It is on the Puyallup River about southeast of Tacoma and south of Seattle. The city had a population of 42,973 at the 2020 census. The city's name comes from the Puyallu ...

, and began boxing at the Tacoma Boys Club, along with future world champions

Rocky Lockridge ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weath ...

and

Johnny Bumphus Johnny 'Bump City' Bumphus (August 17, 1960 – January 31, 2020) was an American professional boxer who held the WBA super lightweight title in 1984 and challenged once for the WBC and IBF welterweight titles in 1987. Amateur career Bumphus ...

, as well as 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist

Sugar Ray Seales "Sugar" Ray Seales, (born September 4, 1952) is an American former Boxing, boxer. He was the only American boxer to win a gold medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics. As a professional, he fought middleweight champion Marvin Hagler three times. He i ...

and 1976 Gold Medalist and professional World Champion, Leo "The Lion" Randolph. Armstrong represented the US at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. He was eliminated in the second round of the men's light flyweight division (– 48 kg) by bronze medalist Enrique Rodríguez. Armstrong also was a member of the American Olympic team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He competed as a featherweight and was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Amateur highlights

* 1972 National AAU Champion (106 lb) * 1972 U.S. Olympian (106 lb) * 1973 National AAU Runner-up (119 lb), lost to Mike Hess of Albany, Oregon, in the final by decision. * 1975 National AAU Champion (125 lb) * Won the gold medal at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...

. * 1976 National AAU Champion (125 lb) * 1976 U.S. Olympian (Placed Fifth) * 1979 National AAU Champion (132 lb)

1976 Olympic results

Below is the record of Davey Armstrong, an American featherweight boxer who competed at the 1976 Montreal Olympics: * Round of 64: bye * Round of 32: defeated Anatoly Volkov (Soviet Union) by decision, 5-0 * Round of 16: defeated Tibor Badari (Hungary) by decision, 5-0 * Quarterfinal: lost to Angel Herrera (Cuba) by decision, 2-3

Pro career

David (Davey) started boxing out of the Tacoma Boy's Club Gym under the tutelage of Joe Clough. Armstrong turned pro as a

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

on March 28, 1980 and boxed out of the

Kronk Gym Kronk Gym is a boxing gym located in Detroit, once led by trainer Emanuel Steward. It was originally run out of the basement of the oldest recreation center of the City of Detroit. The gym became a household name in the sport of boxing and its go ...

in Detroit. He was a kind and gentle man and rarely if ever had a bad word for anyone. Armstrong retired in 1983 after 27 bouts (24 wins and 3 losses).

Life after boxing

Armstrong lived in

, and worked for the City of Seattle as a bookkeeper. He died from dementia on February 8, 2021.

Honors

* 2005 Inductee into the Tacoma (Pierce County) Sports Hall of Fame

References

* 1956 births 2021 deaths Boxers from Washington (state) Lightweight boxers Olympic boxers for the United States Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Puyallup, Washington American male boxers Boxers at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in boxing Deaths from dementia 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-boxing-bio-stub