Lou Ambers

Luigi Giuseppe d'Ambrosio (November 9, 1913 – April 25, 1995), also known as Lou Ambers, was an American two-time Undisputed World Lightweight boxing champion who fought from 1932 to 1941. Ambers fought many other boxing greats, such as Henry Armstrong and Tony Canzoneri.

Early life and career Born Luigi Giuseppe d'Ambrosio on November 8, 1913, in Herkimer, Ambers started out in a large Italian family, struggling to find an identity. Luigi took a ring name because he was afraid his Italian mother would find out that he was a fighter.

He defeated future world junior welterweight champion Johnny Jadick in a ten round unanimous decision on March 19, 1934, in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

Managed by Al Weill and trained by Charley Goldman, the "Herkimer Hurricane", began his career losing only once in more than three years. He faced his greatest competitor, future hall of fame lightweight champion Tony Canzoneri on May 10, 1935. Canzoneri defeated him over 15 rounds on a decision in Madison Square Garden, robbing Ambers of his first shot at the title. Canzoneri had Ambers down twice in round three. A faithful crowd of 17,433 cheered as Canzoneri easily retook the title, knocking Ambers down again shortly before the closing bell.

Before a crowd of 8,266, Ambers defeated the highly rated former junior lightweight champion Frankie Klick in a ten round points decision at Madison Square Garden on January 3, 1936. Returning after his broken jaw only six months earlier, Ambers took some stiff shots to the chin in the sixth and seventh, but gained a significant points margin, winning eight of the ten rounds. In the seventh, Ambers put Klick to the canvas for a nine count as they broke from a clinch. Ambers gained a points advantage quickly, and his speed in the early rounds tired Klick, who was sapped of energy for a strong finish in the closing rounds. The win improved Ambers' chances of getting a second shot at Canzoneri for the title.

Winning the lightweight championship, September 1936

He gained revenge when he captured the lightweight championship by decisioning Tony Canzoneri in 15 rounds on September 3, 1936. As a former sparring partner of Canzoneri, he carried the fight to his opponent and mentor from the outset, turned back two spirited rallies, and won by a wide margin in a match that defined him as a boxer and competitor. Adding an exclamation point, the Associated Press gave Ambers nine rounds, including the last three.

Ambers won a lightweight title bout against Pedro Montanez on September 23, 1937, before an exceptional crowd of around 32,000, in a fifteen round mixed decision at New York's Polo Grounds. Though the referee voted for a draw, both judges scored the close bout in Amber's favor, with each voting he had won eight rounds.

Jimmy Garrison lost to Ambers in a ten round points decision of a non-title bout in Kansas City on May 11, 1938. The United Press gave seven rounds to Ambers with only three to Garrison.

Loss of title to Henry Armstrong, August, 1938 On August 17, 1938, Ambers met Henry Armstrong in an historic fight for the world lightweight title. Armstrong was attempting to become the first fighter in history to win and hold three world titles simultaneously. In a great fight, Ambers was knocked down twice, in the fifth and sixth rounds, and appeared badly beaten. Ambers mounted a great comeback in the later half of the match, but lost the controversial split decision. Armstrong was penalized three rounds in the close bout for fouls. Ambers lost the title for a year, until regaining it in a rematch one year later.

Frankie Wallace was one of Ambers' most frequent opponents. Wallace fell to Ambers for the last time when he could not return to the ring for the sixth round on December 5, 1938, in Cleveland. In a previous fight in the same city on December 6, 1937, Ambers won in a ten round unanimous decision on a large boxing ticket that featured a crowd of 12,000. With a rapid left and effective right uppercut, Ambers gained a strong points margin, and had an ailing Wallace missing throughout the bout. In their first meeting on April 27, 1933, in Utica, New York, Ambers took a six round points decision.

In their last meeting, Ambers achieved an eleventh round technical knockout of "Baby" Arizmendi on February 24, 1939, at New York's Madison Square Garden. In a close bout that the Brooklyn Daily Eagle scored five rounds to Arizmendi and four to Ambers, the referee stopped the bout in the eleventh due to a gash on his opponent's right eyelid received in the ninth which made it difficult for him to continue. The cut was opened again in the tenth with left uppercuts and examined by a Doctor at the end of the round, who ordered the referee to end the bout, which was officially called at the opening of the eleventh. It was the only knockout of Arizmendi's career.

Regaining lightweight title from Armstrong, August, 1939

Ambers' rematch with Henry Armstrong was as controversial as their first bout. Armstrong was penalized for low blows, which enabled Ambers to capture the 15-round decision on August 22, 1939, before a crowd estimated at 30,000. Penalized for low blows in the second, fifth, seventh, ninth, and eleventh rounds, Armstrong would have probably won the fight had it not been for his loss of points for fouls.

Loss of world lightweight championship to Lew Jenkins, May, 1940

On May 10, 1940, Ambers defended his title against the wild, free swinging, Lew Jenkins. Jenkins scored an upset when he knocked out the defending champion in the third round at Madison Square Garden. Ambers was down for a count of five in the first and briefly in the second. He had to arise from another fall to the canvas at least once prior to the referee stopping the bout 1:29 into the third.

Ambers sought a rematch, and after a tune up win over Al "Bummy" Davis, he again faced Jenkins. This time he suffered a technical knockout from Jenkins in the seventh round before 15,000 on February 28, 1941, at Madison Square Garden.

Life outside of boxing

After his last bout, Ambers wanted to continue with his career, but his manager, Al Weill, convinced him that he was through, and to retire. Ambers never fought again.

Before his boxing retirement, he appeared as himself in a small role in MGM's The Crowd Roars (1938), a successful boxing movie starring Robert Taylor.

After his retirement from boxing, Ambers served in the Coast Guard in World War II. He later operated a restaurant, and worked in public relations. He died on April 25, 1995, in Phoenix, Arizona, He and his wife Margaret Mary had a daughter and two sons.

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, 60 Win 51–2–5

TKO 3 (10) Feb 14, 1936

59 Win 50–2–5

UD 10 Feb 7, 1936

58 Win 49–2–5

TKO 9 (10) Jan 21, 1936

57 Win 48–2–5

PTS 10 Jan 3, 1936

56 Win 47–2–5

TKO 3 (10) Dec 20, 1935

55 Win 46–2–5

PTS 8 Dec 16, 1935

54 Win 45–2–5

PTS 10 Nov 25, 1935

53 Win 44–2–5

UD 10 Jul 1, 1935

52 Loss 43–2–5

UD 15 May 10, 1935

51 Win 43–1–5

TKO 4 (10) Apr 24, 1935

50 Win 42–1–5

UD 15 Mar 1, 1935

49 Win 41–1–5

UD 10 Jan 11, 1935

48 Win 40–1–5

PTS 10 Dec 28, 1934

47 Win 39–1–5

KO 1 (10) Dec 17, 1934

46 Win 38–1–5

PTS 10 Sep 26, 1934

45 Win 37–1–5

PTS 10 Aug 29, 1934

44 Win 36–1–5

PTS 10 Jul 11, 1934

43 Win 35–1–5

TKO 8 (10) Jun 28, 1934

42 Draw 34–1–5

PTS 10 Jun 18, 1934

41 Draw 34–1–4

PTS 10 May 25, 1934

40 Win 34–1–3

KO 4 (10) May 18, 1934

39 Loss 33–1–3

MD 6 May 7, 1934

38 Win 33–0–3

TKO 9 (10) Apr 26, 1934

37 Win 32–0–3

KO 3 (6) Apr 16, 1934

36 Win 31–0–3

UD 10 Mar 19, 1934

35 Win 30–0–3

KO 2 (10) Mar 12, 1934

34 Win 29–0–3

PTS 10 Mar 2, 1934

33 Win 28–0–3

PTS 10 Jan 24, 1934

32 Win 27–0–3

TKO 7 (10) Jan 8, 1934

31 Win 26–0–3

PTS 10 Dec 25, 1933

30 Win 25–0–3

PTS 10 Dec 5, 1933

29 Win 24–0–3

TKO 2 (6) Nov 27, 1933

28 Win 23–0–3

PTS 10 Oct 30, 1933

27 Win 22–0–3

PTS 10 Oct 23, 1933

26 Win 21–0–3

PTS 10 Oct 9, 1933

25 Win 20–0–3

PTS 8 Sep 25, 1933

24 Win 19–0–3

PTS 6 Sep 12, 1933

23 Draw 18–0–3

PTS 6 Aug 29, 1933

22 Win 18–0–2

UD 10 Aug 14, 1933

21 Win 17–0–2

PTS 4 Aug 9, 1933

20 Win 16–0–2

TKO 3 (6) Jul 31, 1933

19 Win 15–0–2

KO 3 (6) Jul 17, 1933

18 Win 14–0–2

PTS 6 Jul 13, 1933

17

13–0–2

NWS 6 Jul 3, 1933

16 Win 13–0–2

PTS 6 Jun 27, 1933

15 Win 12–0–2

KO 2 (?) May 22, 1933

14 Win 11–0–2

PTS 6 Apr 27, 1933

13 Win 10–0–2

UD 6 Apr 24, 1933

12 Draw 9–0–2

PTS 6 Apr 3, 1933

11 Win 9–0–1

PTS 5 Mar 20, 1933

10 Win 8–0–1

PTS 5 Feb 27, 1933

9 Win 7–0–1

PTS 6 Feb 20, 1933

8 Win 6–0–1

PTS 6 Jan 24, 1933

7 Win 5–0–1

TKO 5 (6) Jan 17, 1933

6 Win 4–0–1

KO 4 (6) Nov 18, 1932

5 Draw 3–0–1

PTS 6 Nov 14, 1932

4 Win 3–0

PTS 5 Jul 26, 1932

3

2–0

NWS 6 Sep 6, 1932

2 Win 2–0

PTS 6 Jul 14, 1932

1 Win 1–0

TKO 3 (4) Jun 9, 1932

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.

Titles in boxing Major world titles NYSAC lightweight champion (135 lbs) (2×) NBA (WBA) lightweight champion (135 lbs) (2×)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring lightweight champion (135 lbs) (2×)

Undisputed titles Undisputed lightweight champion (2×)