Biography by
GorDoom
Barney Ross,
Tony Canzoneri
&
Jimmy McLarnin comprise the holy trinity of lighter
weight fighters of the late 20's to mid-30's. They do so in
the same sense that Sugar Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns & Marvin
Hagler are symbolic of the 80's. Like the modern trio, Ross,
Canzoneri & McLarnin engaged in a round robin of bouts that
enthralled the sporting public. Demographically they were a
publicists dream: A Jew, an Italian & a native son of
Ireland.
Like Sugar Ray Leonard some 50 years
later, Ross emerged as the dominant fighter after a grueling
series of wars with the other two. Of all of the six boxers
I have so far discussed, Barney Ross (real name: Beryl
Rossofsky. Born: New York City, December 23, 1909), was the
most implausible one to have emerged as a great fighter.
Physically, he was not particularly blessed. His lack of
power was exerbated by small hands & brittle bones on a
slight frame with very slim arms. What was never measured
however was his heart, which was boundless.
When Barney was 14 years old, two
punks robbed the dairy that Barney's dad, Isadore, who was
also a rabbi, operated in Chicago's West Side. Finding only
nickels & dimes in the cash register the enraged louts shot
& killed Barney's father.
His mother who struggled grievously
too keep her brood together after the calamity, suffered a
nervous breakdown & had to be taken care of by relatives.
Barney & his older brother moved in with a cousin & the
three younger siblings were placed in an orphanage. At this
point, Ross became almost pathologically obsessed with
reuniting his scattered family. He was so desperate to make
a buck that he even turned to Chicago's main form of earning
a living during the Roaring 20's . . . Racketeering. Barney
was soon busted for running illegal crap games & went to
work for various gangsters including "Scarface" Al Capone.
During his brief apprenticeship, Ross decided he liked the
work & wanted to join the mob full time.
The story may be apocryphal, but
supposedly Capone himself, denied young Barney the entree to
a life of crime. "Scarface" felt it wasn't appropriate for
the son of a rabbi to become a "made" man. The story goes
that he gave Ross a twenty dollar bill (more than a week's
wages for many during the Depression), & told Barney too," .
. . Get off the streets." When Barney began to protest,
Capone snarled, "Beat it, before I get mad!"
With his options severely limited
Barney turned to amateur boxing to raise some desperately
needed shekels. Sometimes fighting as often as five times a
week, almost always winning; Barney would hock the medals he
won for three dollars apiece.
Barney trained at the Catholic Youth
Center were the boxing coach was the very clever old-time
fighter, Packy McFarland. Barney being a smart lad, wisely
absorbed all the tricks of the trade that the old cutie,
McFarland taught him.
Well schooled by the venerable Paky &
inspired by the brilliant success of fellow Chicago
ghettoite, Jackie Fields, Barney fought an estimated 250
amateur bouts culminating with his winning the intercity
featherweight Golden Gloves title in 1929.
Ross turned pro shortly thereafter &
from 1929 to 1932 he racked up an impressive 38-2-2 record.
Then on August 26th he faced the redoubtable veteran, Ray
Miller. Miller was a battle scarred veteran of over a
hundred fights whose left hook was not only the scourge of
the lightweight division; but was one of the best left
hookers of all-time according to Hank Kaplan. While Miller
was a top contender, more importantly, he was the baddest
lightweight in Chicago. Young Barney, who many thought was
in over his head, pounded out a victory in a grueling battle
of left hooks. That was also the night that Ross proved he
had a chin made out of granite -- as further testified to by
his never being knocked down, much less KO'd during his long
career.
A little over two weeks after the
Miller fight, Barney faced Frankie Petrolle on September
15th (KO-2). This bout was significant because Frankie was
the great Billy "The Fargo Express" Petrolle's brother. This
created a natural rivalry & Billy was matched with Barney
six months later. Before facing Petrolle, Ross dispatched
five foes; the most notable being the very tough former
featherweight champion (1929-1932), Battling "Bat"
Battallino (yet another classic moniker!).
The bout with
Billy Petrolle was the turning point of Ross' career.
Petrolle, along with Sam Langford, Lew Tendler & Charley
Burley was one of the greatest fighters to have never won a
championship. No champion or top contender wanted to fight
him . . . ever. Ross bested Petrolle (W-10), in a torrid
match that had Chicago fight fans buzzing for months.
That fight earned Barney a shot
against the reigning lightweight & jr. welterweight
champion, Tony Canzoneri, who at the time was considered the
best fighter pound for pound in the game. Ross narrowly
edged Canzoneri (W-10), in Chicago, on June 23, 1933 & won
both titles; becoming the first fighter since the beginning
of the Queensbury Rules era to win two titles
simultaneously.
Many years later, Ross was quoted as
saying, "Winning the titles was almost an anti-climax. My
big thrill came a few weeks before the fight. That was when
I was able to take the younger kids out of the orphanage
asylum & reunite them with Mom". Barney had moved his family
into a spacious apartment with the rent pre-paid. This was
the fulfillment of a vow that had obsessed him since the
tragic events that had scattered his family. This meant more
too him than any titles. That was the kind of man that
Barney Ross was . . .
Never one to waste time, Ross defended
his jr. welter title on July 26th in Kansas City against
rugged Johnny Farr (KO-6). Since the first fight with
Canzoneri, there had been a lot of speculation -- especially
from the New York press -- that Canzoneri had been jobbed by
a hometown decision. Ross, who never ducked anybody, gave
Canzoneri a rematch on Tony's home turf in New York City.
The return bout, on September 12th, before more than 40,000
roaring, stomping fans in the Polo Grounds, was a major Big
Apple event. The celebrity's in the crowd included members
of the Presidential Cabinet, governors, mayors, famous
mobsters & movie, radio & recording stars.
This time scheduled for 15 rounds, the
fight was a brutal, bloody, bout. It wasn't until the last
few rounds, when Ross had Canzoneri out on his feet, that
Barney was able to develop a clear cut edge. After the
fight, Ross indicated that he was glad he had not knocked
out the gallant Canzoneri. Immediately following the fight,
Ross relinquished the lightweight title due to weight
problems. (This brings up an interesting question: If the
jr. titles were so disparaged in those days, why did Ross
hang on to the jr. welterweight title? The claim of weight
problems is questionable since Ross later defended his
welterweight title more than once, fighting at 137-138 lbs.
Not only did he hang on to the supposedly spurious title,
but he defended it regularly during most of his reign as
welterweight champion).
My guide into the mysteries &
inequities of our beloved sport, the incomparable boxing
historian, Hank Kaplan, has as usual, straightened out my
chemically induced flights of imagination. He suggests that
the I'm way off base (this has never been suggested
before!), & that Ross wasn't hanging on to a then spurious
title, but that the proto-Arum's (my analogy, not Hank's),
were using the hook of a title match much like modern day
promoters & the TV network's use specious WB-what-ever
titles to promote their telecasts . . .
At any rate, Ross followed his 2nd
conclusive victory over Canzoneri by defending the jr.
welterweight title against Sammy Fuller on November 17th in
Chicago (W-10).
On January 24th, 1934, Ross gave Billy
Petrolle a rematch in New York (W-10). He followed this with
a string of jr. welter title defenses against the likes of
Pete Nebo (W-10), Frankie Klick (W-10) & Bobby Pacho (W-10);
before facing "Baby face" Jimmy McLarnin for the
welterweight title on May 28th in New York City.
Despite Barney's victories over
Canzoneri, who at the time was considered the best fighter
pound for pound, McLarnin had come to be recognized as
Canzoneri's successor as the best fighter in the game.
McLarnin was a great fighter who beat ten world champions
during his storied career. He seemed to specialize in
flattening Jewish fighters & he'd already KO'd the likes of,
Jackie Fields, Joey Sangor, Kid Kaplan, Sid Terris, Joey
Glick, Ruby Goldstein & a come backing Benny Leonard.
Because of McLarnin's propensity for
flattening Jewish opponents (similar to Roger Maywether's
rep as a Mexican destroyer in the 80's), Jewish fight fans
turned out in record numbers in anticipation for this fight.
Sixty thousand fans attended the fight
in the Long Island Bowl & were treated to one of the great
fights in history. Both fighters went at it hammer & tongs
with Ross gaining a slight edge with his speed, despite
being out weighed by 10 pounds, which frustrated McLarnin
who was unable to reach Ross' chin with his vaunted right.
Finally in the 9th round he caught Ross with the right &
down he went. Angry because he had never been down before,
Ross jumped up without a count & tore into McLarnin. Forty
five seconds later McLarnin was on the canvass as a result
of two vicious left hooks. McLarnin also roze without a
count & recklessly attacked Ross, who used his considerable
defensive skills to avoid McLarnin's haymakers until the end
of the round. By the end of the fight McLarnin was a bloody
mess & the decision was given to Ross, although the scores
were controversial. One judge awarded 11 rounds to Ross, 2
to McLarnin & 2 even. The second judge had it 9 rounds for
McLarnin, 1 round for Ross & 5 even. The referee"s scoring
was even more bizarre, 1 round for McLarnin, 13 rounds for
Ross & 1 even! Talk about seeing things differently!
On September 17th, 1934, Ross gave
McLarnin a return bout & Ross lost another controversial
split decision over 15 rounds. Of the 29 reporters covering
the fight, 22 of them had Ross winning.
Ross still had his jr. welterweight
title & continued defending it for the rest of the year &
the next until he was rematched with McLarnin for the rubber
bout exactly one year from the date he first won it.
Like the other two, the rubber match
was a bruising savage struggle. In the 6th round Ross badly
broke his right thumb. Fighting the rest of the fight in
agony, Barney persevered & had McLarnin's number; this time
he won a convincing unanimous decision in 15. Barney also
was the first fighter to ever win a title twice on the same
date.
Following this fight Ross relinquished
the jr. welter title to campaign exclusively as a
welterweight. Ross proceeded to beat the very tough bolo
punching Ceferino Garcia twice in 10 round non-title bouts &
defended his title against Izzy Janazzo (W-15).
On September 23rd 1937 Ross granted
Garcia a title shot. Ross fought with a severely bone
bruised left hand, but was still able to out smart & out
speed his slow thinking but much harder hitting opponent.
After 11 rounds Ross had the fight well in hand when he was
caught by a crushing bolo uppercut in the 12th. Ross' knees
buckled, but he managed too hang on. In the 14th Garcia
landed powerful combinations that badly bloodied Ross' face
& almost put him away. By this time Ross was fighting on
courage & instinct alone, but somehow he mustered a
fusillade of punches in the 15th to pull out the decision.
Barney finally came to the end of his
championship days on May 31st 1938. On that day he faced a
human hurricane named Henry Armstrong. Armstrong who was the
featherweight champion was jumping 4 divisions too take on
Ross. From an artistic standpoint it was a totally one sided
fight. Barney held his own for the first 3 rounds. By the
middle of the fight it had turned into a massacre. Ross'
managers wanted to stop the fight, but Ross pleaded with
them thru swollen bloody lips, "If you stop it," he said,
"I'll never talk to you again!"
Famed referee Arthur Donovan, went to
Ross' corner following the 11th, 12th & 13th rounds & Barney
begged him to let the fight go on, "I've got to go out like
a champion," he pleaded, "Let me finish. I have never been
knocked out."
Armstrong later divulged that he
carried Ross for the last 3 rounds. "How are you feeling?"
he asked Ross in the 13th. "I'm dead," replied Barney.
"Allright," snapped Armstrong, "just shoot your left, but if
you shoot your right, you're dead!"
All Ross could do was lean on
Armstrong the last 3 rounds. Following the unanimous
decision loss, Ross retired. He had 81 fights, winning 73 &
only losing 4.
After his retirement, Ross seemed
content as a proprietor of a very successful Chicago lounge
that bore his name. When World War II broke out in 1941,
Barney who was 33 at the time & too old for the military
draft insisted on enlisting & joined the Marines. The war &
the events that unfolded forever changed Ross' life. Combat
gave Ross yet another opportunity to prove what a valiant
warrior he was. Against insurmountable odds, he & 4 other
Marines defended a fox hole against squads of Japanese
soldiers. In an article for the Jewish Digest in 1968,
Father Frederick Gehring, who was the Catholic chaplain
stationed on Guadalcanal with Ross, gave the closest thing
we have to a first hand account about what happened:
"In the fierce fire fight the other
four . . . were seriously injured. They found refuge in a
shell hole, where Barney, although eventually wounded
himself, proceeded to hold off the enemy force, two of his
wounded companions loaded while he fired. When
reinforcements finally rescued them, the Marines had been in
their hole for thirteen hours. Around them lay twenty two
enemy dead. Two of the Marines had died & the other two had
to undergo amputations. Barney had shrapnel in his legs &
sides & was shaken with fever."
Corporal Ross was promoted too
Sergeant on the spot & was later awarded the Distinguished
Service Cross & a Presidential Citation from President
Roosevelt. Barney was confined to a Guadalcanal hospital for
many months while he was treated for wounds, dysentery,
malaria, migraines & otalgia. Sympathetic corpsmen
administered large quantities of morphine too help alleviate
Ross' suffering. Unfortunately this had the consequence of
heavy narcotic addiction.
By the time he was released, Barney's
dark hair had turned grey & he still suffered painful bouts
of malaria as well a the demons of addiction. Ross remained
heavily addicted for four years. During those years he lived
the terrible life of a junkie; stealing morphine tablets
from hospitals & doctors his life devolve into a nightmare
of needles, syringes & droppers. The merciless drug dealers
bled Barney's savings dry. He estimated he went thru half a
million dollars feeding his habit. Eventually Ross lost
everything, his lounge, his wife & his self esteem. Finally
he bottomed out & voluntarily turned himself over to a
government recovery facility in Lexington Kentucky & after
six months of treatment he was cured of his addiction &
released. A few years later the movie Monkey On My Back was
released starring Cameron Mitchell as Barney. The movie
purported to show Ross' life a drug addict. Barney denounced
the movie as, ". . . filth, bilge & cheap sensation. Ross
threatened to sue United Artists for $5 million dollars, but
settled out of court for $10,000.
When his health was restored, Barney
went into the gun running business unsuccessfully, trying to
smuggle arms into Israel during the 1948 War Of
Independence. Finally too make ends meet, he got a job
through a friend as Secretary-Treasurer in charge of labor
relations for the Eureka Shipbuilding Corporation in
Newburgh New York. In his spare time he toured the lecture
circuit, lecturing on the evils of drug addiction. After
finally finding a measure of peace in his life, Ross
developed throat cancer & after a long, painful battle, his
arduous life came to an end in Chicago, on January 17th,
1967 . . .
Barney Ross represented Every Man. To
the sport of boxing, Barney Ross exemplified everything that
is noble in this bloody, back stabbing, brutal arena we call
a sport . . . Barney Ross, roze above his impoverished
ghetto existence to become a shining example of the American
Dream at it's best & it's most unforgiving . . . Today's
sports heroes could learn a lesson from Ross: No matter how
hot you are today . . . Life & the tumbling dice, the Bitch
Angel keeps rolling . . . has an eternal way of chillin'
your ass out . . .
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