Barney Ross's father was a Talmudic scholar who had emigrated to America from his native Brest-Litovsk after barely surviving a pogrom.
42 Facts About Barney Ross
2.
Barney Ross began running around with local toughs, developing into a street brawler, thief and money runner; he was even employed by Al Capone.
3.
Barney Ross saw boxing as that vehicle and began training with his friend Ruby.
4.
Strong, fast and possessed of a powerful will, Barney Ross was an Intercity Golden Gloves and Chicago Golden Gloves champion in 1929 at the age of 19 and went on to dominate the lighter divisions as a pro.
5.
Barney Ross represented the concept of Jews finally fighting back.
6.
Barney Ross made his stand against Hitler and Nazi Germany a public one.
7.
Barney Ross knew that by winning boxing matches, he was displaying a new kind of strength for Jews.
8.
Barney Ross understood that Americans loved their sports heroes and if Jews wanted to be embraced in the US they would have to assume such places in society.
9.
Barney Ross was never knocked out in 81 fights and held his title against some of the best competition in the history of the sport.
10.
Barney Ross defeated great Hall-of-Fame champions like Jimmy McLarnin and Tony Canzoneri in epic battles that drew crowds of more than 50,000.
11.
Barney Ross's first paid fight was on September 1,1929, when he beat Ramon Lugo by a decision in six rounds.
12.
On March 26,1933, Barney Ross had his first world title bout when he faced world lightweight and light welterweight champion and fellow three-division world champion Tony Canzoneri in Chicago.
13.
In one night, Barney Ross became a two-division world champion when he beat Canzoneri by decision in ten rounds.
14.
Barney Ross campaigned heavily in the city of Chicago prior to the fight.
15.
Barney Ross was known as a smart fighter with great stamina.
16.
Barney Ross retained his title by decision against Sammy Fuller to finish 1933 and against Peter Nebo to begin 1934.
17.
Barney Ross vacated the light welterweight title to go after McLarnin's welterweight title and won by a 15-round decision, his third world championship.
18.
Barney Ross won 16 bouts in a row after that, including three over future world middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia and one against Al Manfredo.
19.
Barney Ross had never been knocked out in his career and was determined to leave the ring on his feet.
20.
Barney Ross retired with a record of 72 wins, 4 losses, 3 draws and two no decisions, with 22 wins by knockout.
21.
In retirement in his early thirties, Barney Ross enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in April 1942 to fight in World War II.
22.
Barney Ross was to be court martialed at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego.
23.
The other board members wanted to throw the book at Ross, but Captain Berthol E Davis, who was Jewish and knew of Ross's achievements, convinced the rest of the board to allow Ross to go overseas and avoid punishment.
24.
Barney Ross served with B Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific.
25.
All four were wounded; Barney Ross was the only one able to fight.
26.
Barney Ross gathered his comrades' rifles and grenades and single-handedly fought nearly two dozen Japanese soldiers over an entire night, killing them all by morning.
27.
Barney Ross was awarded America's third highest military honor, the Silver Star, as well as a Presidential Citation.
28.
Barney Ross was awarded the Edward J Neil Trophy as "the outstanding boxer of 1942" by the Boxing Writers Association of New York.
29.
Barney Ross was the only person on Guadacanal capable of playing the temperamental pipe organ kept there.
30.
On Christmas Eve, before he and his fellow Marines were to go into battle, Gehring asked Barney Ross to learn "Silent Night" and other Christmas songs for the troops.
31.
Barney Ross played "My Yiddishe Momma," about a child's love for his self-sacrificing mother.
32.
Barney Ross went to a recovery center and overcame his addiction.
33.
Barney Ross gave lectures to high school students about the dangers of drug addiction.
34.
Barney Ross spent his last days using his celebrity status in promotional work for casinos and other businesses.
35.
Barney Ross remained with his second wife, Cathy Howlett, although they never had children.
36.
Barney Ross was happy he reached the two goals he had set: reunite his family and become a world champion in boxing.
37.
Barney Ross wrote an autobiography titled No Man Stands Alone.
38.
Barney Ross remained loyal to his friend Jack Ruby and testified as a character witness on Ruby's behalf at his trial for killing Lee Harvey Oswald, who was under arrest for the shooting death of Dallas patrolman, JD Tippit.
39.
Barney Ross died in his hometown Chicago of throat cancer at the age of 57.
40.
Barney Ross's relatives include Yuri Rasovsky, Solomon Rosowsky and Baruch Leib Rosowsky.
41.
Barney Ross was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, the World Boxing Hall of Fame, the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.
42.
Barney Ross was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in the Class of 2006.