One of your better match-ups. I would take Ross, going largely by the Billy Graham fights, but one could argue that Basilio wasn't at his best then. Basilio would take atleast one in a series of fights, just too difficult a man to discourage from doing what he wants. And Ross did get taken apart by Armstrong at the end of his run, but beat plenty of good pressure fighters until then.
I'll take Barney Ross over Basillio. Billy Graham, who I saw as a prelim and up ,was nowhere as good as Barney Ross, and Billy gave Carmine close, close fights. Ross was as good a boxer , and a much faster puncher than Graham was. Both had iron chins in common though...
Tough fight for me to pick. I think Basilio at his roughest would have beaten McLarnin. Ross would be able to side-step Basilio at times, making him lunge. Ross's jab and overall quickness would serve him well...It's Ross all the way in the beginning, with Basilio closing hard towards the end to make it very close. Ross would hold on for the decision win.
I think Ross vs Petrolle gives us a good idea of how Ross would approach this fight. He would be looking to keep it long, behind his jab and getting off first with fast combinations, and constantly changing angles to offset the pressure that Basilio could and would bring. The big difference here is I think Basilio is a much better technical fighter than Petrolle and a lot stronger. I think this allows him to get inside more and get his type of fight. However, I think Ross has the tools to cope with Basilio on the inside and weather the choppy waters Basilio would bring him. I'd expect Ross to take a very hard-earned and bitterly fought 15 round decision something like 10-5 or 9-6.
