David "Newsboy Brown" Montrose (anglicized from Mondrusevsky)

Fascinating individual, this. It would be a real shame if we never see any footage surface. Given his era, it remains within the realm of possibility that some does, someday - but don't go blue in the face or anything.

Wins over Panama Al Brown, Izzy Schwarz, Midget Wolgast, and Filipino legends Dio "Speedy Dado" Posadas & Fernando "Young Tommy" Opao (a protégé, oddly enough, of Jack Johnson). He was inducted by the IBHOF quite deservedly in 2012, but he is probably among the most obscure entrants on record since the invention of the kinetoscope. Even scholars of his day have to rely on just written accounts, given the dearth of any video. More's the pity, as descriptions of his style make it sound pretty fan-friendly.

I mean, there is extant film of him, plenty of it, actually - but alas, exclusively from his second career in Hollywood.

This content is protected

This content is protected

 

I think, per my own digging (though I wouldn't call it exhaustive research by any means) even Mondrus was a shortening of "Mondrusevsky", before changing to a more 'American sounding' Montrose after they filtered through Ellis Island.

 

If I had an expendable billion, I'd break off a few hundred million to bring any Brown footage into the light of day. (just a bit less than in my hypothetical Greb fund )