Thought about posting this fight at lightweight then realised that everyone would automatically pick Duran to win so thought a bout between them at WW would provoke more varied responses. Let's see... Who wins this one, how do they win and why?
Ross had an educated left hand, subtle footwork using angles, not dancing. He can keep that left hand in Duran`s face and frustrate him. At times clinch and blunt Duran`s inside game. Duran didnt bring the heat at Welterweight quite the same. Ross had a good chin as well so I don`t see Duran being able to score a knockout.
I'd back Duran in Palomino/Leonard form to win a competitive but clear decision, I think. Barney was a brilliant all-round textbook technician, very complete in terms of his range of skills. All the punches in the book, sharp footwork, able to lead or counter, cagey upper body movement, good feinting skills, mastery of angles and able to fight well at all ranges. He only had average speed though, hardly any power at the top level and wasn't physically the strongest even at lightweight. And he was small at 147. Had a rock solid chin and loads of heart but was heavily dependent on skill rather than physicality and athleticism, and he tended to stand his ground and scrap imo when things became heated. Duran was his equal in terms of skill imo and was a bit faster, slicker and more powerful. It would be fairly less one-sided than the Armstrong fight, I think; peak Duran was more measured than Hank and Ross was faded by that time. But his lack of power I reckon would prevent him from keeping Duran where he wanted him often enough, and I think he'd struggle late on despite being an exemplary 15 round operator. Great, great fighter though with an incredible record.
Ross 72-4-0. Prime loss to Jimmy McLarin by disputed SD. Career ending loss to Hank Armstrong. (2 minor losses to much more experienced fighters early in Ross's career). Ross, at his best was fought at 142 lbs..a small welter (but won 3 titles LtW, JrWW, & WW). Ross was known as a smart fighter with great stamina. He retained his title by decision against Sammy Fuller to finish 1933 and against Peter Nebo to begin 1934. Then he defended against former world champion Frankie Klick, against whom he drew in ten. Then came the first of three bouts versus Jimmy McLarnin. Ross vacated the light welterweight title to go after McLarnin's welterweight title and won by a 15-round decision, his third world championship. However, in a rematch a few weeks later, McLarnin beat Ross by a decision and recovered the title. After that, Ross went back down to light welterweight and reclaimed his title with a 12-round decision over Bobby Pacho. After beating Klick and Henry Woods by decision to retain that title, he went back up in weight for his third and last fight with McLarnin; he recovered the welterweight title by outpointing McLarnin again over 15 rounds. He won 16 bouts in a row after that, including three over future world middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia and one against Al Manfredo. His only two defenses, however, over that stretch were against Garcia and against Izzy Jannazzo, on points in 15 rounds. In his last fight, Ross defended his title on May 31, 1938 against fellow three-division world champion Henry Armstrong, who beat him by a decision in 15.
