The Human Sponge: Alf Ros

Few fighters fit the mold of a true road warrior as well as Alf Ros. From 1921 until 1939, Ros fought on four continents against countless good and great opponents. He battled Jackie Fields, Ben Jeby, Vince Dundee, Tommy Freeman, Young Corbett III, and Lou Brouillard: all current, or future world champions when Ros faced them.

Jewish boxers from North Africa have a tradition of success. Victor "Young" Perez, Alphonse Halimi and Robert Cohen are the best remembered, but there were many quality Jewish boxers coming out of Algerian, Tunisian, and Morocco. Ros was the first to make a name for himself.

Alfred Ros was born on January 20, 1903 in Oran, Algeria to a Spanish mother and an Algerian father. France had taken control of Algeria in 1830 and incorporated the country into France in 1848. Algerian Jews were given French citizenship in 1870 as part of France's strategy to divide and conquer. Though considered part of France, Oran had a significant Spanish influence with much of the city's large European population hailing from Spain.

Ros started his professional career in Morocco in 1921. He fought under the first names Alf or Fred and his surname was sometimes spelled "Ross." After several fights in Morocco, he began campaigning in France the following year against good competition. Following a fight in Italy, he made his homecoming on March 3, 1923 when he fought Pedro Sáez, a notable boxer from Spain.

Sáez was recovering from a devastating low blow in sparring and began the bout firmly in survival mode. In the seventh round, Ros butted Sáez, who was knocked to the ground. The referee gave Sáez a minute's rest to recover, but Sáez was unable to continue and the fight was ruled a TKO victory for Ros. Later than night, Sáez saw the referee at a concert of Bizet's "Carmen" and futilely confronted him about his ruling, believing he should have won by disqualification. It was the only time Sáez was ever stopped in his career.

Ros fought a few more times in Oran, then several times back in Casablanca, before relocating to France and sneaking in a fight in Belgium. He was based in Bois-Colombes, a suburb northwest of Paris. One of his best wins came against Arthur Schaekels on September 2, 1925 in France's capital city. Ros won the ten-rounder by decision. A famed denizen of the city took notice. The following January, Ernest Hemingway wrote to a friend that Schaekels's dominance in Mexico immediately after the Ros fight - even winning the Mexican welterweight title - showed just how tough Ros was (pg. 3).

In 1926, Ros married Hélène, a French woman a year older than himself. That year, he beat future French welterweight champ Yvan Laffineur and drew with the current champ Emile Romerio before traveling to London. Ros was constantly in the ring, learning veteran tricks along the way. On January 11, 1927 Ros lost a rematch for the French title against Romerio, but picked up a big win twenty days later in London when he avenged a loss to Joe Rolfe with a 13th round knockout.

Alf Ros

Back in Paris, Ros went on a rampage in the ring. On September 7, 1927 Ros stopped French welterweight champion Alfred Pegazzano in the seventh round, but Ros was overweight so the title didn't change hands. Despite multiple efforts, he never would win the coveted French crown.

On November 20 and 21, 1927 Ros fought in back-to-back fifteen rounders in London. He lost to veteran Billy Bird and then drew with Billy Adair. Alf only fought twice in 1928 before setting sail for the new world. He received his visa to travel to the United Sates on August 23. Boarding the Rochambeau at Havre, France on October 31, Ros arrived in New York ten days later. He worked in two fights in Puerto Rico before the end of the year, traveling with fellow a Wahrani boxer named Antoine Ascencio.

On February 22, 1929 Ros fought in the continental United States for the first time. The venue happened to be the center of boxing: Madison Square Garden. Ros upset veteran Billy Adler, battering him around the ring for nine rounds before the fight was stopped. Ros was "the real hit of the night" and described as "a pocket-edition of Tom Sharkey."

On March 11 at MSG, Ros couldn't get inside against the much taller future welterweight world champion Tommy Freeman. He then lost to quality fighters like Nick Testo, Canada Lee, and My Sullivan. His biggest win in New York came against future middleweight world champion Ben Jeby, but he lost the rematch in October. Still, Ros was "hailed as one of the hardest hitting European welterweights."

In New York, Ros was a stablemate of the Spanish heavyweight Paulino Uzcundun, known as "The Basque Woodchopper." Alf lived on 111th Street in Manhattan with his wife, who arrived on May 28, 1929 and Americanized her name to Elaine. Fellow fighter Gaston LeCadre, "The Fighting Apache of Paris," lived two doors down.

On January 6, 1930 Ros fought the welterweight world champion Jackie Fields in a nontitle affair. The two fighters thrilled the Philadelphia crowd with their constant exchanges. Fields typically boxed, but against the shorter Ros, he was forced to fight, and it made for an exciting showing. Alf's stock rose.

He lost to future middleweight world champion Vince Dundee and future welterweight world champion Young Corbett III in successive months. Ros went down in the fourth and ninth rounds against Corbett, a tricky southpaw. He came back to decision Abe Attell's nephew, Gilbert on June 25.

Described as "a human sponge" because he could absorb so much punishment, Ros was something of an enigma to the American press. They called the short, stout fighter with the hairy chest "swarthy." They alternately labeled him as Spanish, Moroccan, Belgian, South African, Armenian, French, Algerian, and Hebrew.

One scribe declared, "Ros is heralded around New York as the greatest club fighter of all time." During his ten year career and likely over a hundred fights to that point, Alf had never been stopped.

On February 6, 1931 Alf fought future two-division world champion Lou Brouillard. In the sixth of an eight-rounder at Boston Garden, Ros was finally stopped. It would be the first of only two times he lost by knockout.

After a few more losses, Ros traveled to Mexico and fought there for a year, including a draw against the popular Mexican-American Bert Colima. He spent the next year and a half toiling in Costa Rica. In October of 1933 Ros faced an old nemesis, Arthur Schaekels, in Chile of all places. They fought to a draw. The next year, Ros stopped Felix "Kid" Thomas, the Nicaraguan welterweight titlist, in the fourth round in Managua. Ros then relocated to Peru, where he fought until 1936, with one comeback fight in 1939.

According to BoxRec, Ros's record was 57-37-16 with 24 KOs, but due to the itinerant nature of his career, he surely fought more. Alf's legacy extends beyond his own personal accomplishments, though. He laid the foundation for generations of North African Jewish boxers who were able to build upon Ros's labor and create championship careers.

Sources

Eckersall, Walter. "Mandell Meets Vicentini at Stadium Tonight." Chicago Daily Tribune. Sep. 6, 1929. Pg. 21.

"Fast Bouts Await Fans Who Attend Moose Hall Bouts." Shamokin News-Dispatch. Apr. 22, 1931. Pg. 6.

Hughes, Ed. "Paulino's Slugging Too Big a Puzzle for Christner to Solve." Brooklyn Eagle. Feb. 23, 1929. Pg. 10.

Vackner, Charles. "Braddock Demonstrates Punching Prowess Stopping Slattery." The Brooklyn Daily Times. Mar. 12, 1929. Pg. 23.

Immigration records, New York City, 1928, 1929.

U.S. Census, 1930.