Boxing great Dave Montrose was born in Russia in 1904 and immigrated to the United States as a small boy with his parents and brothers. The family settled in Sioux City, Iowa, and young Dave began selling newspapers to help support the family. When his mother died and his father was unable to take care of the children, Dave was brought into the Shubb home by fellow newsboy Ben (son of Barnet). Although not literally a member of the Shubb Family, he was raised in the Shubb household, and began boxing professionally at the age of 18. At first managed by a Sioux City manager, he was discovered by manager Leo P. Flynn of New York and later handled by Flynn's representative in California.

He acquired the name "Newsboy Brown" in one of his early fights. The ring announcer proceeded to introduce him. "In this corner...," he began. Then, realizing he had not bothered to learn the name of the young fighter, whom he knew only to be a newsboy, he continued, "the brown-skinned newsboy.....Newsboy Brown." The name stuck, and Newsboy Brown went on to become one of the top prizefighters of the 1920's and '30's.

He married Sophie Novak, of Sioux City in 1925. That same year, when the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles opened on August 5, 1925, it was a major media event, attended by such celebrities as Jack Dempsey and Rudolph Valentino. The card featured a bout in which Newsboy Brown KO'd Young Nationalista.

Newsboy Brown came about as close as one can to becoming a world champion. As a flyweight, he fought to two draws with world champion Fidel La Barba, and beat world champions Frankie Genaro and Midget Wolgast. Unfortunately, the fights with Genaro and Wolgast were not title fights however. When he fought 15 rounds against Corporal Izzy Schwartz in New York City for the vacant World Flyweight title on December 16, 1927 he lost by a close decision. Because the flyweight championship was in dispute at that time, Schwartz' title, which he lost two years later, was recognized only in New York. The records show, however, that in the following month, January of 1928, Newsboy Brown went on to defeat Johnny McCoy in Los Angeles to capture the California World Flyweight title. Eight months later he lost it to Johnny Hill in a 15 round decision in London, England.

He also fought as a bantamweight, against such top contenders as Chalky Wright, who later went on to become World Featherweight Champion from 1941 to 1942. On March 3, 1931, Newsboy Brown won the California Bantamweight title by defeating Speedy Dado in a ten round contest in Los Angeles. On December 15 of that same year he beat World Champion Panama Al Brown in a 15 round bout in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the latter was a non-title fight, and Newsboy Brown never became world bantamweight champion either.

He eventually lost his California Bantamweight title to Philippine champion Young Tommy in a record attendance setting fight in Sacramento, California on January 28, 1932.

After 81 professional fights over 11 years in the ring, he finally hung up the gloves in 1933. He broke into the motion picture industry by teaching cowboy movie star Tom Mix how to fight. His association with Mix landed him a job in the properties department of one of the major motion picture studios in Hollywood, where he worked in his later years. He died at the age of 73 in 1977. He is remembered fondly in the boxing community as a tough scrapper with the heart of a lion, and is considered like one of the Shubb family.