Born in Chesley, Ontario, Brusso had been a lacrosse player in Canada and took the Irish-sounding name of Tommy Burns so that his Italian Roman Catholic mother wouldn't know that he was boxing.
Born in Chesley, Ontario, Brusso grew up in Hanover, Ontario and had been a lacrosse player in Galt. He took the Irish-sounding name of Tommy Burns so that his Italian Roman Catholic mother wouldn't know that he was boxing.