[1] Bartolo turned pro in April 1937, shortly after he took the Golden Gloves title, and won four straight bouts in Boston before losing to Ace Hutchins in a six round unanimous points decision in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

[1] On April 1, 1938, Bartolo was defeated by Tony Dupre in his first attempts at the USA New England Featherweight Title in the Arena in Boston in a ten round split decision.

[1] On March 10, 1939, Bartolo first took the USA New England Featherweight Championship at 126 pounds, winning in a rematch against Tony Dupre in a twelve round split decision at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts.

On October 3, 1939, Bartolo had one of his rare losses to Jewish boxer Al Reid in an eight round points decision at the Broadway Arena in Brooklyn.

On November 11, 1940, Bartolo defeated New York Jewish boxer Maxie Shapiro in a ten round mixed points decision at the same venue.

One reporter wrote that "Bartolo's lightning fast left jabbing, his accurate two fisted hooking, and artistic footwork were weapons much too heavy for the dogged Terranova.

[14] On July 20, 1943, Terranova took another shot at the USA New England Featherweight Title, winning in an eighth round TKO, defeating Lefty LaChance at the Outdoor Arena in Hartford, Connecticut.

The referee stopped the fight when LaChance received a bad cut over his left eye when the two fighters heads crashed together early in the eighth.

[1][15] On December 15, 1944, Bartolo waged his second defense of the NBA World Featherweight Title against black boxer Willie Roach at Boston Garden, winning in a fifteen round unanimous points decision before a somewhat modest crowd of 7,000.

[16] On May 3, 1946, in his last defense of the NBA World Featherweight Title, Bartolo defeated Spider Armstrong before 7,600 fans in a sixth round knockout at Boston Garden.

[17] He lost the championship to Willie Pep on June 7, 1946, at Madison Square Garden via 12th round KO, the last battle of the epic Bartolo-Pep trilogy.