A Boxing Memory: Buster Drayton

A Boxing Memory: Buster Drayton

Buster Drayton sadly passed away on November 20th 2022 aged 70.

The dangerous big punching Philadelphia fighter came to prominence to British fight fans courtesy of consecutive stoppage victories over touted British hopefuls Jimmy Cable and Mark Kaylor in 1984. Drayton stopped Cable inside a round and followed that up with a big upset win via 7th-round stoppage over Kaylor. Drayton then 30 was perceived to be at the journeyman stage of his career, with eight defeats already on his record. The upset wins of Cable and Drayton proved he was anything but. His story didn’t end there.

Born in 1952 as Moses Buster Drayton, he found boxing while serving in the Marines. He turned pro in 1978, a draw on his debut against Charles Carey promised very little. Drayton appeared to be settling into his perceived role, a regular sparring partner for Marvelous Marvin Hagler added to that narrative, and while the danger man tag was always there, the fighters at the top of the food chain beat him. The likes of Lindell Holmes, Sumbu Kalambay and Fred Hutchins all had wins over him. But the victories over Cable and Kaylor reignited his career. Even when a return visit to London in 1985 ended in defeat to James Kinchen, Drayton still had more to show.

But when he was given an unlikely IBF world light-middleweight title opportunity against Carlos Santos in 1986, he was given little chance of claiming the vacant world title. But over 15 tight rounds in New Jersey, Drayton claimed a wafer-thin majority decision to become the new light-middleweight champion of the world. Two successful defences against Davey Moore and Said Skouma followed before the unbeaten Canadian Matthew Hilton took away his title on points in 1987 in a 15-round war. Drayton had one final chance at world honours the following year, but he found the murderous punching Julian Jackson far too much for him and was stopped in three rounds. And when Terry Norris beat him in his very next fight, his days at world level were over. Drayton fought on but when Derrick Rolan beat him in 1995, Drayton finally called it a day with 40 wins, against 15 defeats, with a draw and a no-contest to round off his resume.

Drayton will probably always be overshadowed by other fighters from his era, but he deserves to be remembered in his own right. He was on the road for much of his career and he had more than his share of upset victories. He was a much better fighter than he was given credit for.