Anyone remember Buster Drayton?

I think he upset Duane Thomas on a cut, if I remember.

 

I just reviewed Drayton being parked by Jules Jackson on National TV from one of my old tapes last night....... Jackson knew Drayton was out before Drayton hit the floor....... Drayton was good, but also a little older than 90% of his later day opponents....... Still, he was a former 154 "paper" champ and a former chief 'Hagler' sparring partner....

MR.BILL

 

I saw him on ESPN back in the 1980s he was a good journeyman who ended up with a title I think he was a Hagler sparring partner at 1 time

 

Read my above post............atsch

MR.BILL:hi:

 

srry Mr Bill didn't look first

 

Yea, Drayton was an unorthdox style type of opponent a rytym breaker of sorts...If I remember correctly he had some power

 

I had the pleasure of Inducting Buster Drayton into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame this past Thursday night. Also being Inducted was Mario Maldonado, who beat him twice. During the night Derrick Rolon came over to talk to him. Rolon, who also beat him, was the last opponent that Drayton fought. At that time Buster turned to me and said, Henry did you invite anyone that I beat, it looks like you only invited those who beat me, and he laughed.

He is a CLASS ACT!

BUSTER DRAYTON credits his stellar boxing career to being Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s chief sparring partner. In the same way Larry Holmes learned his trade from Muhammad Ali, Drayton
sparred hundreds of rounds with the smoldering world middleweight champion of the Eighties.

“I stayed in camp with Marvin for four years and I saw guys get carried out, laid out and knocked out because they had the wrong attitude,” said Buster, who these days is in his 14th year as a Philadelphia police officer.

“They were thinking, ‘I’m going to knock Marvin out and beat him up’, but my attitude was that I went there to learn. “After four years Marvin said, ‘You’re ready to be your own champion
now’. I said, ‘I’m not ready’, and he said, ‘Yes, you are’. “It was like a father telling a son, ‘You’re 18 now, get out there’.” Drayton is still in excellent shape, working out regularly at the Shuler Gym in the city. He doesn’t look any older than 32 but is actually 55.

He didn’t really want to be a fighter. As a lad he went to the Philly gyms to watch boxers train but it was only when he joined the Marine Corps (as a machine gunner) that he laced on the
gloves. And he was good. Christened Moses (Buster is his middle name), he demobbed in 1976 despite the Marines encouraging him to box in the Olympic Trials. But he had no interest, saying he fought only for the benefits being part of the boxing team brought him. But it was
his calling.

Back in the Philly gyms, he would beat up guys of the caliber of Frank “The Animal” Fletcher. He realized he might just make it in the hardest game. He won a Golden Gloves title and after
turning pro and knocking out two of his first four opponents, he knew for sure that “This is what I wanted to do”. Yet although he went all the way to the top, winning the IBF light-middleweight title at the grand old age of 32, until that 1986 night he had been viewed more as a dangerous journeyman.

His record was a patchy 27-9-1 when he got his shot against “crafty” Puerto Rican southpaw Carlos Santos, but he won the vacant title with a solid win over 15 rounds. Hagler was supporting from ringside. By then, Drayton had made two of three visits to the UK, where he made his name.

He knocked out then-British lightmiddle king Jimmy Cable in the first at the Albert Hall in April 1984 and a month later came back to shatter full middleweight Mark Kaylor’s dreams in seven rounds at Wembley. They were two wins that stunned Britain. He took the Kaylor job at short notice, but Drayton was always in the gym. “I did everything there,” he said. “I even ate in the gym, so when they called me back I was ready. “They said Kaylor was a big puncher,
that he was this and that, but you can be the biggest puncher in the world, but how can you hit what you can’t see!?” Drayton had a tight defense.

“In the seventh I caught Kaylor with an uppercut and then dropped him with a right hand. When he got back up, I said to myself, ‘I can’t let him get away, I’ve got him now’.

“So I hit him with a left hook and he went down again, but the referee virtually helped him back up and I said to myself, ‘You can’t do that’. So I just rained blows on him and knocked him out.

“Don’t get me wrong - I told the announcer after the fight I didn’t want to destroy the guy. I just wanted to win. That was always my thing.” For a man who earned his title the hard way, Buster was remarkably upbeat about losing the crown to Matthew Hilton in Canada in
his third defense.

“I didn’t feel bad about losing by decision because I fought with one hand [after breaking his right] in the third. Even though I lost, I was happy. I thought the only person who could do
something like that was Ali! “People said, ‘Why are you so happy? You lost the title.’ But I won something more. I learned something about myself.” When asked who his toughest opponent was - and he fought Sumbu Kalambay, Terry Norris, Julian Jackson and Davey Moore - Buster said: “All of them. Because nearly everyone I fought was either a former world champion or became a world champion.”

Working with Hagler was “his blessing”, but so was his vision for life after boxing that saw him graduate from three police academies, two federal and one municipal. He retired in 1995 with a
record of 40-15-1 (28) and is happily married to second wife Sylvia. His seven children have all grown up. “I couldn’t be more satisfied,” he said. “I’m happy most of all that, number one, I came out with all my marbles and, number two, I always said, ‘There’s life after fighting’. When
you don’t consider those two things, you got problems when your career’s over, whether it’s walking straight, standing up or talking.

“Every time a fighter gets into that ring for his first fight he must remember there’ll be a last time. I did and I couldn’t be happier.”

 

Draytons mind must be slipping a bit about the Kaylor fight. In round 7 he had Kaylor down again and again, but he is lying about the referee helping up Kaylor. After a slip Kaylor tried to get a rest by going down to one knee for a count (No mandatory 8 count in England at that time), but the referee pulled him off the floor and told him to continue.
I have the full fight and it is a great win for Drayton, but if se said what I see above, he is a blody liar. I have a lot of Drayton fights, he is great to watch.

Woller

 

Drayton's title loss to Mattew Hilton killed me......... I wanted Drayton to win so bad.......... But Drayton was somewhere at age 35 or 36 and Hilton was a mere kid of 21 or 22 yrs of age............. It was just too much of a gap for Drayton.......... Drayton got decked but he fought on........... B.D. was a wiley Coyote but old as dirt......... I cannot recall if Hilton stopped Drayton Very, Very late or if Drayton went all 15 rds.......... I have the tape tucked away........ Its been over 20 yrs since I last looked that tape / fight over.........

MR.BILL

 

he wasnt fluid at all but he knew what he was doing. which is the key aspect to an awkward fighter.

terry norris had a great fight with him. right cross left hand from norris i think got the only knockdown of the fight. good performance from an out of prime drayton

 

I just checked........ Drayton went all 15 with Hilton but dropped the nod and title in '87......... Jesus.......

Christ almighty, Drayton fought until 1992 or 1993............

I just saw a recent picture of Buster Drayton.......... He's bald up top with a long-ass forehead and glasses..... I hardly recognized him

MR.BILL

 

Which is basically what he was talking about.

“In the seventh I caught Kaylor with an uppercut and then dropped him with a right hand. When he got back up, I said to myself, ‘I can’t let him get away, I’ve got him now’.

“So I hit him with a left hook and he went down again, but the referee virtually helped him back up and I said to myself, ‘You can’t do that’. So I just rained blows on him and knocked him out.