Kid Gavilan vs. Johnny Bratton III (In a New Format, PLEASE READ)

On November 13, 1953, in Chicago Stadium, a contest of a modest demeanor was taking place: the third match between Kid Gavilan and Johnny Bratton. While it was a big fight for both men, it meant entirely different things to each. Gavilan, who had been riding the high of his already-legendary two-year reign, defeating the only best contenders in Billy Graham (twice), Bobby Dykes, Gil Turner, Chuck Davey, and Carmen Basilio, as well as 17 non-title opponents. Bratton on the other hand was staring at the end of his career. Since losing the title to the Cuban Hawk two years earlier, he had struggled to regain his reputation entirely, although holding the champ to a thrilling non-title draw and defeating the man who gave Gavilan his only loss in two years, Danny "Bang Bang" Womber, must have helped to blank out Bratton's several losses at the time.
The match began slowly, as was customary for both, with Bratton taking it minimally. In violation of his usual style, Gavilan did not wait for the action to come to him, but instead decided to make it start happening. He soon landed a damn good right, which set off two good exchanges later on. Bratton was initially slow to react, but was getting wind into his sails by the end. The greatest moment of action came near the beginning of round 3, when Bratton was trapped on the ropes and the two duked out one of the greatest exchanges one can recall.
Bratton won the fifth, but it was a minor hiccup in Gavilan's plan. He took control of the fight in the 6th, and continued to hold a firm grip. He fought out of a crouch for all of round 6, and made Bratton pay with lots of left hooks, and in round 7 pinned Bratton to the ropes a few times, where he racked up quite a few points.
The turning point came in round 8. The round contained little build-up. The Keed just pinned Bratton in a corner and gave him an all-time brutal beating, hitting him with about 50-punches. Bratton did not throw a single counterpunch, but to his credit, never wavered during the beating either. And Bratton won the 10th, but it unaffected Gavilan, and unfortunately, the championship rounds were set to the tune of the 8th: rounds 11, 12, & 15 saw Bratton brutally beaten in the fashion of round 8. By the final hell-session in round 15, Bratton had no defense whatsoever to offer, but he completed the contest standing up.
After the end of 15 rounds, it certainly came as no surprise when Gavilan won the overwhelming decision that he had; the closest score being 82-68 for Gavilan, and Bratton being awarded only 3 rounds. It was a great day for the Cuban, who delivered one of his very finest performances, whereas Bratton, weary from so many shots to his fragile jaw, offered little resistance and the sole consolation being that Bratton miraculously survived one of the most horrific beatings in the chronicles of film. It was reported that everyone felt Bratton would have been justified in giving up after 12 rounds.
However, Gavilan's blistering performance failed to reflect his remaining career. He would unsuccessfully challenge Carl "Bobo" Olson for the the middleweight title in his next outing, and lose the welterweight title to Johnny Saxton right after that. Losing would cease to be a novelty for Kid Gavilan, but he still continued to defeated significant contenders up until his retirement in 1958.
Sadly, Bratton's career and life outside the ring would not end as well as that. He would fight only three more times, losing all three. Throughout the course of his career he suffered 3 broken jaws and a dislocated knee. His jaw trouble inevitably lead to brain damage, which resulted in many years spent in and out of mental hospitals, including an eight-year stint at Manteno State Hospital. Bratton's post-ring years were also plagued by financial troubles that arose due to a poorly managed fortune of his peak career: embezzlement by his manager, the greed of his family, and his own bad spending habits, all of which left him with nothing. In his last days which were not spent in a hospital, he was either homeless or living in a car until his death in 1993.
Proof that boxing has been generous to some and merciless to others.

 

Thanks scar. I think I will abandon my old format, and do only fights I view as highly significant for the new format and I will out all my scores over where you are scar. I'll post this fight's scores tonight, plus my verdict.