Johnny Bratton

For the American Civil War general, see John Bratton.

Johnny Bratton
Statistics
Real name	Johnny Bratton
Nickname(s)	Honey Boy Bratton
Rated at	Welterweight
Nationality	American
Born	(1927-09-09)September 9, 1927 Little Rock, AR, U.S.
Died
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	86
Wins	59
Wins by KO	33
Losses	24
Draws	3
No contests	4

Johnny Bratton, also known as Honey Boy Bratton, (September 9, 1927 – August 15, 1993) was an American professional boxer in the welterweight (147lb) division. He fought many of the best fighters of his era in the division [1].

Amateur career

Bratton started boxing at age 14 and competed in several Golden Gloves events before turning pro.

Professional career

Bratton turned pro in 1944 and captured the vacant National Boxing Association World welterweight title in 1951 with a majority decision win over Charley Fusari [2], fight in which Fusari was down for a four-count in the 4th round and a nine-count in the 10th. He lost the belt two months later to Kid Gavilan by decision after Bratton's jaw was broken within the first five rounds. In 1953 Bratton rematched Gavilan for the World Welterweight Title and lost a lopsided decision with scores 85-65, 83-67, 82-68 all for Gavilan. After the loss to Gavilan, Bratton's career spiraled downward with losses to Johnny Saxton and Chico Varona. He retired in 1955 after a brutal loss to Del Flanagan, a fight stopped by the Ring doctor because Bratton was cut over both eyes and because he appeared "dazed and didn't know where he was."

Life after boxing

Bratton worked as a farm-hand after his career ended [3].

External links

• Professional boxing record for Johnny Bratton from BoxRec

Nowhere to Run ( A True Story of Johnny Bratton) by John Schulian (b. 1945) From At the Fights: American Writers on Boxing