BoxRec

Former IBF light middleweight champion and Philly Boxing legend, Buster Drayton, has passed away aged 70. Buster was the quintessence of the underdog made good, a man who bucked the odds and made it to the mountain top. British fight fans of the 1980s will never forget the year he announced himself on these shores by virtue of wrecking Jimmy Cable and Mark Kaylor in consecutive fights or his appearance at York Hall the following year where he dropped a decision to James Kinchen.
Learning his trade the hard way, Buster become a world champion 16 months later, decisioning Carlos Santos over 15 rounds in New Jersey. An unlikely Kingpin, he made 2 successful defences of said crown before coming second in a classic slugfest with Matthew Hilton at the Montreal Forum. “When Drayton got dropped in the early part of the fight, everyone went ‘There it is, it’s over..!” recalled Russ Anber. “But when he survived the first round, that’s when they got a look. People who didn’t know Buster Drayton, that’s when they got a look at just how tough this guy was, and what it was going to take to beat him.”
The diametric opposite of some of today’s more entitled breed, Moses Buster Drayton was the dictionary definition of a FIGHTER…..
May he Rest In Peace…x

That fight with Matthew Hilton was the first I ever attended. 15 round war.

I lost a decision to him in the amateurs. He was a bit of a ringer at the time and older. We ran into each a few times over the years. Great guy. May he RIP.

Buster Drayton was the Mike Weaver of the Super Welterweight or Junior Middleweight, who was an underdog early in his career, but he managed to upset guys like Jimmy Cable, Mark Kraylor and Clint Jackson before winning the IBF junior middleweight title.

Another legend passed on to the afterlife.

RIP Champ

A very fun guy to watch. Condolences to his family and friends. Semper Fi, Champ.

He wrecked British hopes

A nice little pocket rocket during the golden age of the 80's