Hilton Edward Booker (November 5, 1917 – January 26, 1975) was an American

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who was active during the 1930s and 1940s. Booker was one of the famous " Murderers Row" group of

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

boxers, along with the likes of

Charley Burley Charley Burley (September 6, 1917 – October 16, 1992) was an American boxer who fought as a welterweight and middleweight from 1936 to 1950. Archie Moore, the light-heavyweight champion who was defeated by Burley in a 1944 middleweight bout, w ...

Holman Williams Holman Williams (January 30, 1915 in Pensacola, Florida – July 15, 1967) was a world welterweight and middleweight boxing contender. Williams is a member of the infamous Murderers' Row, a group of black fighters who were never able to get a worl ...

and Jack Chase, avoided by other elite fighters of the era because of their ability and their skin colour. Booker compiled a record of 66-5-8, which included a (1-1-1) record vs.

, (0-1) record vs. Jack Chase, (1-0) vs.

Lloyd Marshall Lloyd Marshall (June 4, 1914 – August 4, 1997) was an American light heavyweight boxer who was inducted posthumously into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June 2010. Pro career Marshall began his boxing career at the age of 17 and turn ...

, (0-1)

Cocoa Kid Herbert Lewis Hardwick Arroyo (May 2, 1914 – December 27, 1966), also known as "Cocoa Kid", was a Puerto Rican boxer of African descent who fought primarily as a welterweight but also in the middleweight division. Hardwick won the World Colore ...

. Other Notable Booker fights include a (1-0-2) record vs.

Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (December 1952 – May 1962). He had one of the longest ...

(being the first to knock him out) a win over Harry Matthews, a loss to

Fritzie Zivic Fritzie Zivic (May 8, 1913 – May 16, 1984), born as Ferdinand Henry John Zivcich ( hr, Živčić), was an American boxer who held the world welterweight championship from October 4, 1940, until July 29, 1941. His managers included Luke Carney, ...

and a (2-1-1) record vs

Shorty Hogue Willis 'Shorty' Hogue was a boxer in California during the 1940s, along with Lloyd Marshall, Charley Burley, Jack Chase (Young Joe Louis), Archie Moore and Eddie Booker. He had a twin brother, Willard, known as "Big Boy" Hogue, who also boxed in ...

. Like all black murderer's row fighters, he never got an opportunity to fight for a world title. Booker was forced to retire prematurely due to an eye injury. He was a 2017 inductee of the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

. World Champion Archie Moore thought the world of Booker saying, “I’ve had some rough fights in my time,” Moore said, “but all things being equal, when I was in my prime, one of my toughest had to have been against Eddie Booker, a fighting machine … who shot out punches with deft precision … ookerwas one of the great fighters of my time. He had me fighting for dear life.” Booker was blind later in life due to eye injuries suffered from an illegally doctored glove. He died in San Francisco on January 26, 1975 at 57 years old.

Professional boxing record

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* 1917 births 1975 deaths African-American boxers Boxers from Texas Welterweight boxers Middleweight boxers American male boxers 20th-century African-American sportspeople International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees {{US-boxing-bio-stub

Professional boxing record

See also

References

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