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Glass Chin to Help Bratton Keep Title NBA Champion Says Gavilan Will Be Wide Open When He Aims for Twice-Broken Jaw By JACK CUDDY United Press Sports Writer GREENWOOD LAKE, N. Y., May 16.— Johnny Bratton expects his own "glass chin" to cause Kid Gavilans defeat in the welterweight title fight Friday night. That strange revelation was made today by dusky Bratton of Chicago as he finished training for Fridays 15 -rounder with the Cuban "Keed" at Madison Square Garden. "Like everybody else, Gavilan thinks I got a glass chin," explained the National Boxing Associations champion. "So he will concentrate on trying to bust my jaw again. "In doing that he will leave himself open to my right-hand counters. And since I hit a lot harder than he does, hell get the worst of it." The trim-built Negro in dungarees, black-and-white checked shirt, and tan long-peaked cap said most persons in boxing were convinced he had a crystal chin because it was fractured in fights with Beau Jack and lightweight champion Ike Williams. "When Beau Jack broke it in 1948, I didnt have it set properly," he continued. "But when Williams busted it in the same place in January, 1949, I had it tended to right. And now its stronger than ever." Knocked Off Feet Only Once He informed the reporters, sitting with him on the boat dock of the placid Blue Lake: "Actually I got a granite chin. I was knocked off my feet only once in 85 amateur and 61 professional fights." Back in 1945, in his second year of professional scrapping, Robert Earl had floored him in the first round; but Johnny rose and floored Earl four times and knocked him out in the third session. Bratton, 23, emphasized he had been stopped but twice in his career — in his broken-jaw bouts with Beau Jack and Williams, "and I wasnt on the floor in either of those." Victories in his last five fights boosted Johnny to the NBA crown. And each of his victims concentrated on his chin. As a result his explosive right counters knocked out Lester Felton, Sammy Mastrean, Bobby Dykes and Don Williams, and gave Charlie Fusari the worst battering of his career. It was in the Fusari fight at Chicago, March 14, that he won NBA recognition as champion. That was Johnnys first 15-rounder. The winner of Fridays 15 -rounder will be recognized as world champion by the NBA and by the New York Athletic Commission. Gavilan also has gone 15 rounds but once. That was in 1949, when he tried unsuccessfully to take the welter crown from Sugar Ray Robinson at Philadelphia. Has Bratton ever seen Gavilan in action? Yes, in bouts with Paddy Young and Eugene Hairston. Johnny admitted that the Cuban was a "good, all-around fighter." He was fast, smart and tough. What did Bratton think of Gavilans highly-touted bolo punch? "Heck, thats just a showboat punch — a long underhanded swing like an uppercut," he said. *T hope he uses it on me. Im fast enough to nail him when he pulls back to throw it. Yes, I hope he keeps throwing that bolo at my glass chin."
