Hilton Edward Booker (November 5, 1917 – January 26, 1975) was an American boxer who was active during the 1930s and 1940s.
Booker was one of the famous "Murderers Row" group of black boxers, along with the likes of Charley Burley, Holman Williams 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. Holman Williams, (0-1) record vs. Jack Chase, (1-0) vs. Lloyd Marshall, (0-1) Cocoa Kid. Other Notable Booker fights include a (1-0-2) record vs. Archie Moore (being the first to knock him out) a win over Harry Matthews, a loss to Fritzie Zivic and a (2-1-1) record vs Shorty Hogue. 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.
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 … [Booker] was one of the great fighters of my time. He had me fighting for dear life.”[1]
Booker was blind later in life due to eye injuries suffered from an illegally doctored glove.[2] He died in San Francisco on January 26, 1975 at 57 years old.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Date | Location | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 79 | Win | 66–5–8 | Holman Williams | PTS | 10 | Mar 6, 1944 | ||
| 78 | Win | 65–5–8 | Frankie Nelson | PTS | 10 | Feb 23, 1944 | ||
| 77 | Win | 64–5–8 | Archie Moore | TKO | 8 (10) | Jan 21, 1944 | ||
| 76 | Win | 63–5–8 | Paul Hartnek | TKO | 6 (10) | Jan 5, 1944 | ||
| 75 | Loss | 62–5–8 | Holman Williams | PTS | 12 | Nov 19, 1943 | ||
| 74 | Win | 62–4–8 | Van McNutt | TKO | 5 (10) | Oct 18, 1943 | ||
| 73 | Win | 61–4–8 | Harry Matthews | TKO | 5 (10) | Aug 9, 1943 | ||
| 72 | Loss | 60–4–8 | Jack Chase | PTS | 15 | Jan 11, 1943 | ||
| 71 | Draw | 60–3–8 | Archie Moore | PTS | 12 | Dec 11, 1942 | ||
| 70 | Win | 60–3–7 | Lloyd Marshall | PTS | 10 | Sep 28, 1942 | ||
| 69 | Win | 59–3–7 | Big Boy Hogue | TKO | 4 (12) | Sep 18, 1942 | ||
| 68 | Win | 58–3–7 | Bobby Birch | UD | 12 | Sep 4, 1942 | ||
| 67 | Win | 57–3–7 | Izzy Jannazzo | PTS | 10 | Aug 24, 1942 | ||
| 66 | Win | 56–3–7 | Shorty Hogue | RTD | 8 (10) | Aug 14, 1942 | ||
| 65 | Win | 55–3–7 | Costello Cruz | PTS | 10 | Jul 15, 1942 | ||
| 64 | Draw | 54–3–7 | Johnny 'Bandit' Romero | PTS | 10 | May 1, 1942 | ||
| 63 | Win | 54–3–6 | Billy Connerty | TKO | 3 (10) | Dec 1, 1941 | ||
| 62 | Loss | 53–3–6 | Shorty Hogue | PTS | 10 | Aug 22, 1941 | ||
| 61 | Win | 53–2–6 | Jimmy McDaniels | PTS | 10 | Aug 19, 1941 | ||
| 60 | Win | 52–2–6 | Henryk Chmielewski | TKO | 9 (10) | Aug 11, 1941 | ||
| 59 | Win | 51–2–6 | Charley Harris | KO | 6 (10) | Jul 18, 1941 | ||
| 58 | Win | 50–2–6 | Charley Simpson | PTS | 10 | Jul 10, 1941 | ||
| 57 | Win | 49–2–6 | Jimmy McDaniels | PTS | 10 | Jul 8, 1941 | ||
| 56 | Win | 48–2–6 | Johnny Dias | TKO | 8 (10) | Jun 16, 1941 | ||
| 55 | Win | 47–2–6 | Shorty Hogue | PTS | 10 | May 2, 1941 | ||
| 54 | Win | 46–2–6 | Leon Zorrita | PTS | 10 | Apr 25, 1941 | ||
| 53 | Win | 45–2–6 | Freddie Dixon | PTS | 10 | Apr 4, 1941 | ||
| 52 | Draw | 44–2–6 | Shorty Hogue | PTS | 10 | Mar 14, 1941 | ||
| 51 | Draw | 44–2–5 | Archie Moore | PTS | 10 | Feb 21, 1941 | ||
| 50 | Win | 44–2–4 | Milo Theodorescu | PTS | 10 | Feb 12, 1941 | ||
| 49 | Win | 43–2–4 | Chester Parks | KO | 1 (8) | Feb 4, 1941 | ||
| 48 | Win | 42–2–4 | Bobby Pacho | PTS | 10 | Apr 9, 1940 | ||
| 47 | Win | 41–2–4 | Bobby Pacho | PTS | 10 | Dec 18, 1939 | ||
| 46 | Win | 40–2–4 | Ray Vargas | KO | 2 (10) | Nov 29, 1939 | ||
| 45 | Win | 39–2–4 | Henry Majcher | TKO | 7 (10) | Nov 13, 1939 | ||
| 44 | Win | 38–2–4 | Carlos Garcia | KO | 3 (10) | Oct 3, 1939 | ||
| 43 | Loss | 37–2–4 | Herbert Lewis Hardwick | PTS | 10 | Mar 9, 1939 | ||
| 42 | Loss | 37–1–4 | Fritzie Zivic | PTS | 8 | Feb 10, 1939 | ||
| 41 | Draw | 37–0–4 | Holman Williams | PTS | 6 | Jan 25, 1939 | ||
| 40 | Win | 37–0–3 | Oscar Suggs | TKO | 3 (6) | Jan 9, 1939 | ||
| 39 | Win | 36–0–3 | Unknown Morgan | KO | 3 (6) | Dec 20, 1938 | ||
| 38 | Win | 35–0–3 | Lew Raymond | PTS | 6 | Dec 9, 1938 | ||
| 37 | Win | 34–0–3 | Demosthenes Wakerlis | PTS | 6 | Nov 18, 1938 | ||
| 36 | Win | 33–0–3 | Carlos Miranda | TKO | 3 (10) | Jul 1, 1938 | ||
| 35 | Win | 32–0–3 | George Salvadore | TKO | 7 (10) | Jun 24, 1938 | ||
| 34 | Win | 31–0–3 | Al Manfredo | PTS | 10 | Jun 10, 1938 | ||
| 33 | Win | 30–0–3 | Andy Callahan | PTS | 10 | Mar 3, 1938 | ||
| 32 | Draw | 29–0–3 | Mickey Duris | PTS | 10 | Jan 14, 1938 | ||
| 31 | Draw | 29–0–2 | Jackie Burke | PTS | 10 | Oct 8, 1937 | ||
| 30 | Win | 29–0–1 | Gaston LeCadre | TKO | 9 (10) | Aug 27, 1937 | ||
| 29 | Win | 28–0–1 | Johnny Bassanelli | TKO | 9 (10) | Jul 30, 1937 | ||
| 28 | Win | 27–0–1 | Johnny Foster | PTS | 6 | May 5, 1937 | ||
| 27 | Win | 26–0–1 | Remo Fernandez | PTS | 6 | Mar 12, 1937 | ||
| 26 | Win | 25–0–1 | Remo Fernandez | PTS | 10 | Jan 26, 1937 | ||
| 25 | Win | 24–0–1 | Gale Harrington | PTS | 10 | Nov 24, 1936 | ||
| 24 | Win | 23–0–1 | Jimmy Wakefield | PTS | 10 | Sep 29, 1936 | ||
| 23 | Win | 22–0–1 | Billy Azevedo | PTS | 10 | Sep 1, 1936 | ||
| 22 | Draw | 21–0–1 | Jimmy Wakefield | PTS | 10 | Aug 4, 1936 | ||
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Billy Azevedo | TKO | 5 (6) | Jul 21, 1936 | ||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Johnny Foster | TKO | 4 (6) | Jul 10, 1936 | ||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Billy Azevedo | TKO | 3 (6) | Jun 5, 1936 | ||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Johnny Foster | TKO | 1 (6) | May 1, 1936 | ||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Mickey Barker | TKO | 4 (6) | Apr 13, 1936 | ||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Tony O'Dell | TKO | 1 (6) | Dec 30, 1935 | ||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Johnny Foster | PTS | 4 | Dec 18, 1935 | ||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Frankie Marino | TKO | 1 (6) | Nov 27, 1935 | ||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Johnny Natalie | TKO | 3 (?) | Oct 22, 1935 | ||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Al Rossi | TKO | 3 (4) | Oct 16, 1935 | ||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Johnny Foster | PTS | 4 | Sep 4, 1935 | ||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Mickey Gibbons | PTS | 4 | Aug 7, 1935 | ||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Al Evans | TKO | 3 (4) | Jul 16, 1935 | ||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Joe Aguilar | PTS | 4 | Jul 2, 1935 | ||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Al LaBoa | PTS | 4 | May 28, 1935 | ||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Joe Aguilar | PTS | 4 | Apr 3, 1935 | ||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Johnny Natalie | PTS | 4 | Mar 20, 1935 | ||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Johnny Bassanellif | PTS | 4 | Mar 6, 1935 | ||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Joe Pablo | KO | 1 (4) | Feb 27, 1935 | ||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Johnny Mateo | KO | 2 (4) | Jan 22, 1935 | ||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Ray Lewis | KO | 1 (4) | Jan 15, 1935 | ||