Dwight Braxton and James Scott Battle Behind the Walls at Rahway Prison – A Look Back

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It is a story worthy of a song by Lead Belly or an entire Johnny Cash album.

Dwight Braxton was back in prison.

But in a boxing ring rather than behind bars. Not as an inmate with an identification number, but as the 7th ranked light-heavyweight contender.

While he conceded that a five and a half year sentence for armed robbery spent in this very facility was inextricably woven into the fabric of his narrative, Braxton was intent on keeping the past where it belonged. During his pre-fight interview with Ferdie Pacheco, as the two stood before the building’s domed roof which, if not for the barbed wire fences, might have fooled uninitiated viewers into thinking that the structure was an observatory and not a penitentiary, Braxton maintained that his time spent within those prison walls was “nothing to brag about, nothing to be proud of”. He was back here as a professional prizefighter, with a potential title shot to lose and pretty much only bragging rights to win, to take care of some unfinished business with a former fellow inmate. “A so-called animal but not an animal. A so-called killer but not a killer,” Braxton explained for the television audience with that intense, deadpan expression never leaving his face. “Just another man.”

James “Great” Scott was the man Braxton alluded to. His twenty-one professional fights to that point had occurred in only two different venues. The Miami Beach Auditorium and Rahway State Prison.

His first bout, a January 22, 1974 win over 8-0 heavyweight John L. Johnson, who had 29 pounds on Scott, was one in which he survived being floored in the first round to score a knockout of his own in the sixth. A recently paroled Scott had relocated to Florida where he worked with the Dundee brothers and was backed financially by a consortium of Miami businessmen called the Mendoza Group, led by former boxer Murray Gaby. Within thirteen months, Scott was unbeaten in his eleven fights, the only blemish being a draw with Dave Lee Royster that he would later avenge at Rahway. Four of his victims-Kirkland Rolle, Frank Evans, Ray Anderson, and Jesse Burnett-were ranked light-heavyweight contenders. It is said that Scott took all of his opponents out to eat afterwards, except for one anonymous non-participant.

Three months after beating Burnett, Scott unfortunately reverted to his criminal tendencies, this time with far more dire consequences, as he shot and killed a drug trafficker named Everett Russ while attempting a stick-up back home in Newark. James Scott’s rap sheet unfurls back to a recidivist adolescence spent in and out of New Jersey juvenile detention centers for truancy at age 13 followed by breaking and entering, aggravated assault, and possession of a dangerous weapon. A parole violation landed him in Jamesburg prison from which he escaped, was apprehended, and transferred to Annandale then Bordentown. It was at these last two institutions that Scott would initiate a nodding acquaintance with boxing. Given his first pair of gloves at 10, he lacked the presence of a father figure who may have been able to guide him down roads that did not terminate at gated security checkpoints. Scott later recalled his youth as a nihilistic existence steered off course by virtue of having been instilled with “no goals, no values”.

While doing time in Trenton, James was recruited by inmate Al Dickens, who sensed an opportunity to polish a diamond in the rough, to participate in the prison’s boxing program where he survived a ferocious three-round sparring session with middleweight contender and wrongly convicted murderer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, whose intimidating shaved head and goatee was an image that Scott would later co-opt. A reversal of fortune seemed not only possible but tantalizingly probable at Rahway with the reinforcement of three important people, the first being Superintendent Robert Hastrak whose Scared Straight experiment had been a highly publicized success. Hastrak put Scott in charge of the Rahway State Boxing Association wherein participating inmates would earn money not to mention points toward early parole. One of Scott’s pupils just so happened to have been Dwight Braxton. The other two individuals who stepped up to champion Scott’s cause were trainer Deke Taylor and promoter Murad Muhammad, once numbered amongst Muhammad Ali’s entourage and currently switching gears from the food industry to the boxing business at a time which serendipitously benefitted James Scott. With these three men in his corner, literally (in the case of Taylor) and figuratively, Scott embarked on the most unlikely of professional boxing’s comeback stories.

James would specifically reference Rocky Graziano, Don King, Jake LaMotta, Cleveland Williams, and Ron Lyle as former convicts who went on to make names for themselves in boxing’s history
books. The big difference was that these men accomplished what they did after their sentences had been served, not while still on the inside as he was setting out to do. Three years removed from his last fight against Jesse Burnett, Scott scoured off his ring rust with quick knockouts of Diego Roberson and Fred Brown, in two and four rounds respectively. Astonishingly, his next bout would be an HBO broadcast billed as Behind Prison Walls against #1 contender Eddie Gregory (not yet Mustafa Muhammad) who was still rebounding from a controversial loss to WBA light-heavyweight champion Victor Galindez eleven months prior.

None of the commentators-Don Dunphy, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Larry Merchant-gave Scott a fighting chance against the 29-3-1 veteran. Hell, Gregory was even the betting favorite among the prison population which, despite being their sentimental preference, placed Scott as a 3 cigarette cartons to 1 underdog. Proving the lot of them horribly wrong, Scott thoroughly dominated Gregory with vicious body shots complimented by right hooks which raised an angry welt beneath Eddie’s left eye in the fourth round. The fight went the distance, but the outcome was never in question as Scott crowded and bullied his way to a lopsided win, offering Gregory a conciliatory rematch as soon as he acquired the WBA title, a shot at which James now saw as rightfully his.
The WBA had other ideas, however, and stripped Scott of his #2 ranking in October 1979 regardless of his model behavior, to say nothing of authoritative victories over Richie Kates, Ennio Commeti, and Jerry Celestine, as well as a total dismantling of British light-heavyweight champion Bunny Johnson in a ring constructed by inmates in Rahway’s outdoor yard.

Matthew Saad Muhammad, the WBC light-heavyweight champion, publicly disregarded a potential matchup with a convicted felon, leaving Scott with few remaining options and a bleak outlook. To make matters worse, Scott’s benefactor Robert Hastrak was demoted from being Rahway’s warden to an inconsequential, desk-bound pencil-pusher and replaced by a corrections officer with whom Scott had a previously adversarial relationship. After handily defeating the great Yaqui Lopez in December 1979, six months down the line Scott would suffer his first defeat, gored by Jerry “The Bull” Martin on national television, although he earned $40,000 (a far cry from the $2,500 pulled in by shellacking Gregory) from which 10% would go to a special fund for crime victims, the remainder held in an account for him as with all of his purses. He would remain inactive for nearly nine months, during which time he was retried and officially convicted of the Everett Russ murder, slapped with a life sentence to run concurrently with the 30-40 year armed robbery penalty that he was already serving. Scott’s “retirement” ended with the aforementioned tune-up win over Dave Lee Royster in August 1981, setting up the showdown with Dwight Braxton a mere three weeks later.

Scott blustered about his wins over Eddie Gregory, Yaqui Lopez, Bunny Johnson, and Richie Kates while belittling Braxton’s efforts against “washed-up guys” by his estimation. “When I get there Saturday, don’t act like your door got locked and you ain’t got the key,” Braxton screamed at Scott through a speaker-box during the pre-fight press conference. “Just be there. Don’t escape.”
Their grudge match would be telecast on the September 5, 1981 afternoon edition of NBC Sports World. “He thinks he’s God,” Braxton told Michael Katz reporting for the New York Times of the celebrity status that Scott was elevated to among the prisoners for his leadership role within the boxing program. Allegedly, Braxton was also owed $400 by Scott earned during sparring exercises while both were incarcerated at Rahway. “I remember him walking around like he had a Superman cape on his back, flying through the place.” Evidently, Braxton seemed inclined towards entering the ring with Kryptonite-loaded gloves and sending Scott retreating to the Fortress of Solitude with the S ripped off his chest.

Free of external distractions, Scott (still ranked 5th by Ring Magazine) conditioned himself tirelessly-almost manically-with a daily routine that consisted of running 8-9 miles, 200 sit-ups, 1000 push-ups, and sparring four minute rounds rather than three wearing over-sized gloves. Ferdie Pacheco, Ali’s famous Fight Doctor who had worked Scott’s corner on a number of occasions and was calling the fight for NBC with Marv Albert, pondered Scott’s workout regimen and prophetically worried over the fact that he may have over-trained and left it all in the gym. Indeed, when the opening bell rang and referee Larry Hazzard motioned the gladiators together, Scott curiously fought like a car that’s had the shit beaten out of it and is now cursed with stripped gears and a faulty transmission which permits it to travel predominately in reverse.

Dwight Braxton, on the other hand, was the repo man. Coming to collect what’s his without allowing any personal animosity to taint the professional nature of the business at hand. All in a day’s work. Forced to rigorously pursue his elusive prey, Braxton bobbed and weaved and closed the distance near the end of the first, scoring with a potent combination. In the second round, Dwight began to double up on-and connect consistently with- his left jab which, due to his diminutive stature and perennial height differential, seemed to be shot upward at a 30-degree angle. Braxton pinned his man against the ropes and hammered away in the third and, instead of returning fire, Scott brazenly laughed in Braxton’s face, a miscalculation which cost him a head-snapping left/right combination for his belligerent affront.

It took until the fourth round for Scott to step forward and bang to the body of his shorter opponent, but was again made to pay the steep price of a left hook. With Scott’s back to the ropes, both fighters exchanged with Braxton getting the better of the deal with a roundhouse left that earned Scott’s attention. With the prisoners’ chants of “Raja! Raja!” (Scott’s Muslim name which means “hope” in Arabic) echoing across the hall, Braxton staggered Scott with the second of three left hooks that seemed to take the air out of James’ tires as he appeared progressively flat-footed and easier to hit. Marv Albert compared Braxton’s stalking style to that of the legendary Dick Tiger while Scott seemed to give away round after round, landing nothing of consequence until the seventh when he zeroed in with a hard overhand right, by far his best punch of the fight. Hopeful of a permanent shift in momentum, the Rahway natives grew restless.

Dwight Braxton would quiet them with body blows and double jabs as Scott attempted futile right-handed counterpunches which either missed altogether or, when they did hit home, had little left in the way of leverage or conviction (if you pardon the pun) to them. Every left lead thrown by Braxton in the ninth had a right cross whistling in behind it and he caught Scott with an uppercut after which he smothered him, allowing no comfortable breathing room. Larry Hazzard leapt between the two as Scott swung after the bell and Braxton steamed ahead, only too happy to retaliate before being thwarted and escorted back to his corner. Dwight, impatient to lunge at his adversary, shoved Hazzard out of his way after being forced to touch gloves with Scott who missed wildly and repeatedly to begin the tenth. An attempt to corner Braxton backfired as Dwight deftly spun Scott around then proceeded to lure him to center ring where he nailed James with several consecutive combinations. Scott raised his gloves at the final tolling of the bell as Braxton dismissively waved him away.

The scorecards (5-4-1 tallied by Larry Hazzard and 6-3-1 by both ringside judges Frank Brunette and Charley Spina, all in favor of Braxton) were in no way indicative of the contest’s one-sided dimension, a fact that even James Scott seemed to graciously accept by mirroring Murad Muhammad’s congratulatory sentiments that Braxton was worthy of a title shot, which Dwight would receive against Matthew Saad Muhammad three months later, emerging with a 10th round TKO and Saad’s WBC light-heavyweight title.

The Braxton fight would be Scott’s last, forbidden-he claimed-from continuing his career by prison administration. Still dedicating the majority of his day toward physical well-being, he made more time for intellectual pursuits like reading Hemingway, James Baldwin, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover. James even wrote his memoirs although they were rejected by editors and unfortunately still remain unpublished. Paroled from Northern State Prison in 2005, Scott had spent a cumulative 36 of his 58 years (prison records confirm his previously dubious date of birth as October 17, 1947) behind bars. He was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012, joining his former rival Dwight Muhammad Qawi who was enshrined in 1997 but doesn’t appear to have been present at Scott’s ceremony.

James Scott who suffered for several years from dementia died on May 8, 2018 in an assisted care facility in New Jersey.