John R. Branca

Who was John R. Branca?

John Ralph Branca was an American Democratic Party politician who was elected to two terms in the New York State Assembly, serving from 1981 to 1983. He left elected office when he was appointed as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission in 1983, where he sought to implement changes to enhance the safety of boxers and wrestlers.

Branca grew up in Mount Vernon, New York, where he played baseball with his younger brother Ralph at A. B. Davis High School. In an obituary in The New York Times, his brother Ralph, who played in the major leagues for the Brooklyn Dodgers, said that "He was better than me at that point". He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After completing his military service he attended New York University where he earned a bachelor's and master's degrees.

He was a coach and teacher at the local high school and served as Mount Vernon's recreation commissioner from 1962 to 1980. Elected to the State Assembly in 1979, he served until 1983, when he was named chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission by Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, with a goal "to revitalize and professionalize the boxing profession".