James Tillis

James Tillis
James Tillis
Data
Birth Name	James Tillis
Weight class	Heavyweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	5th July 1957
place of birth	Tulsa
style	Left delivery
size	1.85 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	66
Victories	42
Knockout victories	31
Defeats	22nd
draw	1
No value	1

James "Quick" Tillis (born July 5, 1957 in Tulsa ) is a former American heavyweight boxer.

career

He turned pro in 1978 and initially beat a number of unknown opponents . After twenty wins, he got a chance for the title against WBA world champion Mike Weaver , whom he clearly dominated at the beginning of the fight, before he collapsed completely and lost over 15 rounds on points.

In 1982 he managed a points win against Earnie Shavers , but against Pinklon Thomas , Greg Page and Tim Witherspoon he lost each by technical knockout.

Carl Williams , Marvis Frazier , Gerrie Coetzee and Tyrell Biggs subsequently beat him on points. At this point in time he was considered to be a development opponent for young talents.

His most famous fight, however, took place on May 3, 1986 against Mike Tyson , who was unbeaten in 19 fights . Tyson knocked him to the ground in the fourth round, but he had a lot of problems with Tillis' quick boxing and hard body hits. Tillis lost on points, but was the first boxer to go the full distance with Tyson.

But he could no longer benefit from this respectable success. He boxed until 2001 and lost to Joe Bugner , Frank Bruno , Evander Holyfield , Gary Mason and Tommy Morrison, among others .

Others

Tillis had a boxing style that was very similar to that of Muhammad Ali ("fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee"). Like Ali, he was trained by Angelo Dundee .

Web links

• James Tillis in the BoxRec database