BoxRec

Yeah Bruno mentions his sparring with Tyson quite a bit.
Holyfield also sparred with Tyson quite a bit in their early years, he mentioned it when giving an interview recently. By all accounts Holyfield always did well with Tyson which is why he was so confident in the future potential matchup.

Controversial wrote:

Brutu wrote: Elijah Tillery

Apparently Elijah was absolutely world class when sparring, he pretty much outboxed everyone he sparred with. Another gym fighter though, couldn't carry this ability into his real fights

Greg Page mentioned that Elijah Tillery helped him prepare for Marty Monroe.Read about him as an up-and-coming fighter back in the day.

Brutu wrote:I read were Jesse Furguson and Oliver McCall were paid
$2,000 a week to be sparring partners.
I also read some were Tyson's sparring partners were usualy rate was a thousand a week

Would the manager be entitled to a share of that?

Didn't Chauncy Welliver spar Tyson?

Brutu wrote: that required 48 stitches ...

really? his face must have been half gone ...

Whilst training to fight Tucker in 1987 Tyson used -

James Broad (claimed he was never dropped)
Warren Thompson (dropped)
Anthony Witherspoon (excused as ribs damaged)
Oscar Holman (floored several times and received a cracked rib from a Tyson hook)

In 1995 training to fight Buster Mathis Tyson used -

Nate Tubbs (dropped)
Tyrone Evans

Rick Melton was another

In June of 1988, Tyson invited two-time Canadian champ Ken Lakusta to Japan for sparring ahead of his fight with Tony Tubbs. In the fall of 1989 when Tyson was in Edmonton, Canada, preparing for his "Cold War" fight with Razor Ruddock, his main sparring partners were Oliver McCall, Mike Jameson and Greg Page. I personally witnessed Page drop Iron Mike TWICE during a closed sparring session two days before Team Tyson pulled the plug on the fight (allegedly because of a lung infection) and moved on to his ill-fated date with Buster Douglas in Tokyo. Nearly two more years would pass before Ruddock lost back-to-back bouts with Tyson in Mike's last two outings before being incarcerated.

Didn't Page drop Tyson in Japan as well? I never really viewed Greg Page as a really big hitter but he must have had some pop and a lot of bottle.

writehooks wrote:In June of 1988, Tyson invited two-time Canadian champ Ken Lakusta to Japan for sparring ahead of his fight with Tony Tubbs. In the fall of 1989 when Tyson was in Edmonton, Canada, preparing for his "Cold War" fight with Razor Ruddock, his main sparring partners were Oliver McCall, Mike Jameson and Greg Page. I personally witnessed Page drop Iron Mike TWICE during a closed sparring session two days before Team Tyson pulled the plug on the fight (allegedly because of a lung infection) and moved on to his ill-fated date with Buster Douglas in Tokyo. Nearly two more years would pass before Ruddock lost back-to-back bouts with Tyson in Mike's last two outings before being incarcerated.

Nice, how did you manage to watch Tyson in a closed session? Any stories about Mike, did you get to talk? There's a lot been said they Tyson wasn't in shape for Douglas, would you agree with that?

Tyson also sparred Carl "The Truth" Williams.
HBO showed a clip of them sparring prior to their actual fight.

Jose Ribalta not only fought Tyson, he was also a $2,000 a week sparring partner for several fights

palooka wrote:Didn't Page drop Tyson in Japan as well? I never really viewed Greg Page as a really big hitter but he must have had some pop and a lot of bottle.

Greg Page could crack, all the way back to his amateur days.Jimmy Young said he hit harder than both Michael Dokes and Gerry Cooney.

Controversial wrote:

writehooks wrote:In June of 1988, Tyson invited two-time Canadian champ Ken Lakusta to Japan for sparring ahead of his fight with Tony Tubbs. In the fall of 1989 when Tyson was in Edmonton, Canada, preparing for his "Cold War" fight with Razor Ruddock, his main sparring partners were Oliver McCall, Mike Jameson and Greg Page. I personally witnessed Page drop Iron Mike TWICE during a closed sparring session two days before Team Tyson pulled the plug on the fight (allegedly because of a lung infection) and moved on to his ill-fated date with Buster Douglas in Tokyo. Nearly two more years would pass before Ruddock lost back-to-back bouts with Tyson in Mike's last two outings before being incarcerated.

Nice, how did you manage to watch Tyson in a closed session? Any stories about Mike, did you get to talk? There's a lot been said they Tyson wasn't in shape for Douglas, would you agree with that?

I was a sportswriter for the Edmonton Sun and a close friend of the owner of the Panther Gym, where Tyson trained during his time in Edmoton. I had managed to snag 1-on-1 interviews with both Tyson and Don King shortly after their arrival in city, and when I presented King with a box of 25 Cohiba Presidente cigars (Cuban, which he couldn't buy in the US), he subsequently invited me to attend all of Mike's "closed" sparring sessions. Tyson looked slow and sluggish right from the start, even against big Mike Jameson, who telegraphed every punch. Page made both of them look silly. As ordinary as he was in the sparring sessions, however, Tyson was VERY impressive out of the ring -- gracious, polite and very knowledgeable about ring history. One evening a few days after his arrival, he invited me to the house that had been rented for him by the local promoter and we spent a couple of hours (along with Jameson and Page) watching old fights on video as Mike provided in-depth analysis. Among others, he spoke glowingly of George Chuvalo, Bob Satterfield and Sonny Liston and offered intelligent insights into the fighting styles of George Dixon, Sam Langford and Max Baer. Quite a memorable evening, to be sure.

writehooks wrote:

Controversial wrote:

writehooks wrote:In June of 1988, Tyson invited two-time Canadian champ Ken Lakusta to Japan for sparring ahead of his fight with Tony Tubbs. In the fall of 1989 when Tyson was in Edmonton, Canada, preparing for his "Cold War" fight with Razor Ruddock, his main sparring partners were Oliver McCall, Mike Jameson and Greg Page. I personally witnessed Page drop Iron Mike TWICE during a closed sparring session two days before Team Tyson pulled the plug on the fight (allegedly because of a lung infection) and moved on to his ill-fated date with Buster Douglas in Tokyo. Nearly two more years would pass before Ruddock lost back-to-back bouts with Tyson in Mike's last two outings before being incarcerated.

Nice, how did you manage to watch Tyson in a closed session? Any stories about Mike, did you get to talk? There's a lot been said they Tyson wasn't in shape for Douglas, would you agree with that?

I was a sportswriter for the Edmonton Sun and a close friend of the owner of the Panther Gym, where Tyson trained during his time in Edmoton. I had managed to snag 1-on-1 interviews with both Tyson and Don King shortly after their arrival in city, and when I presented King with a box of 25 Cohiba Presidente cigars (Cuban, which he couldn't buy in the US), he subsequently invited me to attend all of Mike's "closed" sparring sessions. Tyson looked slow and sluggish right from the start, even against big Mike Jameson, who telegraphed every punch. Page made both of them look silly. As ordinary as he was in the sparring sessions, however, Tyson was VERY impressive out of the ring -- gracious, polite and very knowledgeable about ring history. One evening a few days after his arrival, he invited me to the house that had been rented for him by the local promoter and we spent a couple of hours (along with Jameson and Page) watching old fights on video as Mike provided in-depth analysis. Among others, he spoke glowingly of George Chuvalo, Bob Satterfield and Sonny Liston and offered intelligent insights into the fighting styles of George Dixon, Sam Langford and Max Baer. Quite a memorable evening, to be sure.

Cool, I bet it was memorable. How tall would you say Tyson is, he was always recorded as being a tad under 6 foot but he seems shorter to me.

Lennox Lewis. When Tyson was a teenager, they had a couple of sparring sessions.

Nice, how did you manage to watch Tyson in a closed session? Any stories about Mike, did you get to talk? There's a lot been said they Tyson wasn't in shape for Douglas, would you agree with that?[/quote]

I was a sportswriter for the Edmonton Sun and a close friend of the owner of the Panther Gym, where Tyson trained during his time in Edmoton. I had managed to snag 1-on-1 interviews with both Tyson and Don King shortly after their arrival in city, and when I presented King with a box of 25 Cohiba Presidente cigars (Cuban, which he couldn't buy in the US), he subsequently invited me to attend all of Mike's "closed" sparring sessions. Tyson looked slow and sluggish right from the start, even against big Mike Jameson, who telegraphed every punch. Page made both of them look silly. As ordinary as he was in the sparring sessions, however, Tyson was VERY impressive out of the ring -- gracious, polite and very knowledgeable about ring history. One evening a few days after his arrival, he invited me to the house that had been rented for him by the local promoter and we spent a couple of hours (along with Jameson and Page) watching old fights on video as Mike provided in-depth analysis. Among others, he spoke glowingly of George Chuvalo, Bob Satterfield and Sonny Liston and offered intelligent insights into the fighting styles of George Dixon, Sam Langford and Max Baer. Quite a memorable evening, to be sure.[/quote]

Cool, I bet it was memorable. How tall would you say Tyson is, he was always recorded as being a tad under 6 foot but he seems shorter to me.[/quote]


You're exactly right, Contro. I'm 5-10 and a half, and Iron Mike was about an inch shorter than me. Of course, his massive shoulders and short neck more than make up for it. It looked like you could land a small airplane on his back ...

writehooks wrote:Nice, how did you manage to watch Tyson in a closed session? Any stories about Mike, did you get to talk? There's a lot been said they Tyson wasn't in shape for Douglas, would you agree with that?

I was a sportswriter for the Edmonton Sun and a close friend of the owner of the Panther Gym, where Tyson trained during his time in Edmoton. I had managed to snag 1-on-1 interviews with both Tyson and Don King shortly after their arrival in city, and when I presented King with a box of 25 Cohiba Presidente cigars (Cuban, which he couldn't buy in the US), he subsequently invited me to attend all of Mike's "closed" sparring sessions. Tyson looked slow and sluggish right from the start, even against big Mike Jameson, who telegraphed every punch. Page made both of them look silly. As ordinary as he was in the sparring sessions, however, Tyson was VERY impressive out of the ring -- gracious, polite and very knowledgeable about ring history. One evening a few days after his arrival, he invited me to the house that had been rented for him by the local promoter and we spent a couple of hours (along with Jameson and Page) watching old fights on video as Mike provided in-depth analysis. Among others, he spoke glowingly of George Chuvalo, Bob Satterfield and Sonny Liston and offered intelligent insights into the fighting styles of George Dixon, Sam Langford and Max Baer. Quite a memorable evening, to be sure.[/quote]

Cool, I bet it was memorable. How tall would you say Tyson is, he was always recorded as being a tad under 6 foot but he seems shorter to me.[/quote]


You're exactly right, Contro. I'm 5-10 and a half, and Iron Mike was about an inch shorter than me. Of course, his massive shoulders and short neck more than make up for it. It looked like you could land a small airplane on his back ...[/quote]


I agree with this.

I was stood a few yards from Tyson when he came to fight Julius Francis in Manchester about 15 years ago & I would say he is definitely no more than 5' 10".

Hurricane Hank wrote:Tyson also sparred Carl "The Truth" Williams.
HBO showed a clip of them sparring prior to their actual fight.

Reportedly Back when Carl Williams had just turned pro and Ryson was still an amateur
(Carl Williams,Mike Tyson and Kevin Rooney all give their versions of the sparring sessions beginning at about 15:00 of this clip)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71ApcwXppEo

Rocky Balboa wrote:Back in the day, a diary was kept of all of Tyson's sparring partners. It was once made available to HBO & I remember one comment by one sparring partner who said "He does not want any piece of Mike Tyson!"

McCrory & McCall have already been mentioned, but Jesse Ferguson was a regular sparring partner aswell!

I remember that diary/log book well. I got to see it for myself when I visited the gym in Catskill in 1987 & my jaw dropped when I saw the who's who of ( then current ) heavyweights within those pages. I wish I'd been able to photocopy its pages.
The biggest surprise? Well, most of them have been mentioned here already, but I remember Jimmy Young being in there.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5961283E

This is a photo taken at the NYSAC offices where the official weigh-ins were held for Tyson's bout with Reggie Gross on the Camacho-Rosario undercard in MSG. It was the first time that I met him & as you can see he's a little less than two inches taller than me. I'm 5'8". So, yeah, he's not nearly as tall as his official stats say he is.

I just thought of a couple more Tyson sparring partners that Tyson had in camp for his bout with Alex Stewart in AC. And those would be the journeyman Dion Burgess, who was a staple in the camps of all of Don King's heavies back during the late '80s - early '90s. He never showed much offensively, but he was a wide body & durable enough to go rounds with the best.
Former cruiserweight contender Anthony Davis was also around & ( then ) unbeaten Puerto Rican Rudolpho Marin was brought in for a few rounds one day as he was preparing to face Tyrell Biggs on the undercard.
Journeyman Mike Rouse was also in town to face Razor Ruddock, but I didn't see him spar with Mike. Maybe because he was a southpaw. Though he did some moving around with Marin if memory serves me correctly.
Oh, cruiserweight titlist Jeff Lampkin was in town with the Tyson camp as well.

Controversial wrote:Whilst training to fight Tucker in 1987 Tyson used -

James Broad (claimed he was never dropped)
Warren Thompson (dropped)
Anthony Witherspoon (excused as ribs damaged)
Oscar Holman (floored several times and received a cracked rib from a Tyson hook)

Broad dropped Tyson at one point.