James "Quick" Tillis, who is still searching for those suitcases.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 01 Apr 2024, 05:41
by bennie
Tillis lost his cases, by the way, when he arrived in Chicago from his native Tulsa in Oklahoma. Tillis, who fought out of Chicago in his early years as a pro, put the cases down to shout: "I'm going to conquer the world!" The cases were gone when he went to pick them up.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 01 Apr 2024, 16:37
by Expug
That story about the suitcases is true as far as I know. It’s legendary here in Chicago .I believe it was in front of what was then called the Sears tower. At one time it was the tallest building anywhere I think. Now called Willis tower.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 03 Apr 2024, 16:13
by Caractacus
Tom Sullivan was a sparring partner in the earlier part of his pro career.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 06 Apr 2024, 14:14
by Caractacus
Bobby Stewart-Mike Tyson's first sparring partner !
It's crazy how strong Tyson was at such a young age. Four fights later Williams fought Holmes for the title and Tyson was sparring him when he was just 17.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 08 Apr 2024, 20:03
by Caractacus
and Mike Tyson had also sparred with Frank Bruno when he was 16 yrs and Bruno was 21 yrs old !
(at aprox. 3:57 of this clip)
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 08 Apr 2024, 20:45
by Controversial
Caractacus wrote: ↑08 Apr 2024, 20:03
and Mike Tyson had also sparred with Frank Bruno when he was 16 yrs and Bruno was 21 yrs old !
(at aprox. 3:57 of this clip)
That’s not Bruno, think it’s Jimmy Clark
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 09 Apr 2024, 11:26
by Caractacus
The dude is wearing head-gear.
well it could be Jimmy Clark,
But from his body type and legs.
that looked like Frank Bruno to me.
whaddya the rest of you think ?
Could it be Jimmy Clark then ?
let's do a vote.
-1983-
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 09 Apr 2024, 11:35
by Controversial
Caractacus wrote: ↑09 Apr 2024, 11:26
The dude is wearing head-gear.
well it could be Jimmy Clark,
But from his body type and legs.
that looked like Frank Bruno to me.
whaddya the rest of you think ?
Could it be Jimmy Clark then ?
-1983-
Definitely Jimmy Clark, even wearing same boots in below footage. Bruno was stiff and upright, he wouldn’t be as mobile or quick as that either.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 09 Apr 2024, 12:45
by bennie
Bruno never trained at the Cus D'Amato gym in Catskill but at Grossinger's training camp about 75 miles away, a training camp made famous by Rocky Marciano in the 1950s. Frank sparred James Tillis and Jeff Sims in a 10-day stint at Grossinger's, before making his way to Chicago for a fight with Mike Jameson. Bruno had Sims on the deck and later fought Tillis for real.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 09 Apr 2024, 13:14
by Caractacus
-1988-
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 12 Apr 2024, 16:36
by Caractacus
- 1986-
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 13 Apr 2024, 02:47
by Jakub079
Friday Ahynahya from Nigeria, before fight Cliff Etienne in 2003
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 13 Apr 2024, 13:50
by Caractacus
After they fought, Tyson used Sammy Scaff as a sparring partner
( paying him 1000 dollars a week)
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 13 Apr 2024, 17:22
by Caractacus
Don King had hired James "Quick" Tillis to be a sparring partner for Tyson in 1987
for his upcoming fights with Carl "the Truth" Williams (July) AND Tyrell Biggs (October)
-November 1987-
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 15 Apr 2024, 16:10
by Caractacus
-1991-
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 16 Apr 2024, 18:24
by Expug
Caractacus wrote: ↑13 Apr 2024, 17:22
Don King had hired James "Quick" Tillis to be a sparring partner for Tyson in 1987
for his upcoming fights with Carl "the Truth" Williams (July) AND Tyrell Biggs (October)
-November 1987-
I was in the crowd for this. At DePaul alumni hall in Chicago. Good turnout for it. Tillis was a good sparring partner.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 16 Apr 2024, 20:09
by Caractacus
do you remember which television station televised it ?( for later viewing)
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 16 Apr 2024, 21:02
by Expug
Not sure if it was televised. If it was, it would probably be wgn. Channel nine here.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 23 Apr 2024, 06:31
by 1531770
620360 wrote: ↑24 Feb 2022, 03:07
I remember when Mike first started he was handled by an also amateur heavyweight from Philadelphia name Tyrone Hicks who ironically used to spar Jesse Furgeson and Marvis Frazier
I often wondered what happened to Hicks he had fantastic reflexes decent power and great speed about 6'3 or 6'4 .. I saw hicks box a undefeated professional fighter from England and ripped him apart..the next day that guy refused to box him again... anyone know anything about Tyrone Hicks
How can you be certain of this information, and approximately what year was he rumored to have sparred with Tyson during Tyson's professional career? Also, can you confirm with certainty that this individual was indeed named Tyrone Hicks and hailed from Philly as an amateur heavyweight boxer? Did he compete under a different name, and did he achieve any notable victories as an amateur? Furthermore, how old would he be now? It's puzzling that there's no record of him on BoxRec, and despite searching online and within this forum, there's no mention of Hicks. However, if the information provided is accurate or if there are additional details available, perhaps someone else might have more insights.
620360 wrote: ↑24 Feb 2022, 03:07
I remember when Mike first started he was handled by an also amateur heavyweight from Philadelphia name Tyrone Hicks who ironically used to spar Jesse Furgeson and Marvis Frazier
I often wondered what happened to Hicks he had fantastic reflexes decent power and great speed about 6'3 or 6'4 .. I saw hicks box a undefeated professional fighter from England and ripped him apart..the next day that guy refused to box him again... anyone know anything about Tyrone Hicks
How can you be certain of this information, and approximately what year was he rumored to have sparred with Tyson during Tyson's professional career? Also, can you confirm with certainty that this individual was indeed named Tyrone Hicks and hailed from Philly as an amateur heavyweight boxer? Did he compete under a different name, and did he achieve any notable victories as an amateur? Furthermore, how old would he be now? It's puzzling that there's no record of him on BoxRec, and despite searching online and within this forum, there's no mention of Hicks. However, if the information provided is accurate or if there are additional details available, perhaps someone else might have more insights.
They made it up, the poster has only ever made one post (this one) and nothing since so its probably Tyrone Hicks who posted it lol
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 23 Apr 2024, 13:32
by Caractacus
Lenny Daniels (220 lbs) Teddy Atlas had him spar with Tyson
when he was training him as an amateur around 1982.
Re: Sparringspartners of Mike Tyson?
Posted: 26 Apr 2024, 04:31
by bennie
ST Gordon when Tyson was training for his dreary unification fight with James "Bonecrusher" Smith in Las Vegas in 1987. Gordon was a man who always looked old and he couldn't really fight but on a balmy summer night in Ohio in 1982, he went out and destroyed Carlos De Leon in two rounds to win the WBC cruiserweight title.