BoxRec

I would like to know how good is former heavyweight contender James "Quick" Tillis in his career like in style? Please tell me. Also is a win over the aging Earnie Shavers was his biggest win of his career?

The young Tillis was a fast handed boxer type who was early in his career dubbed by some as "The new Ali" this of course he wasn't, although he did adopt some of Ali/s style of Boxing to a certain degree.

At his best he was a quality contender whom wannabe Champions would have to beat to prove they were world class. He had good speed of hand and food and a good chin with average power.

I seem to recall he would often wear a cowboy hat.

Steve0, how long are Tillis' arms in reach, please tell me.

Tillis was a solid contender until Witherspoon flattened him in a round back in '83. He was pretty much an underachiever after that.
The only name opponent he ever beat was a shot Earnie Shavers, every other name he fought he lost to, most often by KO.

Alister

Hi Kovit. I have posted the answer to your question about James Tillis reach measurement in it's rightful place - on the 'Silkov's Measuring Tape' thread :-)

he beat mike tyson in 1986, several years after witherspoon smashed him in 1.

he found he had serious allergies in his diet which drained him of energy, hence his stamina. the fight with tyson was the first time in his life he was in 100% shape. the result speaks for itself.

overhand_right wrote:he beat mike tyson in 1986.

The judges disagree with you Overhand, I've never seen the fight in full but have never heard about any great scandle over the verdict either.

Anyone else agree with Overhand?

Overhand Right, you're wrong Tillis lost to the rising Mike Tyson in 1986 and Tyson beating him all the way to Tyson's unanimous decision win ove Tillis hello.

KOJOE90 wrote:

overhand_right wrote:he beat mike tyson in 1986.

The judges disagree with you Overhand, I've never seen the fight in full but have never heard about any great scandle over the verdict either.

Anyone else agree with Overhand?

this is one robbery caught on tape. the evidence is all there.

overhand_right wrote:

KOJOE90 wrote:

overhand_right wrote:he beat mike tyson in 1986.

The judges disagree with you Overhand, I've never seen the fight in full but have never heard about any great scandle over the verdict either.

Anyone else agree with Overhand?

this is one robbery caught on tape. the evidence is all there.

How did you score it?

cant remember.

close but tillis. similar to tubbs beating bowe. however nobody gives a shit about tillis & everybody loves mike thats why you never hear about this one.

the 'knockdown' was also a flash, where mike hit tillis int he wrist as tillis was literally leaping at him with a hook. tillis never went down from tysons shots entire fight.

did a sneaky job outpointing mike IMHO

Oh come on, a 19 year old Tyson dropped Tillis and won every round.

Tillis was a decent fighter and would have beaten some of the top boys out there today, he used all his smarts to last the distance with Tyson, but Tillis did not win a single round.

overhand_right wrote: similar to tubbs beating bowe.

Now I have heard many times that Tubbs was robbed against Bowe although I have never seen the fight myself.

I have this fight on tape,Tubbs gave a decent show but Bowe was in charge throughout,stalking and looking like the boss.

In the early days of his career Tillis was compared to Ali not only because of his style but also because he was trained by Angelo Dundee..

Dundees famous between rounds exortations had no effect the night
Tillis fought Mike Weaver for the WBA title in 1981 and basically froze fighting passively and losing a 15 round decision ..

I don't know how much longer Dundee stayed with him after that

zurdo wrote:In the early days of his career Tillis was compared to Ali not only because of his style but also because he was trained by Angelo Dundee.

I recall reading an old edition of the ring which reported on a early Tillis fight where the writer states that Tillis may be the fasted Heavyweight since the young Muhammad Ali.

I have heard that in Tillis's autobiography he claimed that he threw his fight against Tommy Morrison, which he lost in the first round. Anyone know anything about this?

Tillis robbed in Tyson fight!

COme on overhand

Tillis did a good job and every thing, but Tyson won. It was a close fight, but Tillis by no means was robbed. The judges had it close too, and they had it fair.

No controversy because there was none to be had, the right guy won.

Coincedentally I was watching my Best of Bruno video yesterday and they had highlights of the Bruno vs Tillis fight.

Tillis got one good punch in, but didn't seem to do much else.

By this point Tillis was surrounded by people who wanted him to fail. His trainer Beau Williford was makin deals under the table to ensure Quick wouldnt be prepared 100% for fights.

When Tillis had a fight arranged with Gary Mason, Tillis was in no shape but had an easy enough time. Suddenly in the 5th rd Mason landed a few punches and surprise surprise, Williford threw the towel in. Neither Mason or Tillis could believe the ending. How interesting that the fight had to end in the 5th, the very same rd Masons stable mate Frank Bruno had beaten Tillis (legitimately) in. Hmmmmmmmm.

Would have reflected badly on Mason if an overweight Tillis had gone the distance (which he looked certain to last) as his team wanted him to be the New Frank Bruno, which he obviously wasnt.

zurdo wrote:In the early days of his career Tillis was compared to Ali not only because of his style but also because he was trained by Angelo Dundee..

Dundees famous between rounds exortations had no effect the night
Tillis fought Mike Weaver for the WBA title in 1981 and basically froze fighting passively and losing a 15 round decision ..

I don't know how much longer Dundee stayed with him after that

Dundee was still with him when he fought Greg Page, and the between round exhortations were as dramatic as they could get.

By the end of the second round Page was backed into his corner bobbing and weaving under and away from Tillis' shots. But then a solid right caught Greg on the jaw and dropped him just moments before the bell.

Dundee sprang through the ropes and started shouting: "Do it!, Do it now!! This is your big chance!!, Dont blow it for chrissakes, dont blow it!!!"

But Tillis being Tillis, always so close yet so far, blew it...By the 4th Page went back up on his toes and Tillis punches began to lose speed and snap. Page was timing him and landing on him with fast counters.
Then Tillis managed to buckle Page by the sixth with a wicked left hook but by the end of that round he looked exhausted.

The seventh was all Page and in the eighth he went right hand crazy, finally laying Tillis on his back. He started to rise, but Dundee was already on his way through the ropes.

Broncano wrote:

zurdo wrote:In the early days of his career Tillis was compared to Ali not only because of his style but also because he was trained by Angelo Dundee..

Dundees famous between rounds exortations had no effect the night
Tillis fought Mike Weaver for the WBA title in 1981 and basically froze fighting passively and losing a 15 round decision ..

I don't know how much longer Dundee stayed with him after that

Dundee was still with him when he fought Greg Page, and the between round exhortations were as dramatic as they could get.

By the end of the second round Page was backed into his corner bobbing and weaving under and away from Tillis' shots. But then a solid right caught Greg on the jaw and dropped him just moments before the bell.

Dundee sprang through the ropes and started shouting: "Do it!, Do it now!! This is your big chance!!, Dont blow it for chrissakes, dont blow it!!!"

But Tillis being Tillis, always so close yet so far, blew it...By the 4th Page went back up on his toes and Tillis punches began to lose speed and snap. Page was timing him and landing on him with fast counters.
Then Tillis managed to buckle Page by the sixth with a wicked left hook but by the end of that round he looked exhausted.

The seventh was all Page and in the eighth he went right hand crazy, finally laying Tillis on his back. He started to rise, but Dundee was already on his way through the ropes.

I remember this fight too. Good effort by both fighters.It's a shame that James didn't beat Mike Weaver like he should've in 1981.The world would've been at his feet had this happened.

Tillis was a fighter with excellent boxing skills, who just seemed to lack proper motivation. I think he could have taken the HW title from Mike Weaver in 1981 if he had wanted to, but he was the kind of fighter that Ferdie Pacheco described as being like an artist in the ring "He does something brilliant then steps back to admire his work".

He was easily outboxing Page when he got knocked out, and as for his performance against Tyson. He clearly lost, but still gave a good account of himself in a fight in which 99 pct of the viewers were probably saying "OK Tyson definitely knocks him out this round".

Seamus wrote:Tillis was a fighter with excellent boxing skills, who just seemed to lack proper motivation. I think he could have taken the HW title from Mike Weaver in 1981 if he had wanted to, but he was the kind of fighter that Ferdie Pacheco described as being like an artist in the ring "He does something brilliant then steps back to admire his work".

He was easily outboxing Page when he got knocked out, and as for his performance against Tyson. He clearly lost, but still gave a good account of himself in a fight in which 99 pct of the viewers were probably saying "OK Tyson definitely knocks him out this round".

Page could have knocked out Tillis in the first round.It seemed like every shot he hit Tillis with shook him down to his core.The ironic thing that could've been about Tillis was if he won the WBA title and Snipes won the WBC title.Now that would've been a good fight.