What went wrong with James "Quick" Tillis?

[MRBILL]

Back in 1981, I really thought, as did many folks, that James Tillis would beat Mike Weaver for the WBA title and be somebody with respect in the division.... Well, James Tillis kinda' flopped as a heavyweight contender.... In 1982, Tillis was TKO'd by Greg Page and his career took a downward spiral after that.... By 1986, James Tillis was just a fighter / opponent for new talent on the block..... In 1988, Tillis was just fodder for Evander Holyfield.... :patsch

SO! What the hell went wrong for James "Quick" Tillis???:huh

MR.BILL:bbb

[TBooze]

He lacked dedication and was not quite as talented as the Lost Generation.

But I think by the mid 80s he did show some balls; he did go the distance with Tyson, and Holyfield got panned for not decking James.... But by then Tillis was very much in Journeyman to the stars mode and had lost pretty much all desire for the game, I have heard his book is a fair read.

[Russell]

Didn't he have a allergic reaction to eggs or something like that? I guess it was eventually cut out of his diet completely, whatever it was, and he became slightly more capable as a fighter.

[TBooze]

Didn't he have a allergic reaction to eggs or something like that?

I think you are getting eggs mixed up with roadwork!;)

[Russell]

Ahahaa, I know he had some kind of food related health issue that he said held him back.

[MRBILL]

Ahahaa, I know he had some kind of food related health issue that he said held him back.

Christ, I do recall that story back in the 80s..... I forgot the fighter, but I know the story...... YES! Eggs was a killer for Tillis..... He blamed losses on Eggs........ Kinda' bullshit, but still.?.?:D

MR.BILL

[MRBILL]

James Tillis did train hard for Holy in '88..... Tillis was lean and mean, but also faded.....

MR.BILL

[TBooze]

Christ, I do recall that story back in the 80s..... I forgot the fighter, but I know the story...... YES! Eggs was a killer for Tillis..... He blamed losses on Eggs........ Kinda' bullshit, but still.?.?:D

MR.BILL


Better excuse than when Briggs blamed the Wilson loss on it being too cold!

[BIG DEE]

BIG DEE HERE= He wasn`t quick enough.

[JohnThomas1]

At the end of the day he just wasn't quite good enough and lacked some neccessities. Guys like Page and Dokes were much more talented.

[mr. magoo]

At the end of the day he just wasn't quite good enough .


Thread closed....

[MRBILL]

Didn't James Tillis do some time in Prison somewhere in the mid-west? What was his crime??

[MAG1965]

Back in 1981, I really thought, as did many folks, that James Tillis would beat Mike Weaver for the WBA title and be somebody with respect in the division.... Well, James Tillis kinda' flopped as a heavyweight contender.... In 1982, Tillis was TKO'd by Greg Page and his career took a downward spiral after that.... By 1986, James Tillis was just a fighter / opponent for new talent on the block..... In 1988, Tillis was just fodder for Evander Holyfield.... :patsch

SO! What the hell went wrong for James "Quick" Tillis???:huh

MR.BILL:bbbjust not good enough as it turned out. Sort of like Tyrell Biggs. Everyone thought he would be a great fighter, but he turned out mediocre.

[he grant]

JT nailed it ...

[MRBILL]

YES! Tyrell Biggs was also a stroke boy who fell short.... Biggs was suppose to win a title or two at heavyweight....... The '87 fight with Tyson ruined Biggs forever.......

MR.BILL

[MRBILL]

Tillis fought like a scared pussy against Marvis Frazier back in '85..... Bundini Brown trained Tillis, and Bundini Brown was disgusted with Tillis..... Tillis was using the "Fighting Cowboy" label........

MR.BILL

[zadfrak]

I like in that Tillis book where he reveals that > taking some Weaver body shots around the 8th round or so, he wished he'd taken the $ 1 million step aside money instead. Very candid comments and you seldom read that kind of stuff.

[round15]

Mike Tyson got mad, and wanted revenge.

[MRBILL]

Tillis went 10 rds with Tyson..... Tyson was green, yet still explosive.... Tillis seemingly gave it a good go in that fight......

MR.BILL

[Titan1]

Maybe Tillis was not on that next level like Page and Dokes, but the allergic reaction to eggs probably robbed him of something at some point.Funny, because I've always had the feeling if the fight went to the later rounds, he would give Dokes hell.

[MRBILL]

I just taped "Tyson-Tillis" off of ESPN the other day, and right now I just found my "Page-Tillis" fight from 1982 down in Texas...... Page kicks ass on Tillis........

MR.BILL

[Lobotomy]

I thought Tillis was dreadful against Pinklon Thomas. I still recall Dundee's shrill, hysterical screaming of instructions from Quick's corner as Thomas dismantled him with that left. Why the hell didn't Tillis use his mobility to get away from Thomas? Instead, he just stood in front of Pinklon, and let himself just get taken apart.

[MRBILL]

I thought Tillis was dreadful against Pinklon Thomas. I still recall Dundee's shrill, hysterical screaming of instructions from Quick's corner as Thomas dismantled him with that left. Why the hell didn't Tillis use his mobility to get away from Thomas? Instead, he just stood in front of Pinklon, and let himself just get taken apart.

Tillis was equally dreadful against Marvis Frazier in '85 with Bundini Brown pleading instructions from the corner of Tillis.... Tillis had NO BIDNESS being timid against Frazier......... The hell happened there?

MR.BILL:huh:dead

[young griffo]

Tillis was equally dreadful against Marvis Frazier in '85 with Bundini Brown pleading instructions from the corner of Tillis.... Tillis had NO BIDNESS being timid against Frazier......... The hell happened there?

MR.BILL:huh:dead
I know Tyson probably had an off night but Tillis fought damn well against him (2 judges scored it 6-4 to Mike),jabbing and moving well and until Buster Douglas came along Tillis did waay better than anyone else did against Tyson.

Yet a few months later Tillis shows nothing when getting decisioned by an ancient,slow Joe Bugner.Tillis' issues were mainly between his ears imo as it beggers belief that a man can offer such drastically different performances in the space of a few short months.

[Sister Sledge]

Tillis fought like a scared pussy against Marvis Frazier back in '85..... Bundini Brown trained Tillis, and Bundini Brown was disgusted with Tillis..... Tillis was using the "Fighting Cowboy" label........

MR.BILL

:lol: I remember Bundini screaming at Tillis to get him to fight because James was so lazy and lacksadaisical. He would come to the ring with a brown cowboy has and vest. He looked like a prelude to Brokeback Mountain.

In perspective to his career, he just wasn't hungry enough. He could have had a better career than he had, but he was just too damned lazy to try harder than he did.

Biggs was disappointing, too. He schooled Tyson in the first round of their fight, clearly outboxing Mike and keeping Tyson at the end of his jab. Then he just stopped fighting and let Tyson get inside and wear him out. It's like he just lost all the energy he needed to keep Mike off of him.

[anarci]

He went into a shell against Weaver and didnt show he even wanted to be there. I remember Dundee being disgusted at Tillis effort in that fight.

[mcvey]

Tillis fought like a scared pussy against Marvis Frazier back in '85..... Bundini Brown trained Tillis, and Bundini Brown was disgusted with Tillis..... Tillis was using the "Fighting Cowboy" label........

MR.BILL

No ,that was Farting Cowboy.:good

[Unforgiven]

Tillis was pretty good but he was inconsistent, not just in his physical shape, but his mentality too. He was a nobody by the time he was 29 or 30, not even a gatekeeper, just a minor stepping stone.
He was in demand though as an opponent, and probably earned a decent living.

It's strange that one of the few big fights he was really up for and not just looking to get paid in was the fight with Mike Tyson, who was intimidating everyone he faced at the time.
As MR BILL said, just a little while earlier Tillis had been reluctant to fight when sharing a ring with Marvis Frazier ! But he turns up against Tyson and gives it a real go. :huh

[lefthook31]

YES! Tyrell Biggs was also a stroke boy who fell short.... Biggs was suppose to win a title or two at heavyweight....... The '87 fight with Tyson ruined Biggs forever.......

MR.BILL
Biggs was cut very badly in the Bey fight I believe. I think that cut had a lot to do with his decline as well. It opened up in a few fights after that and it seemed Duva and company just kept feeding him to fighters he wasnt ready for. He was a bit rushed in his career when realistically he wasnt as developed as a pro regardless of his olympic resume.
As far as Tillis, ho hum, as said he just wasnt that great. Funny how fighters get so many accolades for just surviving the distance with Tyson. Mitch Green made a career out of it, but he still sucked as a fighter.

[Coetzeefan101]

Even though Tillis wasnt the fighter that lived up to the expectations I thought he held his own against both Thomas, Williams and Page. He clearly had the better of the early rounds against Thomas and he floored Page heavily in the 2nd round of their bout.
Tillis also took some brutal shots from Shavers and came off the deck to clearly win the decision.

Tillis during the early 80's certainly wasnt an easy fight for any top contender.

[Unforgiven]

Even though Tillis wasnt the fighter that lived up to the expectations I thought he held his own against both Thomas, Williams and Page. He clearly had the better of the early rounds against Thomas and he floored Page heavily in the 2nd round of their bout.
Tillis also took some brutal shots from Shavers and came off the deck to clearly win the decision.

Tillis during the early 80's certainly wasnt an easy fight for any top contender.

True.
He was unlucky to be matched with someone as tough as Thomas at that point. Thomas was mostly unknown then, and Tillis was the "name". Turned out Thomas was incredibly tough.
Then Tillis went straight in against Greg Page, who was rebounding off his defeat from Berbick and all fired up for once.

Tillis took all the tough matches to get himself back in the queue (Witherspoon in '83), and kept coming up short, until he'd been ground into "opponent" mode.
But those were very tough matches, esp. in retrospect.

[mr. magoo]

True.
He was unlucky to be matched with someone as tough as Thomas at that point. Thomas was mostly unknown then, and Tillis was the "name". Turned out Thomas was incredibly tough.
Then Tillis went straight in against Greg Page, who was rebounding off his defeat from Berbick and all fired up for once.

Tillis took all the tough matches to get himself back in the queue (Witherspoon in '83), and kept coming up short, until he'd been ground into "opponent" mode.
But those were very tough matches, esp. in retrospect.

I agree,

he was a good prospect who was over matched. Whoever was manageing him obviously had exceedingly high expectations, and as a result he was ring worn before his 20's were even over. Tillis might have faired well by facing a string of guys like Leon Spinks, Tex Cobb, an aging Jimmy Young, Gordon Racette and a few other guys of that calibur. The problem is that he was fighting too much on opposite ends of the talent spectrum.. If he wasn't facing the elite of the division, then he was up against men like Bobby Crabtree or Harvey Steichen... He needed to keep his opponent selection on an in between level until his skills, confidence and conditioning could be properly aligned.

[I am Legion]

I used to like Tillis; he got the name Quick because of all the early KOs at the start of his career. As I recall he might have been slight favorite to beat Weaver and nearly pulled it off.

I remember at the time thinking that a draw had done him no real harm and I expected him to contend for titles for a few more years but his career just went on the slide very quickly.

If you read his book he was always full of excuses for his defeats and I just think he didn't have the mental toughness to stay at the top.

He was in the crop of very good 80s HWs like Berbick, Snipes etc who were just a notch or two below Dokes and Page who were considered the heirs to Holmes.

[Bigcat]

James was a crafty capable customer, but after he flopped in his best shot against Mike Weaver, he lost confidence in himself... Great Journeyman though... a fabulous benchmark for any up and coming Contender in the late 80's..

[MRBILL]

No ,that was Farting Cowboy.:good

Bundini was yelling at Tillis during the fight with Frazier: "Your Mama is watching you." I have "Tillis-Frazier" on tape... It was the undercard of "Holmes-Williams" on network TV........

MR.BILL

[MRBILL]

Tillis finished ugly.... His record is close to 42-24 over 65+ fights........ YIKES!

MR.BILL

[Titan1]

I just taped "Tyson-Tillis" off of ESPN the other day, and right now I just found my "Page-Tillis" fight from 1982 down in Texas...... Page kicks ass on Tillis........

MR.BILL

The way Page was going in the first, he should've had Tillis out of there.But James caught Greg good in the second, and if it had been maybe twenty or thirty seconds earlier, it could've been an upset.Page was really hurt, and admitted in an interview that Tillis could really hit.

[MRBILL]

The way Page was going in the first, he should've had Tillis out of there.But James caught Greg good in the second, and if it had been maybe twenty or thirty seconds earlier, it could've been an upset.Page was really hurt, and admitted in an interview that Tillis could really hit.

I once had a still photo of Page landing a big right cross on Tillis' jaw and you could see the spit and mouthpiece being dislodged. It was a classic photo. I'm sure Tillis isn't all that thrilled about that snapshot....

I wish I had a copy of some sort of the tragic '01 "Page-Crowe" fight from Tennessee.... I never saw the bout....

I have the 2002 bout where Moorer kicks ass on Crowe......

MR.BILL:bbb

[MRBILL]

Tillis actually was licensed to fight as a pro up until the start of the 21st century when he was shot all to hell and over age 40 yrs.... CHRIST!

His record looks ugly too... Off my head, it's close to 40 + wins and 20 + losses.... UGH!
:roll:

MR.BILL:bbb

[Il Duce]

Lack of confidence.

He got it late, versus Hercules Weaver, but it was too late.

That fight was winnable,,,,,,,,and 'Quick' blew it.
If he beat Weaver, he gets $3,000,000 to fight Larry Holmes.

[Seamus]

At the end of the day he just wasn't quite good enough and lacked some neccessities. Guys like Page and Dokes were much more talented.

Sums it up in my book.

[Vince Voltage]

There've been many, many guys like Tillis, who looked promising but just couldn't cut it at the top level. Can't always blame dedication and all that; he was a solid fighter, kind of the Monte Barrett of his era, but not a bona fide contender. Beat Shavers, who was old, and who would've beaten him had they fought earlier.

[MRBILL]

There've been many, many guys like Tillis, who looked promising but just couldn't cut it at the top level. Can't always blame dedication and all that; he was a solid fighter, kind of the Monte Barrett of his era, but not a bona fide contender. Beat Shavers, who was old, and who would've beaten him had they fought earlier.

I'm still looking for a man with a decent / clean copy of "Tillis-Shavers" from 1982 Vegas....
:good

MR.BILL:hat

[choklab]

tillis was a good fighter with good skills. whatching him I always felt he was a frustrated southpaw, he often switched or changed direction with a right jab off the lefty stance. potentialy he was not too far away from the "lost generation" of belt holders talent wise.


He knew the game and once he made his name he made a decision to become a high class journeyman. No shame in that. He'd blown his title shot against weaver and had a name to sell so he took his name on the road.


what was he going to do? build short money wins as a "contender" down the card and hope to keep a ranking or take bigger purses against up and comers as the "opponent" in the main event. titles were sewn up anyway.


A lot of times tillis gave the prospect a low risk workout, went the distance in a main event bout just for the purse. He would be on auto pilot, survival mode, put on a show but not enough to win and come out unhurt ready for the next big thing who wanted to take on a name. Nobody was kicking his ass but he wasnt trying to win and the purses were good.


Against tyson however, quick decided he could use mike (who was geting a lot of exposure) as a springboard into bigger things but it did not quite pay off. he woke up and tried to pull a fast one.


After this he reverted back to his former role. eventualy he just couldnt keep them off him anymore but I think he earned well. good luk to him.


Often there are a lot of world class fighters and not enough b list belts to go around. tillis went for a belt, found his level then wisley decided to go on the road with his name ratherthan knock himself out failing as a contender.

[ThinBlack]

Probably lacked the desire to be a real good fighter.Shame, if he won the title against Weaver, we would be talking about him now as one of the best.

[salty trunks]

He had a bad milk allergy. :lol:

[prone2gr8tness]

tommy morrison

[MagnaNasakki]

His style was flawed, as well.

His nickname was Quick, but he wasn't all that quick.

Was never taught to settle down. Always on the move, and thus couldn't hit hard. Fought in straight lines and patterns.

Was never going to be special. Never learned to box.

[D9Garrard]

Magna nailed this one. Tillis wasn't a sharp puncher and I don't think he was a great natural athlete either. When I think of Tillis' liabilities, I always think of the difference between how he and Micheal Dokes fought my local heavy Roughouse Fischer. Tillis got caught in corners, ate some overhand rights, fought sloppy and couldn't land anything definitive. Dokes bicycled away from shots and landed pinpoint shots while keeping smooth movement.

In the long run. he probably overachieved in the Weaver fight. At least he got to the big screen with Oprah....