What went wrong with James "Quick" Tillis?

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.

 

Mike Tyson got mad, and wanted revenge.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

No ,that was Farting Cowboy.:good

 

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

 

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.

 

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.