Henry Tillman

Henry Tillman
Weight	Cruiserweight Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 3 in
Reach	77.5 in
Nationality	American
Birth date	August 1, 1960 (age 66)
Birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Style	Orthodox
Total	31
Wins	25
Draws	0
Losses	6
No contests	0
Ko	16
Show-medals	yes

Henry Durand Tillman (born August 1, 1960) is an American former professional boxer. He won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics as a Heavyweight.^[1] He scored notable wins over Cruiserweight Champions Uriah Grant and Tyrone Booze.

Early life

Tillman was born in Los Angeles, California.^[2]

Amateur career

Tillman twice defeated Mike Tyson as an amateur, winning both bouts via close decisions. Tillman went on to win heavyweight gold at the Los Angeles Olympics against highly touted Canadian boxer Willie DeWitt, considered the world's #1 amateur heavyweight by the AIBA in 1984^[3] (to whom he lost in 1988 in professionals).

Highlights

United States National Championships (super heavyweight), Indianapolis, Indiana, December 1982:

1/16: Defeated Howard Lake by split decision, 3–2
1/8: Defeated William Ross RSC 2
1/4: Lost to Mark Mahone by majority decision, 1–4

USA–USSR Duals (super heavyweight), Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana, March 1983:

Lost to Alexander Yagubkin (Soviet Union) by decision

USA–Cuba Duals (heavyweight), Havana, Cuba, April 1983:

Lost to Hermenegildo Báez (Cuba) by unanimous decision, 0–5

National Sports Festival (heavyweight), Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, June 1983:

1/2: Defeated Henry Milligan RSC 2
Finals (Pan Am Trials): Defeated Richard Johnson by majority decision, 4–1

Pan Am Box-Offs (178 lbs), St. Louis, Missouri, August 1983:

Defeated (no data available)

Pan American Games (heavyweight), Caracas, Venezuela, August 1983:

1/2: Defeated Virgilio Frias (Dominicana) by majority decision, 4–1
Finals: Lost to Aurelio Toyo (Cuba) by majority decision, 1–4

USA–Bulgaria Duals (light heavyweight), Rapid City, South Dakota, October 1983:

Lost to Deyan Kirilov (Bulgaria) by unanimous decision, 0–3

United States National Championships (heavyweight), Colorado Springs, Colorado, November 1983:

1/8: Lost to Henry Milligan by split decision, 2–3

USA–Combined Team of GBR & Canada Duals (heavyweight), Reno, Nevada, November 1983:

Finals: Lost to Willie DeWitt (Canada) KO 1 (1:55)

National Golden Gloves (heavyweight), St. Louis, Missouri, April 1984:

1/4: Defeated Terry Anderson by decision
1/2: Lost to Jonathan Littles by walkover

Olympic Trials (heavyweight), Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas, June 1984:

1/4: Defeated Olian Alexander by majority decision, 4–1
1/2: Defeated James Pritchard by majority decision, 4–1
Finals: Defeated Mike Tyson by unanimous decision, 5–0 (Tillman knocked down at 2:02 of the 1st rd)

Olympic Box-Offs (heavyweight), Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada, July 1984:

Defeated Mike Tyson by majority decision, 4–1

Olympic Games (heavyweight), Los Angeles, California, August 1984:

1/8: Defeated Kaliq Singh (India) RSCH 1
1/4: Defeated Tevita Taufo'ou (Tonga) RSCH 2
1/2: Defeated Angelo Musone (Italy) by unanimous decision, 5–0
Finals: Defeated Willie DeWitt (Canada) by unanimous decision, 5–0

Professional career

Tillman turned pro in 1984 as a cruiserweight and had a disappointing professional career, primarily due to a weak chin. In 1986, he was knocked down twice and upset by Bert Cooper via a decision. In 1987 he secured a bout at WBA Cruiserweight Title holder Evander Holyfield. Holyfield dropped Tillman three times en route to a 7th-round TKO, according to WBA rules. Tillman later lost to Willie DeWitt in a rematch of their 1984 Heavyweight Olympic Final bout. In 1990, he took on Mike Tyson in Tyson's comeback bout after his loss to James "Buster" Douglas. Tyson knocked him out in the first round. He finished his professional career with a record of 25-6-0 with 16 knockouts.

In the movie Rocky V, Tillman played contender "Tim Simms" who lost a bout to "Tommy Gunn" played by Tommy Morrison.

Personal life

At the 1984 Summer Olympics Henry met his bride-to-be Gina Hemphill, a granddaughter of Jesse Owens, she carried the torch into the Los Angeles Coliseum at the opening ceremony, and worked as a production assistant on The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago. In 1987 they were married among friends and Olympic teammates.

Legal issues

In February 2001, Tillman was sentenced to six years in prison for a 1996, attempted murder and voluntary manslaughter charge, and released from custody in 2002.^[4] In July 2004, Tillman was sentenced to 37 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal identity theft charges.^[5]

Professional boxing record

25 Wins (16 knockouts, 9 decisions), 6 Losses (4 knockouts, 2 decisions)^[6]
Result	Opp Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	28-3-2	Terry Davis	KO	7	1992-09-15	Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.	NBA Continental Americas Heavyweight Title.
Win	32-14-1	Eddie Taylor	TKO	6	1992-04-21	Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Win	28-16-1	Mark Lee	UD	10	1992-03-26	Irvine, California, U.S.
Win	15-30-2	Rick Kellar	TKO	4	1990-11-29	Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.
Win	5-12	Lynwood Jones	UD	10	1990-10-26	Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Win	12-30-6	Danny Blake	UD	10	1990-08-30	Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Loss	37-1	Mike Tyson	KO	1	1990-06-16	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	Tillman knocked out at 2:47 of the first round.
Win	9-9-2	Tim Morrison	TKO	2	1990-02-17	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Win	3-5	Gerardo Valero	KO	2	1990-01-30	Reseda, California, U.S.
Win	8-5-1	Danny Wofford	PTS	10	1989-12-09	Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Loss	20-1-1	Willie DeWitt	UD	10	1988-03-29	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Loss	13-14-2	Dwain Bonds	TKO	8	1987-11-20	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	25-12	Danny Sutton	KO	7	1987-08-22	Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.	Sutton knocked out at 1:37 of the seventh round.
Win	13-3-1	Kevin P. Porter	UD	10	1987-07-11	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	6-11-1	Woody Clark	TKO	7	1987-06-07	Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:59 of the seventh round.
Loss	13-0	Evander Holyfield	TKO	7	1987-02-14	Reno, Nevada, U.S.	For WBA cruiserweight title
Win	9-11-1	Stanley Ross	TKO	4	1986-12-26	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	11-5-2	Tyrone Booze	UD	10	1986-10-17	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	10-7-1	Oscar Holman	TKO	6	1986-09-24	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	13-3	Cedric Parsons	KO	1	1986-08-19	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	Parsons knocked out at 2:20 of the first round.
Loss	11-1	Bert Cooper	UD	12	1986-06-15	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	NABF Cruiserweight Title.
Win	29-9	Bash Ali	TKO	1	1986-04-22	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	NABF Cruiserweight Title.
Win	18-3	Reggie Gross	UD	10	1986-03-04	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	6-3	Sylvester Lee	TKO	1	1986-02-02	Hollywood, Florida, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 2:15 of the first round.
Win	5-3-2	Richard Scott	UD	6	1985-09-18	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	8-2	Larry Phelps	TKO	2	1985-08-11	Hollywood, California, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 1:11 of the second round.
Win	28-30-5	Leroy Caldwell	PTS	6	1985-06-30	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	2-11-1	John Williams	TKO	1	1985-05-12	Tyler, Texas, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 0:57 of the first round.
Win	2-1	Andre Crowder	TKO	1	1985-04-18	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	7-2-1	Mickey Pryor	TKO	4	1985-03-05	Dallas, Texas, U.S.	Referee stopped the bout at 0:51 of the fourth round.
Win	1-0	Uriah Grant	TKO	2	1984-12-07	Houston, Texas, U.S.

References

^ "Los Angeles 1984 - Boxing 81-91kg heavyweight men Results". olympics.com
^ "www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ti/henry-tillman-1.html". Archived from the original on 2015-10-08.
^ From Canada, a New Image For Boxing in Willie deWit.
^ "Archives - Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. 24 February 2001.
^ Wallechinsky, David (2012). The Book of Olympic Lists. London: Aurum Press Ltd. pp. 232. ISBN 9781845137731.
^ Boxing record for Henry Tillman Archived 2015-03-31 at the Wayback Machine. BoxRec.com.