Mike Tyson fought the toughest opponent of his young career on May 3, 1986 against James ‘Quick’ Tillis. The bout from the Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York was shown live on ABC TV, and was competitive throughout. Tillis was an excellent boxer, went into the ring well-trained and fit at 207 3/4 lbs., prepared to give Tyson a real test. Tyson was the aggressor, while Tillis moved and boxed as well he could, landing combinations in spots. Mike dropped Tillis with a left hook in the fourth round, but James arose quickly and finished the 10 round bout on his feet. After the clear unanimous decision was announced for the young phenom, Tyson said “I had fun going ten rounds today.” The public wanted knockouts from the young brawler however, not satisfied with him going the distance.
Only 17 days later, Tyson was back in the ring, this time at Madison Square Garden, and on HBO for the first time. Mitch ‘Blood’ Green was picked to face Mike, who was ranked one slot higher in the WBC rankings. Despite threats from Green that he would pull out of the fight unless his $30,000 purse was increased, he actually showed up on May 20th at the Garden.
I’ve seem a tape of the fight a bunch of times, and Tyson easily outclassed Green. Even though he had a big mouth, Green slapped with his punches, and never hit Tyson with a single damaging blow. Mike won an easy 10 round decision, and stayed on course to earn at shot at the heavyweight championship before 1986 came to a close.
Mike was back at the Garden on June 13, but this time easily knocked out Reggie Gross in the opening round. Two weeks later, he traveled back upstate to Troy, New York to dispose of an overmatched William Hosea in one round again. Thirteen days later he remained in New York state to blow out Lorenzo Boyd in two. Tyson’s power was undeniable, and most of his opponents were defeated before they even got into the ring with him.
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