Mike Weaver defended his WBA world heavyweight title against James Tillis

Date: October 3, 1981

Venue: Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois

Weaver stance: orthodox

Tillis stance: orthodox

After 12 professional fights, Mike Weaver's record was 6-6 with four of those losses coming early. Somehow, Weaver managed to improve and win some fights against decent opposition, such as a fifth round stoppage of Bernado Mercado. A five bout winning streak earned him a shot at Larry Holme's WBC title, and he gave Holmes all he could handle before being stopped in the 12th round. After two routine wins, Weaver challenged John Tate for the WBA title and knocked him out with less than a minute remaining in the fight, despite clearly losing the first 14 rounds. In his first defence, Weaver overcame a slow start to stop Gerrie Coetzee in the 13th round.

James Tillis turned pro in 1980, and made steady progress against a series of journeymen and fringe contenders. His best wins were a seventh round stoppage of fading contender Ron Stander in his 14th bout and a points win over Mike Koranicki. Tillis was 20-0 with 16 KOs. He had very good boxing skills and decent power. The biggest difference between Tillis and Weaver was that the former had rarely had to deal with any serious adversity in the ring up to this point in their respective careers.

For an in depth look at their respective records, visit:

Mike Weaver - https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/405

James Tillis - https://boxrec.com/en/box-pro/803