Evander Holyfield vs. Henry Tillman
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Date | February 14, 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Venue | Bally's Reno, Reno, Nevada, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title(s) on the line | WBA cruiserweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Holyfield defeated Tillman by 7th round TKO |
Evander Holyfield vs. Henry Tillman, billed as "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre", was a professional boxing match contested on February 14, 1987, for the WBA cruiserweight championship.[1]
Background
Evander Holyfield had defeated Dwight Muhammad Qawi via split decision in July 1986 to capture the WBA cruiserweight title, the first world title of his career. The first defense of Holyfield's title was announced to be against his 1984 Olympic teammate and gold medalist Henry Tillman, who like Holyfield, had turned pro in late 1984 and become a top prospect in the cruiserweight division, having already won NABF cruiserweight title and sporting a 14–1 record with the only blemish on his professional record being a close decision loss to Bert Cooper. Before facing Tillman, Holyfield first took a non-title tuneup fight in December 1986 against Mike Brothers (after his previously announced opponent Marcos Geraldo withdrew),[2] easily defeating him by third-round knockout.
The fight
The fight would prove to be a mismatch as Holyfield would have little trouble beating Tillman, knocking him down four times during the course of the bout. After a relatively close first round (which one judge had winning, which would prove to be the only round Tillman would win on any of the three scorecards), Holyfield dropped Tillman early in the second with a left hook. After Tillman arose and took the mandatory standing eight count, he charged at Holyfield, attempting to trade punches with him though Holyfield continued to pepper Tillman with powerful body shots throughout the round, though Tillman survived the round. Holyfield would continue to dominate Tillman and in round 7, Holyfield would land an uppercut followed by a left–right uppercut that dropped Tillman to the canvas. Tillman would again arise and continued though Holyfield continued his attack and soon sent Tillman down again with another left–right combination, though Tillman would answer the 10-count at nine. Holyfield quickly attacked Tillman with two left hooks that dropped Tillman for the third time in the round, with the three-knockdown rule in effect, the fight was immediately stopped and Holyfield was named the winner by technical knockout at 1:43 of round 7.[3][4]
Aftermath
This would be Tillman's only shot at a world title before he retired in 1992.
Fight card
Confirmed bouts:[5]
Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Time | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cruiserweight | 190 lb | Evander Holyfield (c) | def. | Henry Tillman | TKO | 7/15 | Note 1 | |
Cruiserweight | 190 lb | Andre McCall | def. | Jim Ashard | MD | 8/8 | ||
Lightweight | 135 lb | Mike Grow | def. | Leo Benitez | UD | 6/6 |
^Note 1 For WBA Cruiserweight title.
Broadcasting
Country | Broadcaster |
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![]() | ABC |
References
- ^ "Evander Holyfield vs. Henry Tillman". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ After Years of Neglect, Cruiserweight Brothers Gets His Shot, Chicago Tribune article, 1986-12-07 Retrieved on 2020-01-23
- ^ Holyfield KOs Tillman in 7 to Retain WBA Title, Sun-Sentinel article, 1987-02-15 Retrieved on 2020-01-21
- ^ Phil Berger (February 15, 1987). "HOLYFIELD RETAINS TITLE ON KNOCKOUT". New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by vs. Mike Brothers | Evander Holyfield's bouts 14 February 1987 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by vs. Stanley Ross | Henry Tillman's bouts 14 February 1987 | Succeeded by vs. Woody Clark |
- v
- t
- e
- Muhammad Qawi vs. Holyfield
- Holyfield vs. Tillman
- Holyfield vs. Parkey
- Hoyfield vs. Ocasio
- Holyfield vs. Muhammad Qawi II
- Holyfield vs. De León
- Holyfield vs. Tillis
- Holyfield vs. Thomas
- Dokes vs. Holyfield
- Holyfield vs. Rodrigues
- Holyfield vs. Stewart
- Holyfield vs. McDonagh
- Douglas vs. Holyfield
- Holyfield vs. Foreman
- Holyfield vs. Cooper
- Holyfield vs. Holmes
- Holyfield vs. Bowe
- Holyfield vs. Stewart II
- Bowe vs. Holyfield II
- Holyfield vs. Moorer
- Holyfield vs. Mercer
- Bowe vs. Holyfield III
- Holyfield vs. Czyz
- Tyson vs. Holyfield
- Holyfield vs. Tyson II
- Holyfield vs. Moorer II
- Holyfield vs. Bean
- Holyfield vs. Lewis
- Holyfield vs. Lewis II
- Holyfield vs. Ruiz
- Holyfield vs. Ruiz II
- Ruiz vs. Holyfield III
- Holyfield vs. Rahman
- Byrd vs. Holyfield
- Holyfield vs. Toney
- Holyfield vs. Donald
- Ibragimov vs. Holyfield
- Valuev vs. Holyfield
- Holyfield vs. Belfort