Quick Tillis Is Not Dead - Regarding Boxing Rumor and More!

Quick Tillis Is Not Dead - Regarding Boxing Rumor and More!

By David Ruff (April 28, 2010) Doghouse Boxing

As of a couple of days ago, I've been hearing, through Joyce, a friend of James Quick Tillis, that a lot of boxing people seem to think he is deceased. Tillis did a fundraiser in Tulsa last Thursday night. However, boxing people, from Rubin Hurricane Carter to Sugar Ray Leonard and various other people, still think he's deceased. He's alive and well living in Tulsa. He's 48 years old and still full of spunk.

He still shoes horses, and he's boxing's Fighting Cowboy. I've been trying to help him out for a year now--to try to get his

story told. There's a book out about him that was ghostwritten for him. He also did a DVD documentary on himself. The documentary tells some great things about James Tillis. He's never received royalties from the book, other than $5000, which he had to split with the author. He lives on $600 SSI per month. What he's asked boxing people to do is to see if they can help him get more funds coming in, via Social Security or otherwise. James and Joyce seem to think that they've lost some millions of dollars, through some under-the-table deals.

Everyone knows that Tillis actually beat Mike Tyson and should have gotten more money than he did. This is just in the view of myself and Joyce and Quick. One must remember that his idol was Muhammad Ali, with whom he was a sparring partner. This man has fought seven former world champions. He's also done exhibitions with Larry Holmes. He was in the movie "The Color Purple," with Oprah Winfrey.

I see a lot of promoters and others in boxing claiming they're going to help their fighters out. I've seen various program books with numerous ads, and I wonder how much the boxers and boxing organizations actually get, when you hear that Tillis and others walk away with nothing. Tillis has not been on drugs or alcohol; he's had some family problems, but that's about it. I'm trying to see if I can get him some speaking engagements or maybe some boxing exhibitions, or maybe a job with the local Boys and Girls Club. Because I think James Quick Tillis is truly a role model, and a person who has a story to be told.

You can get hold of me through my email: davidrruff@yahoo.com. You can e-mail me and get my phone number as well as Joyce's phone number. We'd like to set up some things for James Tillis, and I'd like to see boxing people get on the bandwagon. And let's do something for all boxers.

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