Elijah Tillery

Carlton Elijah Tillery (born August 8, 1957, in Staten Island, NY) is a former American boxer in the heavyweight division, nicknamed "Phoenix Steel".

Amateur career

Tillery had an amateur record of 45-2.

Professional career

Tillery turned professional in 1980 and was a hard punching journeyman heavyweight during his career. He is best known for his two fights against Riddick Bowe in 1991. His first fight with Bowe is known for its bizarre conclusion. Bowe dominated the first round and dropped Tillery. After the round ended, Tillery walked toward Bowe and taunted him, and Bowe responded by punching Tillery. Tillery then landed several kicks on Bowe, and Bowe then unleashed a flurry of punches on Tillery as Tillery lay on the ropes. Bowe's trainer, Rock Newman, then grabbed Tillery and pulled him over the ropes as Bowe continued to throw punches. Tillery somersaulted over the ropes and was quickly detained by security.^[1] After order was restored and the fighters returned to the ring, Tillery and Bowe continued a war of words, and there continued to be minor incidents as the ring was cleared. Tillery was disqualified for the kicks with Bowe getting the win, much to the surprise of the television announcers. The fighters rematched two months later, with Bowe dominating and TKO'ing Tillery, his first TKO loss. Tillery's next fight was his last, a TKO loss to James Smith two years after his loss to Bowe.

Professional boxing record

23 Wins (15 knockouts, 8 decisions), 7 Losses (2 knockouts, 5 decisions)
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	36-11-1	James "Bonecrusher" Smith	TKO	6	14/09/1993	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 2:51 of the sixth round.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	27-0	Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe	TKO	4	13/12/1991	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Referee stopped the bout at 1:14 of the fourth round.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	26-0	Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe	DQ	1	29/10/1991	Washington, District of Columbia, United States	WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Title.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	17-2-1	"Big" Art Tucker	UD	10	02/11/1990	Albany, New York, United States	91-98, 92-97, 94-96.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	8-5-1	William "K.O." Morris	MD	10	17/08/1990	Newark, New Jersey, United States	97-93, 97-93, 95-95.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	7-1	Fred Whitaker	RTD	4	08/07/1990	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Whitaker could not answer the bell for round five.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	5-0	Mike "The Duke" Dixon	UD	6	08/05/1990	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	57-54, 58-54, 58-55.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	12-6-1	Dorcey Gaymon	UD	8	15/06/1987	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	21-10	Mike Cohen	KO	3	23/08/1986	Fayetteville, North Carolina, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	19-8	David Jaco	KO	9	11/07/1986	Swan Lake, New York, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3-10-1	Wesley Smith	TKO	8	31/05/1986	Albany, New York, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	13-2	Rodney Frazier	KO	4	05/04/1986	Latham, New York, United States
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	16-2	Anthony Davis	UD	12	19/09/1984	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	NABF Cruiserweight Title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	11-2	William Hosea	PTS	10	09/08/1983	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3-4-2	Louis Alexander	KO	1	15/04/1983	New York City, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4-5	Charles Vanderhall	KO	2	10/11/1982	Latham, New York, United States	Charles knocked out at 2:53 of the second round.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	13-1	Alfonzo Ratliff	UD	10	13/03/1982	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6-14	Henry "Bulldog" Patterson	TKO	3	11/02/1982	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	2-2-2	Quadir Muntaqim	UD	8	07/11/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4-9	Eddie Smith	PTS	8	24/07/1981	New York City, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6-26-2	Kid Samson	PTS	8	25/06/1981	Tarrytown, New York, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	15-15-2	Fred "Flintstone" Brown	UD	6	11/05/1981	New York City, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	0-5	Milton Hopkins	KO	1	18/03/1981	White Plains, New York, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	0-1	Johnny Pitts	KO	2	08/03/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	--	Vincent "Vince" Johnson	KO	1	28/02/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	2-9-1	Calvin Langston	KO	1	18/02/1981	White Plains, New York, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6-23-2	Kid Samson	PTS	4	07/02/1981	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	--	Kasim Stephenson	KO	1	07/01/1981	New York City, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	0-1	Austin Johnson	KO	1	12/12/1980	New York City, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	--	Gerald Hardy	KO	1	23/10/1980	New York City, United States	Hardy knocked out at 1:19 of the first round.

Personal

Tillery was sentenced to nine years in prison in March 2008 for hiding a sawed-off shotgun in a toy alligator in the back of his pickup truck. Before sentencing, Tillery read a 12-page statement about his life and cursed his attorney and the prosecutor.^[2] Tillery has since been released and married to Joevonne Brace Tillery Hudson City Clerk Official.

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Elijah Tillery from BoxRec
• Video of Bowe-Tillery I on YouTube