REDWOOD CITY, California – On June 16, 1990, heavyweight Mike Tyson stopped Henry Tillman, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist, in one round. Tillman, who can always claim two amateur wins over Tyson in the 1984 Olympic Trials, is now a well-respected trainer and broadcaster. BoxingScene recently caught up with him to discuss some memories of his fights with Tyson as an amateur and the single bout in the pros.

BoxingScene: What was it like competing against Tyson as an amateur?

Tillman: He has always been different. It was competition, but it was tough competition. Tyson was knocking grown men out when he was 14 years old, so I knew he was coming. At the time, he was in the super heavyweight division, so I didn't look at him like that. When we were in Colorado [at the Olympic Training Center], he was a super heavyweight and I was a heavyweight. Him, Al Evans, Tyrell Biggs, Craig Payne – all of those guys – were super heavyweights. I was in the heavyweight division, so it wasn’t a concern to me.

I was seeing Tyson knock guys out and doing all that. I still wasn't concerned. And then the next thing you know, he was in my weight class. I just said, ‘Hey man, I'm on a journey now. So whoever gets in my way, I've got to beat him.’ That's how I looked at it. It was just teenage, young-adult competition amongst other athletes. Nobody was a superstar. We were just all trying to find our place and find our directions, and I believe we all helped one another going our different directions in life. That's how I looked at it, and I'm just really glad that I was blessed and had the experience to fight Tyson twice in the amateurs and the pros as well.”

BS: Was it different facing Tyson as an amateur than as a pro?

Tillman: It was night and day. You got more time. You're bigger, you're older, you're stronger. Everybody has man strength. Tyson had man strength when he should have had boy strength. What people don't give Tyson credit for is how fast he was. Nobody talks about his speed. They talk about his punch. That guy could hit you three times, and every one felt like somebody had a brick in a sack, and he hit you with it and you didn't see it coming. His punches were hard and fast. It was also hard to hit him.

I saw [Evander] Holyfield talking about this the other night, where he said, ‘Man, I have never seen anybody train harder than me but Mike Tyson.’ He is right; we used to be in training camp, and that dude didn't do anything but train. It didn't seem normal at the time. But as you get older, you get experience. You realize Tyson was a beast then. Everything he trained 100 percent: sit-ups, thousands right then and there. I did 1,000 a day, but I did 500 in the morning after running, 500 in the gym. Tyson would do 1,000 every time he does sit-ups, but not in one shot. He breaks it up, but he might do 150 at a time – just unreal. Jump rope like nobody had seen before. Speed bag like nobody ever seen. Heavy bag like nobody ever seen. But at the time, it was just normal to him.

BS: What about Tyson’s film study? 

Tillman: He studied film all the time, like he was getting ready for college. He has a fight IQ that is off the charts. He has always been smart – very smart, you know – just like me. Part of my upbringing, I think I've always had a pretty good intellect for being where I come from and the lack of being able to go to some of the best schools. The biggest thing with me, I had the best parents – a mother and father who were really involved in my life, whether I got in trouble or not. That's what that was, my biggest motivation and biggest thing that saved me.

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.