Carlton Elijah Tillery (born August 8, 1957) is an American former boxer in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions, nicknamed "Phoenix Steel".

Elijah Tillery
Born
Carlton Elijah Tillery

(1957-08-08) August 8, 1957 (age 67)
Other namesPhoenix Steel
Statistics
Weight(s)Heavyweight
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights30
Wins23
Wins by KO15
Losses7

Amateur career

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Born in Albany, NY, Tillery had an amateur record of 45-2.

Professional career

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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

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23 Wins (15 knockouts, 8 decisions), 7 Losses (2 knockouts, 5 decisions) [1]
Result Record Opponent Type Round Date Location Notes
Loss 36-11-1 James Smith TKO 6 14/09/1993 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. Referee stopped the bout at 2:51 of the sixth round.
Loss 27-0 Riddick Bowe TKO 4 Dec 13, 1991 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. Referee stopped the bout at 1:14 of the fourth round.
Loss 26-0 Riddick Bowe DQ 1 29/10/1991 Washington, D.C., U.S. For vacant WBC Continental Americas heavyweight title
Loss 17-2-1 Art Tucker UD 10 02/11/1990 Albany, New York, U.S.
Win 8-5-1 William Morris MD 10 17/08/1990 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 7-1 Fred Whitaker RTD 4 08/07/1990 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 5-0 Mike Dixon UD 6 08/05/1990 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 12-6-1 Dorcey Gaymon UD 8 Jun 15, 1987 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 21-10 Mike Cohen KO 3 23/08/1986 Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.
Win 19-8 David Jaco KO 9 11/07/1986 Swan Lake, New York, U.S.
Win 3-10-1 Wesley Smith TKO 8 31/05/1986 Albany, New York, U.S.
Win 13-2 Rodney Frazier KO 4 05/04/1986 Latham, New York, U.S.
Loss 16-2 Anthony Davis UD 12 19/09/1984 Winchester, Nevada, U.S. For NABF cruiserweight title
Win 11-2 William Hosea PTS 10 09/08/1983 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 3-4-2 Louis Alexander KO 1 15/04/1983 New York City, New York, U.S.
Win 4-5 Charles Vanderhall KO 2 10/11/1982 Latham, New York, U.S. Charles knocked out at 2:53 of the second round.
Loss 13-1 Alfonzo Ratliff UD 10 13/03/1982 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 6-14 Henry Patterson TKO 3 11/02/1982 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Loss 2-2-2 Quadir Muntaqim UD 8 07/11/1981 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 4-9 Eddie Smith PTS 8 24/07/1981 New York City, New York, U.S.
Win 6-26-2 Kid Samson PTS 8 25/06/1981 Tarrytown, New York, U.S.
Win 15-15-2 Fred Brown UD 6 11/05/1981 New York City, New York, U.S.
Win 0-5 Milton Hopkins KO 1 18/03/1981 White Plains, New York, U.S.
Win 0-1 Johnny Pitts KO 2 08/03/1981 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win -- Vincent Johnson KO 1 28/02/1981 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win 2-9-1 Calvin Langston KO 1 18/02/1981 White Plains, New York, U.S.
Win 6-23-2 Kid Samson PTS 4 07/02/1981 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win -- Kasim Stephenson KO 1 07/01/1981 New York City, New York, U.S.
Win 0-1 Austin Johnson KO 1 12/12/1980 New York City, New York, U.S.
Win -- Gerald Hardy KO 1 23/10/1980 New York City, New York, U.S. Hardy knocked out at 1:19 of the first round.

References

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