John Bray was a highly touted amateur back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and he went on to have a respectable professional career in the heavyweight division, going 15-3-2 with five knockouts from 1992-1998. Bray never had a pro bout with any of the big names of his day, but he certainly sparred with the best.
When Bray was still an 18-year-old amateur, he helped Evander Holyfield get ready for James “Quick” Tillis in July 1988.
“And I sparred with Lennox Lewis for Lionel Butler and Ray Mercer and with Mike Tyson for Bruce Seldon and both Holyfield fights,” Bray said.
When the subject was broached during a telephone interview Tuesday, Bray didn’t want to get into the age-old debate of how the Klitschko brothers – world champions Wladimir and Vitali – would have done against the champions of that era such as Holyfield, Tyson, Riddick Bowe and Lewis.
“I never wanted to be one of those fighters that would say, ‘Back in my da
