Boyhood friends: behind the scenes of the Hilton-Tyson reunion

      Local boxing champ Matthew Hilton not only left his mark on the scientific art of self defence, he also left his mark on legendary boxing champ Mike Tyson, as the two spent some of their most important coming-of-age moments together in their youth.
   Last year the two met up again in Las Vegas, their first meeting in decades.
   Hilton, now living in Laval, described the reunion to Coolopolis in a phone conversation Monday evening.
   The meeting took place in Hilton's hotel room and Tyson had to sneak in through a back door to avoid autograph seekers.
   Hilton, who triumphed with Canada's first world title in decades during the mid-80s, was also on the undercard when Tyson earned his signature milestone, being the youngest heavyweight in history.
   The two reputedly partied heavily together after that famous bout.
   Tyson and Hilton formed a bond as teens training in the Catskills under legendary trainer Cus D'Amato but they never sparred against each other, as Tyson was much bigger than the 147 lb Hilton.
   So last year Hilton traveled to Las Vegas with his pal Tristan Gilman, who organized the meet-up.
   The evening unfolded with Hilton and Tyson sitting on the couch watching scenes from their battles on the big screen.
   "He didn't want to watch his fight against Holyfield, but he was 'Ooh! Ahh!' when watching my fights," Hilton said. "He was going crazy with it," said Hilton.
   In marked contrast to earlier days, neither of the two had a beer or any other sort of libation.
   The time, while agreeable, was a bit sparse on conversation.
   The two left amicably but the chatty and articulate Tyson that many know through his TV interviews and his compelling one man show was not in the room that night, perhaps due to fatigue or some other reason.
   So the two didn't get into a deep tete-a-tete about the first time Tyson ever set foot in a strip club, which was in Montreal with Hilton at age 16, or any of the other legendary tales of boxing and debauchery.
   Hilton has fond memories of the past but his prime focus nowadays is on raising his two young sons, who he has yet to persuade to engage in boxing as of yet.
   So while the reunion with Tyson was an enjoyable experience, it's not something that he dreamed of or tried to make happen. "We had a lot of good times in our teens, childhood friends, really," said Hilton.