Roy Jones Jr. vs. James "Buster" Douglas

Perhaps unbeknownst to newer fans, this was supposed to happen. It was scheduled and everything.

May 2nd, 1998.

Jones pulled out in February.

Setting the scene:

Douglas was 6-0 (3) against middling opposition in his comeback following a six-year hiatus precipitated by him being KTFO by Holyfield. His weight fluctuated wildly throughout this period, spiking into the 260's at times and approaching the low-230's of his Tokyo peak at others. During the early to mid 1990's prior to his eventual return he went into a diabetic coma and exceeded 400lbs! Evident throughout his latter campaign was that he still possessed a hard snappy jab, threw freely in combination without gassing, and had loads of power. He also still had a shaky chin. (actually lain out by Monaco, but with a late hit that awarded him the DQ) He would go on to be destroyed in two minutes by Lou Savarese, a month after he was supposed to have faced Jones.

Jones had just recaptured the light heavyweight title from Montell Griffin, avenging his then sole loss. He had never weighed above 175lbs in his career. He was still perceived as nigh invincible by most boxing pundits and fans. Other than Dariusz Michalzewski, there were no huge threats at LHW and Jones had already outgrown SMW. He wanted to make history by moving up to HW, skipping CW, and claiming a title. After consulting with Roy Jones Sr. he decided that discretion was the better part of valor for the time being - and deemed Buster too high a risk for the reward of maybe getting in line for a title shot. Over the hump of the century he would remain at LHW and mostly clean it out (ultimately beating three of the Ring's top 10 from 1998: #3 Johnson, #5 Del Valle and #6 Harding). It would be five years before he did eventually leap up to the unlimited division, targeting a weak titlist and entering directly into a world title bout without having to pass through any dangerous contenders first.


Had Roy not ducked Buster (and make no mistake; it was a duck - no ambiguity or room for mitigation here...although it's hardly a point of shame to duck someone holding a 65lb advantage and a reputation as a mean puncher by heavyweight standards...) how might it have gone? :think

Could Roy have managed his legendary feat half a decade sooner, or was he correct to pass on the opportunity and play the waiting game?

Would Buster have been able to impose his size on the much quicker, younger, and more athletic man and force him to taste his power? Would his trusty but still rusty jab be able to home in on the reflexive wizard? Would the smaller but fitter 29-year-old carry up enough zing to even perhaps hurt the tubby 38-year-old? (bear in mind that Jones managed to get Ruiz's respect with his pop during his brief jaunt in that neck of the woods...so then does it compare equitably with that of a Savarese? Murky picture. He also took Ruiz's shots fairly well - but that doesn't give any indication how he'd take those of a Douglas, even aged...)

Would it end in knockout, or a protracted game of cat and mouse?

 

Reckon Jones felt half a fool after seeing what Savarese did? :yep

 

It would have provided a boon to whomever came out on top.

Douglas was desperately chasing either a date with Lennox Lewis or an Evander Holyfield rematch. Beating Jones obviously would have (rightfully) not had much of an impact on his HW org standings - but it would have dramatically raised his profile, which is exactly what he needed to push toward redemption in the form of that one last title shot which never did come his way.

Jones on the other hand, had nothing to lose - except maybe consciousness - and everything to gain by slaying the giant. Of course, moving up and beating an old fat once-retired once-400lb former champ who'd punched his way into contention but wasn't anybody's idea of the 2nd coming of the 2nd coming of Foreman isn't quite as nice as moving up and wresting a title from a carefully maneuvered and far more toothless heavy (in your debut, no less) so it's a sensible delay in hindsight.

 

...2/11/90 Douglas? :shock:

 

So then, would Jones have beaten Tyson?