Yes but he's stopped by the ESB GOAT Ron Lyle in his fifty plus year old brief comeback. Sarcasm aside Douglas had heart and girt when he bit down but Evander had more he was better in all ways with the expectation of power a few pounds and roughly an inch of height, Douglas was always suspect to a punch he'd been TKO'd three times before Tyson from lesser opponents Douglas dug deep with the weight of a dead mother on his heart this cannot be repeated and on that night in Tyson's place Evander would've sadly still outworked him size difference or not he took it from Foreman Bowe and Lewis aswell as Valuev whilst a husk without faltering side from once in questionable circumstances and even as an older man his chin is undeniable he will walk Douglas down counter him at mid range out muscle him in the clinch and impose his will on him with machine gun flurries I believe in a KO by the fourth.
No, This was the same year. He was the same fighter with a different opponent. This thing that some guy is a different guy one fight to the next is overrated. Holyfield knocks out Douglas in the same round probably.
Great question. Something mysterious about Douglas and the death of his mom prior to the Tokyo fight. It’s dynamic is sacred and unique imo. I think Holyfield would get beat by decision. Perhaps Douglas had too much ego after the Tyson fight. Mistakes and it costs you your chin when not fully focused or taking your opponent seriously
Evander is a tough matchup for Buster. Evander's better conditioning and ability to absorb punishment is and was a big problem for Douglas. And I think Buster does better==like in the Tyson fight===when he's ahead. A back and forth fight is when his real weaknesses surface. And I sure don't think he is in anything but a back and forth/give and take type fight with Holyfield. And I don't think the lateral movement of Douglas would be all that effective against Holyfield---who will force the pace by about round 5. When they did fight, Evander was looking for that uppercut Douglas threw from way on the outside. That is always going to be very dangerous against a guy that can counter like Evander can.
I think it's debatable. Take Bowe for example. Becomes the first man to stop Holyfield. Then he gets battered by a nobody in his next fight (Golota). Bowe weighed 240 when he fought Holyfield. Weighed 252 for Golota fight. I doubt Bowe started bulking up, I don't think he had it in him anymore. Douglas falls in the same category as Bowe. Although Bowe was more talented. Tony Tubbs weighed in at 229 when he challenged Page for his WBA title. That was probably the best performance of his career. Clearly outboxed a talented fighter. In his next fight, he comes in at 244 and got schooled by Witherspoon. Imo, Tubbs handed Tim his title. He wasn't as bad as he looked that night. There wasn't a huge gap between the two. Both were good boxers. Mercer came in at 224 for the Ferguson rematch. Beat him convincingly. In his next fight he comes in at 246 and gets outboxed by Marion Wilson who's record was 7-9-2. Then he fights Holyfield and comes in at 224. One of his best performances (considering the opposition). I don't think Holyfield fought the Douglas that beat Tyson. Tyson dropped him with a huge uppercut and he got back up when most would be out cold. Then a cruiserweight hits him with a right hand counter and he didn't even try to beat the count. He actually laid down like he's been knocked out lol. Like I know you are awake bruh. What are you doing? Holyfield doesn't hit that hard. You took Tyson's best shots. He did become the undisputed champ and got the biggest purse in the history of boxing (at the time) for fighting Holyfield - $24.1 million. It's hard for me to watch that fight and say Douglas was at his best. And it's not like Douglas was known his consistency.
I think he fought the same guy. Holyfield countered that sloppy uppercut and Douglas was down and looked at his gloves and didn't continue. He was hit and looked at his gloves for Tyson at the end of round 8 also. To think Evander would not have countered him? He would have. Different styles. Mike by that point in 1990 was not working to get inside much he was just trying to bomb the guy out. He was the positive force and Douglas countered. Evander fought a smart fight with Douglas jabbing and waiting for the counter. Sometimes a guy goes down with punches which don't look as strong. Hearns went down against Kinchen with what looked like not hard punches, then Leonard is hitting him with everything and he didn't go down. It don't think it was Hearns being in better shape as much as different styles and punchers. I never thought Douglas was that good Tokyo or not, I think he was in shape and that helped but Evander would have beaten and in shape Douglas as Tucker would have beaten the Tokyo Douglas also like he did in May of 1987. I think that was May of 1987. Wasn't Tucker vs. Douglas on the undercard of Tyson vs Pinklon Thomas.. And Douglas quit in his corner.
I'll take Tokyo Douglas any day of the week. That jab Douglas had that night gives Holy nightmares. Douglas UD.
I think the fear Tyson installed into Douglas couldnt be replicated by Holyfield. If Douglas didn't underestimate Holy he'd give him a better fight but still get stopped
It doesn't matter what condition he was in, he bit on a brilliant feint from Holyfield and paid the price. If he was in better shape he might have got up and just been finished anyway. Evander was too damn good at this point.
Holyfield still clubs him to the ground but it take's a few more round s and it's slightly competitive. Holy want s this more than Buster and keep s in his face through out . Douglas maybe wins one or two rounds but it's mainly Holyfield that does the greater work .At some point Douglas is caught hard and goes down for the ten count . Holyfield by ko rd 6