Tyson vs Douglas - the ref should have counted Douglas out

Douglas could've gotten up at any point, not his fault the ref counted on

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Even if he could've gotten up, he would've been an idiot to get up asap, giving Tyson enough time to finish the show.

 

No he shouldn't have.

Next.

 

Did you know that counts are only sometimes literally 10 seconds?
That it should approximate the time, but is not precise.
There are numerous counts over 10 seconds-would you say that all the decisions were wrong?
13 or 14 seconds is longer than most, but not outrageous.

Why are you sure that Douglas could not have made the count if it was 10 seconds?

EDIT: the very video you posted shows & proves that not only did Douglas start to get up at 5-& it seems he could have earlier too-& then delayed for 2 seconds...
But that the timekeeper made an error by STARTING the count a second too early-not the standard 1 second after a man hits the canvas!

All indications are that Buster could have gotten up by 10.
Not only was he not seriously hurt-but there would have been almost no time between that & the end of the round.
SO the outcome would be no different anyway!

When Tyson was floored, he was absolutely groggy & stumbling, unable to continue-or if he was allowed to Douglas would have polished him off in short order.

I see absolutely no room for legitimate controversy here!

 

He looked very clear from 2 when he slammed the canvas.
The video also made the point that the count started a second too SOON.
The referee's count supercedes everything.
If it was say 15 seconds or more I would worry-at least if it made the difference of whether a man recovered.

I do not see how you completely disagree with Larry Merchant-it really seems obvious that Buster could have gotten up earlier-they said short of 14, still 13: but again he could have started getting up before the first time he began then waited for 2 more seconds!

If you check numerous fights, I'll bet that 11 or more seconds in real time is more common than 10!
That is perfectly normal & OK by the rules.

Now I dunno how good your chin is, but feel free to share why you believe it is such Granite!

 

1) A ten count. Not a ten seconds count.
2) Boxers are told to take their time. Buster got up the moment the ref was nearing 10, and clearly paced himself on the ground.
3) He was fine. Had he looked shook, the ref likely would have waved him off, like Lennox was after getting up from the McCall counter in their first bout.

 

Imagine how boxing history would be completely different it it were a 10 Second via stopwatch count. Douglas did what he needed to do. So did Ali, Dempsey, Marciano, Fury, Louis etc etc and lot more etc’s.

 

After losing to Douglas....Don King tried to say that Tyson received a fast count from the ref...that has going to open an investigation....BUT...he received so much bad press for this after the fight...that he shut his mouth...and let it go! Tyson got his ass kicked by someone who wouldn't back down from him...that was difficult territory for Tyson...and he lost!

 

for as much noise it stirred up there should have been a rematch

 

Bingo! a fighter has until what to get up? The count of 10, not a literal 10 seconds.

 

Both fighters had the exact same count except Douglas was coherent and punched the floor in anger, where as Tyson was glassy eyed and totally out of it.

 

There was talk of it, but negotiating it was hell. From what I remember, King kept insisting Douglas was his fighter (no doubt a shallow attempt to keep the fight in house so King comes out on top either way). Douglas' team was also disgusted with King attempting to claim Douglas got lucky because of the ref and all the damage control in the press conference. I would've walked away too. But it is definitely strange that the biggest upset in HW history didn't produce a rematch when on paper that was the most obvious thing to do.