Buster Douglas was not a one fight wonder and the "Tokyo" label is borderline disrespectful

Something thats grinded my gears for awhile is the "Tokyo" nickname for Buster Douglas that implies Douglas was this pedestrian journeyman HW who had 1 great fight. Looking at his resume this could not be further from the truth. While it is true he was horrible in the Mike White and Holyfield fights these are 2 extreme outliers and Douglas was otherwise an amazing and consistant HW. If Douglas never gets up from the Tyson KD and never wins the lineal belt he would still be up there with your Tuckers, Witherspoons and Thomas's as one of the best HWs of the late 80s. Attributing his greatness to one fight isn't fair.

Douglas's Holyfield condition and then his retirement has some part in this misconception because he is being remembered for his fights with the 2 most famous HWs which were night and day. In popular culture you kind of understand that. But for the boxing community his resume before this should speak for itself.

 

Prior to the Tyson upset James Buster Douglas was sort of a revolving door contender who went back and forth from journeyman to fringe. He had decent wins over the aging versions of Cobb and Berbick along with a fluttering Page. He also had losses to Ferguson, white, Tucker and Bey. The Tyson upset was colossal and one of the biggest singular wins in division history. But it didn’t happen until the 90s. Therefore while I agree that he was better than often credited, I’m not sure that his 1980’s rating should be up there with some of the higher ranked heavies of the period as previously suggested. He was probably on par with Renaldo snipes

 

Besides White which was a terrible loss wheres the shame in those losses? He was fighting David freaking Bey in his 6th fight. He'd have beaten Tangstad if not for deduction.

As said if the Tyson win never happened he'd still be there.

EDIT-For some reason I thought he got shut out in the White fight I actually take back the White being a terrible loss thing. Screw that he got unlucky.

 

He was an inconsistent guy with a lot of tools. Douglas might lose to a guy like Ferguson, but a guy like Ferguson would never beat Tyson. Someone like Corrie Sanders might be a good comparable.

 

But Douglas didn't lose to Berbick he beat Berbick. Fairly easily.

He barely lost to Ferguson in a 10 rounder. Ferguson was no bum. He was undefeated!

 

My mistake, I meant to say Ferguson. Regardless my point still stands.

 

He was not a one fight wonder, more like a one fight miracle. Just look at the guys overall record..Historically he's closer to the Buster who got ko'ed by Holyfield than the Buster who beat Tyson, based on the totality of evidence.

 

His record is great especially for the 80s and 90s standards.

Thats why I made this thread. You don't think its a good resume. Theres a disconnect here.

 

I never mentioned anything about Tangstad. Ferguson was an 11 fight prospect. Douglas was a 5 fight prospect but Bey was a debuting fighter and sparked him in two. And the phrase “ besides white “ isn’t the reality.

 

Agreed. And the idea that Mike Tyson God forbid might have been having an off night seems to be completely washed over

 

Ferguson was undefeated.

Bey was a great fighter it really doesn't matter.

Yes the phrase besides White is the reality. I take all this back I'm not even conceding the White fight as a bad one.

 

The way Douglas is treated is exactly why no one takes challenges early in their career anymore. The bad first impression of being "inconsistant" is what those fighters are being "protected" from because once they have that reputation they can't shed it.

 

Again. Ferguson was had 11 fights. Douglas was the more experienced of the two and he lost. And saying “ besides white “ is brushing aside the fact that it wasn’t his only bad night. Bey was not a great fighter. He was a debuting fighter who was in horrible shape and knocked an undefeated Douglas out. Douglas does not rank up there with the better men of the 80s. Which was my initial point before you took us on this tangent

 

This whole post is ridiculous on so many levels. Men have been taking risks early in their careers LONG before Douglas and STILL are. Do you think Inoue, Lomenchenko and Usyk were protected early in their careers ? Do you think that a 5-0 prospect taking on a 0-0 and getting knocked out was actually a step up ?

 

It was his only bad night. He got almost shut out by a nobody. He never had a bad fight after that until Holyfield.