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

I've said this for ages that Douglas was in red hot form 1986 to 1990.

During that period he beat Berbick, McCall, Page, and had a stand out performance vs Mike Williams knocking his opponent down 3 times with a jab which was arguably as good as his performance vs Tyson.

People label Douglas as some type of journeyman who peaked vs Tyson its utter rubbish he was a top 10 contender who was in good form for 4 years prior to the Tyson fight.

 

he wasn’t a journeyman but a talented underachiever who for one fight gave and performed at 110% and scored an all time upset.

 

Listen, this reminds me of an old boxing riddle they used to have about just what you're talking about. It went: Of brothers and sisters, this man has none, but this man's father is his father's only son. And the answer was "The Tokyo version of Douglas." I never understood it until today but it does rhyme and that is generally what we want out of our boxing riddles.

 

The thread is a train wreck. Tucker beat one single contender in the 80's and a great many thought Buster quit, including his father. Tucker spent most of his career fighting nobodies. He's not even a top ten 80's fighter. Did Tucker even defeat a contender in the 90's? Without even digging i'm going to say no. That would mean Tucker beat one single top 10 contender in his life. He's remembered for beating Douglas and losing to Tyson. That's all he's got really. Oh, he went the distance with Lewis. The OP's infatuation with him is bizarre.

I mean, "Douglas was an amazing and consistent heavyweight", excepting White and Holyfield. Uh, NO.

"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." Uh no and what on earth is Tucker doing in that lot?

"His record is great especially for the 80s and 90s standards." NO.

"Bey was a great fighter it really doesn't matter." NO. Bey was on debut!!! Bey was 271 pounds!!!! He dropped 34 pounds for his next fight less than 3 months later. Bey was never great.

Douglas has "a remarkable resume". NO. Well it has a remarkable win.

To cut it short and seal the double deal, here's is KO's list of the top 12 heavyweights of the 80's. It was generated mid 89. Neither are even in the top 12. Well, Tucker couldn't possibly be! He beat one freaking contender. Douglas beat Tyson after the 80's and in reality not having him in the 12 is hardly unfair. Buster is a guy who did indeed have great promise but he simply never consistently wanted it bad enough. It is what it is.

1. Larry Holmes
2. Mike Tyson
3. Michael Dokes
4. Mike Weaver
5. Pinklon Thomas
6. Tim Witherspoon
7. Greg Page
8. Gerrie Coetzee
9. Trevor Berbick
10. Michael Spinks
11. Tony Tubbs
12. Carl Williams

 

Yeah, lowkey nah doe brah.

 

Imagine what would have happened if he wasn't sick and hadn't had outside drama at the time. He might have been even more impressive!

 

I certainly would hold him in higher regard than the likes of Andy Ruiz. People forget he even had his own Sega Genesis game

 

Yes, I agree. He looked fantastic against Mike Williams and completely schooled very solid opponents in Oliver McCall and Trevor Berbick. Looked very good again Greg Page as well

 

As well performed as Douglas might’ve been in other fights, they don’t hold a candle to his performance against Tyson.

Therefore, “Tokyo Douglas” simply defines and identifies the rarefied and best version of Buster - not so much in terms of skills upheld - but in terms of oft missing, complementary true heart and absolute commitment to win.

Would any other version of Douglas managed or even tried to scrape himself up off the floor after the vicious KD in round 8 of the Tyson fight?

I tend to think not.

In H2H fantasy, “Tokyo Douglas” is your man by a long way.

Certainly one wouldn’t be proffering “Tucker Douglas” or “Holyfield Douglas”.

All versions otherwise appear to fall well short of the winner by way of “ToKyO” Douglas.

 

I like @HistoryZero26 because he's always respectful but I just don't get his fascination with Tucker in all honestly no disrespect to him.

Tucker never fought any of the notable 80s Heavyweight contenders, titlists, and his resume was heavily padded for the most part.

I'll give Tucker credit for his durability and going the distance with Lewis, Tyson.

But in reality Tucker's whole resume in the 80s is beating Buster Douglas and that's pretty much it in regards to notable wins unless you count James Broad who was more like a C class Heavyweight to me.

I'd have Tucker below....Tyson, Holmes, Witherspoon, Thomas, Page, Tubbs, Weaver, Bonecrusher, Dokes, Berbick.

So for me Tucker wouldn't even be in my top 10 for the 80s Heavyweights based on what they actually did in the decade.

 

I think Douglas's performance against Mike Williams was also superb knocking down an opponent 3 times with a jab is unheard of.

Obviously Williams is no Tyson but the performance in regards to the eye test was pretty damn good.

 

Yeah he is a good fellow.

Tucker's resume is ordinary. There's no honest way around it. He should be in no-ones top 10 list of 80's heavyweights. He simply doesn't belong! The guy turned pro there in 1980 and didn't fight a contender until 1987!!!!!! How in gods name does that work? After that one contender in mid 87 he fought Tyson 3 months later then an absolute nobody in December 1989. He'd be lucky to be top 20. He didn't make Ring's top 12. You can add multiple fighters above him on your list.

Gerrie Coetzee KO'd Dokes, whooped the crap out of Snipes in a robbery and had good fights with the likes of Weaver and Page. Heck, add a draw with Thomas and a win over Tillis. He's miiiiiiiiiiles ahead of Tucker. Tucker is barely a blip on the 80's radar. One suspects the build up of Douglas is aimed at raising the status of Tucker quite frankly.

Broad axe had been pole axed in 2 rounds by Witherspoon and beaten by Marvis Frazier before he even fought Tucker. Francesco Damiani all but shut him out immediately after Tucker beat him. He's a C level win indeed.