On this day, 42 to 1 underdog Buster Douglas shocks the world...

On this day, 42-to-1 underdog James Buster Douglas knocks out the seemingly invincible machine of Iron Mike Tyson in Tokyo, 36 years ago!

 

Great day to enjoy how Tyson fanboys embarrass themselves with too many excuses to count.

 

His knee was hurting .. he was unfocused, Buster was on PED's,, it's not Tyson's fault.. give him a break .. he wanted a rematch and Buster wouldn't give him one... Tyson's the best ever... Im sure this is what you wanted to see

 

God I'm old

 

I WAS 6 when this fight happened. Saw this (which made me a boxing fan) then watched Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 6 a few months later.

 

A great day for Japanese prostitutes the world over.

Here's a weird question. There are two different versions of this fight called by Bob Sheridan. Anyone know which was the original?

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He caught the clap off one of those Japanese prostitutes, hith dick wath drippin like a buthted pipe, ate some dodgy sushi, his mouthpiece didn’t fit, his shoes weren’t the right ones for Japanese canvas, he broke his back and trained for 2 weeks

 

It was my generation s Ali Vs Foreman ,a result that absolutely rocked the world.

 

Douglas was simply better, if he had been born 6 years later he would have been a legend, not Mike!!

 

Why do people act like this result counts?

Mike has an excuse. Erase it from history!

 

I always find it funny how Mike Tyson fanboys look for every possible excuse to erase this result from history and don't realize Douglas had every possible excuse to lose this fight lol

 

Its funny this fight was actually more impressive for Tyson then most of his wins because he did a lot of things in this fight he otherwise didn't do. It was the best he ever handled his limitations. Tysons fans would be loathe to acknowledge this because that would admit admitting Tyson had limitations. Tyson losing to Buster meant(insert excuse here) and not that Tyson was a 5'10 man carrying 220 pounds and did the best he could under the circumstances.

The Douglas fight was the following

The only points comeback of Tyson career.
The latest comeback of Tyson career. The only comeback win of Tysons win was the Botha KO he was trailing in the 5th round.
Latest KD and almost KO of Tysons career.
The only time Tyson entered the 2nd half of a fight without a big lead and came close to winning.

You can also make the case 1990 Buster Douglas was the best HW Tyson came close to beating. Douglas almost beat Tucker and Tucker had the hand issue when he fought Tyson. Holmes was 38. That swings it towards Douglas who contrary to popular belief was near his peak.

The way Buster Douglas has been treated is sad. Its not that people think the fight is a fluke it was a close fight thats fine. But his whole career has been invalidated in the name of a stupid cultural narrative. "He was an inconsistant journeymen but had one great fight he never replicated again". Its like the boxing world is punishing Douglas for ruining the Tyson party by saying how much he sucked.

Douglas was Tysons last attempted title defense so betters were more confident in Tyson. Still Douglas did not deserve to be 42-1. Carl Williams got 20-1, Tubbs got 14-1, Tucker got 11-1. All of Tysons other title defenses got single digits. Peter freaking McNeeley got 25-0. Douglas had lost a close fight to Tucker who'd given Tyson his closest fight. He hadn't lost since. There should have been lots of betters thinking "this is an interesting matchup and they are offering good odds".

 

Mike took a lot of clean hard shots, big right hands on the chin, and even when his eye started swelling and he was getting hurt by the punches he never quit trying to win by knockout and i think thats admirable

 

What a fantastic performance and upset by Douglas, 42-1 can't be stressed enough. There's a lot that's very interesting about this fight and it all really comes together to make it such a spectacle, even nearing 40 years after the fight was over... It's why people can't get enough of talking about it, no matter what side you're on. James really made Tyson look like a sparring partner in this one, I feel like the heavy contrast of words by each of their cornermen enhanced the general feeling of unease and shock during the fight- the champion being told "Calm down, you have to throw more punches...", and the challenger being told "This is YOUR fight, keep it up, you've got this guy scared out of his mind...", it's just like a movie.

I really had no plans on watching this fight today, but I couldn't pass up the excuse to see it again.

 

Buster dominated Tyson's prime despite his mother's death. Just imagine what he would have done if his mother hadn't died... I think he would have knocked Mike out in the first round.

In general, Buster is unlucky to have been born in 1960 and had to fight rivals like White and Ferguson. If he had Tyson's path, he would certainly have been an undefeated champion, much more capable than Mike, especially against Holyfield.