What if Tyson asked for an immediate rematch against Douglas, and got back with Rooney? What round does a motivated Tyson with Rooney knock Douglas out?
Nope.. If Douglas stays focused... That "underrated" jab and more so the lead right disrupts Mike's timing again. Douglas defends title
douglas would lose. Tyson at his shittiest knocked him down for an 11 count which is debatable. But any slightly better version of Tyson beats Buster.
As I recall, a post-prison Tyson-Douglas rematch was proposed but then scrapped because it was thought that Douglas was no longer anywhere near Tyson's league. Like, when, before or since, did that keep a fight from happening?
I think Mike gets the stoppage, Douglas found his game that first fight and I don't believe he could get there again.
Questions to this . Would Douglas turn up as he did v Holy ? If so he'd ko Buster in 92 second s . If Buster turned up fully fit do we assume that he'd handle Tyson just the same ? Remember ,In a rematch Tyson would be a different animal , he'd not be taking James lightly this time . If so I see a close fight until a sudden ko in the middle of the fight , not sure to be honest who'd score it !
Tyson would have won. Douglas lost his focus very quickly once he held the title, and I don't think that he would have been much better in a rematch with Tyson, than he was in the Douglas fight. Tyson would have been motivated to get the title back, and he would have probably done it without Rooney. The Tyson of the Ruddock fight would have got the job done.
I agree that there was little to no chance Douglas would have been in the same shape, it was a one off performance, the money and success made him soft quickly, he slayed the dragon. Tyson if anything would probably be disappointed in the fact people would be saying Buster was a blimp if he took him out in one round, which is very likely. Its a shame Tyson didn't get that rematch really, he would have won it easily and it would look good on his record. If Douglas came back in the same shape we are back at the "does a fully prepared Tyson beat Tokyo Douglas". To me you cant discount Tyson being sluggish, uninspired, but you also cant discount Douglas's dominance in the fight. you cant be that dominant stylistically without it meaning something, even if the other guy is off. A champ like Tyson should have pulled out the win from somewhere, he was a great champ, but Douglas was too good that night. I'm not saying Mike couldn't win, but this "prepared Tyson KOing Tokyo Douglas in one round" argument is nonsense, it would be a tough fight, it was a tough fight.
Politics are the main reason why it didn't happen. Douglas was sou outraged by Don King's attempt to cheat him out of the title with the long count BS, that he told him where to stick his rematch clause. In that sense King's scheme backfired spectacularly in a historical context. He ended up losing the rematch, and never truly recovered his grip on the title!
Ah, interesting. I didn't realize it was that late. And your explanation makes more sense than the one I remember. Thanks!
Good point...so why didn't it happen? That was very much my era but I dont recall much about Douglas once he lost to Holyfield.
