I think Pinky started to lay the blueprint. Had he not got caught with that 79 punch combination in round 6 things would have been interesting. Thomas outboxing Tyson for a small sample size of that 6 round bout. Tyson landed the greatest combination in the history of the heavyweight divison.
I don't think so. I don't back the theory that a fighter is better for one fighter and date and then another date he just falls apart and is beatable. The opponents give fighters the style they either can beat or not. We have to look at the opponents. Douglas fought Tyson and Tyson gave him that style which was great but a little one dimensional in many ways. Tyson could not back up. Evander could more and sometimes in important fights more possibilities help a fighter win. Look at Ray Leonard. He had different ways to fight., but Evander on the night he fought Buster would stop Buster the night Tyson fought Buster. Buster might have been more motivated, but Evander would have found that punch eventually or hit him a few more rights and convinced him to stay down. Buster Douglas was a good fighter, but he could not take a clean punch against a top fighter. He didn't have the will to deal with taking punches. Tyson landed that one punch in round 8 and Douglas almost quit and Mike landed when he was exhausted from taking punches from Douglas. A really fresh Tyson uppercut and Douglas is finished in a similar way Williams was, maybe even sooner as he would just not get up from it after looking at his gloves. Tyson really was close to getting a win against Douglas, and some people think he did with a long count. Douglas never ever could have been a long term champion. When he got hit clean his heart dropped. That is ok, I am not knocking that. It is tough sport, but a great champion who could beat Holyfield, Liston and Foreman cannot have that flaw. He had a good night against Tyson and he should be appreciated he has that on his resume. He is not a great fighter at all and he never proved he was.
Tyson was dropped in sparring by Greg Page and man whoring all over Tokyo. His head clearly wasn't in it. If Toyko Douglas showed up against Holyfield he still loses in a slugfest. Tokyo Douglas was still a good fighter just not a great fighter.
As for the quality of Douglas that night in Tokyo... He looks fantastic, really. As textbook boxing performance as I ever seen from a guy his size. Creates angles behind a piston jabs and also shows he knows the rough stuff. But, as others have said, if he he faced some ATG closer to him in height, or even taller, it's hard to know if everything had clicked into gear in the same way. Against Ali, Holmes, Lewis or Wlad it would be a very different tactical set-up. What would he do if he didn't get his jab to work against these guys (which isn't unlikely)? How would his plan B look like? And how would he react mentally if things didn't go his way from the off, as they did against Tyson? It's hard to answer those question just on basis of that performance.
Excellent video and i agree. Douglas would be a problem for almost any champ prior or since. Even if he might not win he'd give a good account of himself. One bit I liked was how you pointed out that it's not Tyson's fault his division wasnt phenomenal but he beat every decent fighter available. At the same time, you make a good point that if Tyson wasnt in his best shape or focus against Douglas that's his own fault and he was still in his physical prime regardless. I cant stand people who underrate tyson but i can't stand people who overrate him as well. Can't give him credit for dominating an ok division and beating a past prime Holmes but douglas gets no credit for beating an undefeated young undisputed tyson.
Excelant analysis Rummy. I would have added that it is very rare for fighters ti beat another ATG at their peak. Very few HWs ever did. Even Ali needed Foreman to have executed a poor strategy. & often was allowed to cheat with holding & pulling on Foreman's neck with all of his weight, sapping his strength.
Ali, as I have mentioned in previous posts, did not have the same attributes that he had in his arsenal, like he did the night that he defeated Ernie Terrell, on Feb 6 1967, footwork, reflexes,and speed. Also back then he had great stamina, to dance non stop for 15 rounds without using the ropes. The tactic that he invented for George Foreman, the Rope A Dope, did win him that fight, but several fights later, did contribute to the neurological issues that he would suffer later in life.
Apparently Tyson was polishing his willy all night before the fight. If he looked flat, he only has himself to blame.
I like the way this video mentions most if not all of the much discussed influences that might be attributed to the result of Tyson/Douglas in 1990 and then joins a few critical dots across a timeline. In particular, the points about what was happening in the two years prior; his split with Rooney and a demonstrable change in Tyson's approach to fighting, with this culminating in a type of complacency on Tyson's part, as he headed towards Tokyo - A very compelling analysis.
There were also reports of him flying back to the U.S during camp. The last 3 weeks he was living on beef broth to drop his excess weight apparently. So yeah not in the best physical shape, definitely not in the best mental shape, BUT, that's on Tyson, Douglas can only beat what's in front of him. If Tyson decides to show up in poor shape that's his problem.
I agree about Douglas being great that night. He showed everything. that was truly in my opinion the most stunning effort of any fighter in history. And Buster beat a truly great champion in his prime doing it. It was absolutely sensational. If Douglas hits anyone as many times as he hit Tyson he wins. And because his strategy was so good Tyson literally couldn’t do anything without being hit. Apart from that one uppercut, Douglas knew what Tyson was going to do all night. He initiated every move Tyson made. The more Tyson tried the more he got hit by Douglas because Buster knew whatever mike was going to do before Tyson did it. And there was no quit in mike. Douglas unquestionably beat an unbeaten ATG who was trying so bad to win. That’s why when he got up, once the round started again, buster was able to pick right back up where he left off. He still knew, even then, what Tyson was going to do before he did it. No matter how great a fighter is, and Tyson was truly great, they all get beat if he’s fighting someone who knows what he’s going to do before he does it. It won’t matter if it’s muhammad Ali, Ray Leonard, Marciano, any great fighter, even on his best night he will get beat. On that night Douglas was that man. I don’t buy that Tyson was no longer the same fighter. Everything he was trying to do worked on everyone else. And he was trying to do it the whole time against Douglas. Its just that guy knew what he was going to do before he did it all night. Tyson’s life was no more out of control against Buster than it had been since the Berbick fight. Boxing was the one stable thing in his life. It never effected his boxing. Things were always crazy for Tyson even when he had Rooney with him. Douglas just read Tyson so well. He was seasoned, active, in the shape of his life and hungry.
