Watched this for the first time. Decent fight, was Tucker just better? I know styles make fights, but their performances against Tyson raises questions
It was a very good fight that was not really well received at the time but gained a lot of value with the benefit of hindsight. I think they were evenly matched for most of the fight. Douglas started stronger using his reach well to impose his physicality, but Tucker - although more nervous at the start - paced himself better and was countering Douglas with left hooks to the body. In the 10th, Tucker caught him with a good combination and overwhelmed him. One underrated aspect of the fight is the body work of Tucker that weakened Douglas, which is even noticeable during the final barrage before the stoppage. You will often encounter comments saying that "Douglas gassed and quit", which completely erases Tucker's contribution to the fight and make it solely about Douglas' perceived form and mentality.
Very good post. Tucker-Douglas was scheduled for 15. Tucker had a solid chin and a better gas tank than Douglas, and I believe a rematch would have unfolded in a very similar manner over that distance, with Tucker stopping him late in a close fight. There was nothing flukey about that fight. Would have liked to have seen a little more of that version of Tucker against the top Heavyweights of that time. Definitely better than the heavier, far less mobile version we saw after the two year, post-Tyson layoff.
Agreed. He looked also very good against James Broad being more agressive than usual, but he lacked the firepower to put him away. The Broad-Douglas-Tyson fights were Tucker at his best.
Tony Tucker vs Buster Douglas Round 1: 10-9 Buster Round 2: 10-9 Buster Round 3: 10-9 Buster Round 4: 10-9 Buster (could have gone either way) Round 5: 10-9 Buster Round 6: 10-9 Buster Round 7: 10-9 Buster (could have gone either way) Round 8: 10-9 Tucker Round 9: 10-9 Tucker (could have gone either way) Round 10: TKO Total: 88-83 Buster Douglas by the time of the stoppage. According to my scorecard, it could have been everything from 89-82 to 86-85 for Douglas. It doesn't matter anyway, as Tucker stopped Buster in the 10th.
I'm in the camp that Buster dropped tools in the end, and wasn't as well trained and determined as for Tyson. Buster's father thought he quit. Buster was asked years later if he quit and skirted it big time. He spoke about all the trouble in camp and all the drama's that had been going on among his team. He then said he made changes after that fight. That's good enough for me. He fought really impressively until the end, but for me it was a disappointing and hollow finish. Douglas was comfortably a better and more talented fighter than Tucker, but Tucker seemed a bit more determined at that time while Buster could be a lottery. He just wasn't cut out for getting the best out of himself, like so many before him. Many people claim Witherspoon pretty much threw the Smith rematch to get out of obligations etc, well i think we had a slightly similar thing go on here, even if it was less obvious and more competitive.
If Douglas' weight was any indication, seemed he was in pretty good shape for Tucker. He came in at 228, which is around what he was for his best career performances: 232 for Mike Williams, 231 for Tyson. It was also his first title shot, with a huge payday for a Unification fight vs. Tyson up next had he won. Hard to believe he gave anything other than his best for this fight. It also wasn't his first time gassing out and getting stopped in a fight. Seemed pretty even on the cards, with Tucker coming on a bit later in the fight. Douglas ate a clean counter right on the chin, and took several flush follow-up shots on the ropes. Douglas was tired and hurt, and nothing about that looked like a quit-job, at least IMO. Tucker was a completely different assignment than the motionless version of Tyson that Douglas beat.
I respect your opinion, even if we are at different ends. His weight was excellent, absolutely. He has said tho that his camp for Tucker was chaos. He said he was under a lot of pressure that whole time, the camp was pretty chaotic, people weren't getting along, a lot was going on, i had to deal with a lot. That was why he made changes to his group. Buster's trainer and father believed he quit. Buster had shown no signs of tiring. The thing that seals it for me is he never really tried to fight back, or, at the very end, throw a single punch. After being tagged he slipped/blocked a couple of punches and looked ok. He danced out and threw a right hand from southpaw. He threw that uppercut he loves from the outside and got tagged. From that point he just dropped tools, despite being able to slip a couple of punches and looking like he knew exactly what was going on. He looked like he just did not want to fight anymore. He didn't look like he was about to go down, let alone get KO'd. Boxers know that if they don't punch back when under prolonged fire it will get stopped. He didn't want to fight no more for me. He walked steadily and without drama when it was waved off. The cards were close, for sure. They both still looked good. It looked like it'd go down the wire. I agree he was fatigued, but for me it was mental fatigue. When asked if he quit Buster didn't say no but deferred to a chaotic camp and how he changed things up after it. . Again, i could be wrong and you right. It's not a hill I'd die on. The only version of Douglas I'd give a chance against Tucker that night is the Tokyo one. He had everything together that night and seemingly would have hung tougher. By the same token except for that heavy knockdown everything went his way and he was putting a whooping on a listless Tyson. It's certainly an interesting little bubble, this one.
Fair enough. We see this differently. Douglas is the only one who really knows the truth on this one, and I'll just leave it there. I believe Tucker was very good, and generally gets a bit underrated here. Match the best version of him with everyone who held an alphabet belt in the 80s, and he maybe wins 75% of those. He would likely go over .500 using that same scenario vs. 90s belt holders as well. Not sure the best of Douglas would do any better. A little hard to gauge though. Tucker had a very short time at the top, and Douglas was all over the place with his performances.
