I believe he would always have been beaten by the Tokyo Douglas and any other "great" fighter with a viscious and perpetual left jab, lateral movement, good chin and who was not intimidated by his persona, namely: Ali Holmes Tokyo Douglas Lewis Opinions?
Let's get one thing straight. Buster Douglas was a bum , a fraud. Stop these fantasy matchup with Tokyo Douglas. He is a one fight wonder. We all saw what he was really like against evander holyfield. Tyson lost the fight buster didn't win. The only reason Tyson lost was because there was no Rooney. Lol at your thread he showed Holmes how to fight like a man.
A bit harsh to call him a "bum" and a "fraud". I would admit he was not a great champion but on that night he fought a great fight and followed a pattern that the others would have had they fought Tyson...and the result would have been the same.
Obviously he wasn't a bum or a fraud I was just trying to say he was nothing special and that on any other night he would have got knocked out badly.
I would say he never fulfilled his potential and his ability to take a punch was questionable...but my point is the manner in which he execute his plan was (almost) perfect.
I'd add prime Joe Louis, Foreman, Holyfield and Bowe to that list. Tokyo Douglas really didn't do anything outrageously different from what someone like Holmes or even prime Holy would have done. Kept moving, use the height to kind of bully, push, and move Mike off balance. Douglas did a fine job of keeping Mike from setting up properly...others did pretty good at that before (first round Biggs, Smith though by a hands on skill set acquired of extreme fear). Many if not all of the fighters listed above could have been knocked down by Mike...but all of the above would have come back hard, especially Larry Holmes, whose true championship caliber came through whenever he was hurt.
Let's think of that one Holyfield punch that drove Mike across the ring. It was bizarre in that it seemed most fighters before that fight seemed either unwilling or incapable of taking advantage of the fact that Mike was mostly wide open whenever he came in that way. I guess people really were terrified of Mike, because guys like Bowe, Louis, Steward-era Lewis, and Ali would have seen that opening earlier and thus stopped him. Foreman wouldn't have even needed to land flush, and we all know a punch with that timing and weight would have knocked Mike unconscious for minutes on end. But let me add that I have come to a greater appreciation of Mike as a fighter, especially defensively but also because he really did have a heart...but more like a Liston heart than a Holmes, Holy, or Ali.
In my opinion, Buster Douglas was talented underachiever who rose the occasion for whatever reason (mother dying?) against a Tyson who was hampered by his underestimation of Douglas as well as various outside influences. I also agree that without Rooney, he lost the original style that made him sensational and turned into a more standup fighter who relied on one punch. I think '87 Tyson slips and slides his way in and uses angles and his body/head combinations to stop Tokyo Douglas.
...in his 90s era he couldn't have beaten any of the acknowledged champions. Prime Holyfield, Bowe, and even from-Holyfield-to-Moorer Foreman would have beaten him imo. All by stoppage or quittage. I take that back, 90s era Mike might have landed a ko shot on pre-Steward Lewis.
