Yes Douglas put up a great performance. But Would he have defeated a prime motivated Mike Tyson on that night? The Tyson who defeated Michael Spinks. How much was it a great peformance by Douglas, or a pitiful effort by Tyson? Or Both?
Douglas was better than anyone Tyson faced pre prison, with maybe the exception of Ruddock. Douglas in Tokyo would always give a good account of himself, but considering a Tyson that was operating at about 50% nearly knocked him out in the 8th, I'd have to pick Tyson by KO. Even if Buster was outboxing him, Tyson was too lethal a puncher and finisher for Douglas to survive for 12.
No. Unfoucused Tyson still knocked Douglas down in their fight so you would only have to imagine what a prime Mike would do to him. EDIT: Not to take anything away from Douglas' victory though.
I think you are taking quite a bit away from Douglas's victory. Tyson might not have been at his best, but I doubt more than a handful of boxers could have beaten him that night. One thing he had, was determination, he did not want to lose his 0 and in my opinion fought tooth and nail not to. The problem was he wasn't properly prepared for the fight, but he still had determination, power and speed. What he didn't have was defense, and stamina.
He really wasn't the same fighter. He lost his movement and didn't use combinations. Tyson tried to rely too much on power last night and din't set up any of his punches. Douglas was at his peak that night and he would given many fighters in history a handful that night. As far as prime for prime goes: Tyson by KO.
I don't think anyone can argue about the prime for prime outcome, of course it would be Tyson by KO, but Douglas presented a style that would give Tyson more trouble than most others.
Spinks was so overrated. He had no chance in his fight with Tyson and made Tyson look invincible. Douglas would not have gotten blown out like that and may have taken the fight into later rounds and won. Tyson may have landed a shot and taken Douglas out. Either way, Tyson would not have have looked invincible like he did against Spinks.
I agree that Douglas' motivation is a key factor.... but motivation would carry him just so far against a prime, fit, focused Tyson Aganist a prime Tyson, I don't think Douglas would have many chances.
Tyson would win via decision which would've been the biggest robbery in boxing. Tyson was actually up on 1 of the scorecards and tied with another. Imagine if he was just a tad bit sharper. He would've gotten a fortunate decision that Douglas deserved. Or maybe the same scenario would run through. Who knows...
You raise an interesting question. What would have happened if Douglas doesn't KO Tyson? Would Douglas have won by decision all the same? Frankly, I doubt it. Too many leeches milking the cow of Tyson's invencibility. In my opinion, a KO was the only way for Douglas to win robbery-proof
Tyson, by nature, is an insecure person with little personal discipline. He needs someone to keep him in line. He has proven this personality type to us time and again. Once he dumped Rooney--the last sort of "parental figure" for him (and connection to Cus and his training style), and hired friends instead, you see his technical abilities start to disappear. It was somewhat hard to see right away, but a close eye can see it in the '89 Bruno fight, the first fight without Rooney. The world treated him as a god during this time--he was by far the world's most popular athlete, and he started to fall back on his talent, which was incredible enough to keep him winning for a while. This is not a unique concept. You need critics and outside sources to push/keep you in check. Take George Lucas and Star Wars for example. The original trilogy is amazing because he was young, motivated, and had other people involved breathing down his neck, telling him what sucked and what didn't. For the recent prequel trilogy, Lucas had all of the power to himself--he OWNED his own studio, surrounded himself with "yes-men", and did it all himself (bankrolled, produced, AND directed).....and the films sucked. Anyway, I think a technically sound, motivated Tyson would have made short work of Douglas.
tyson about round 6-7 after eating a few douglas jabs and rights. probably would of been like the pinklon thomas fight. he was doing well for a few rounds until tyson exploded
