Buster Douglas -vs- Wlad Klitschko/Vitali Klitschko:

The trend here seems to be that a lot of posters are placing great emphasis on James Douglas, the night he defeated Tyson. That's fine. However, I don't think that we should be making a fantasy pick on the basis of what one man did on a single night against two men and their combined 90 fight careers. To me this seems like a stretch, and a rather vein effort to try and build a case for Douglas, who both prior and after the Tyson bout, was really a fighter of ordinary abilities and status. In fact, one might argue that while competing admirably against Tyson, his opponent was not attempting much to return the favor ( no excuses though ).

There may have been a point where for a very brief period, James Douglas might have climaxed to where he could have troubled or even upset either or both Klitschko's. But, I want to emphasis the phrase COULD HAVE, which is not to be confused with WOULD HAVE. Furthermore, even if Douglas for a nano second was remotely capable of effectively challenging the Klit brothers, I don't think that I can make him a favorite on an average basis. If we look at the careers of these three men, the Klitschko's fought far more actively in their primes, kept in far better shape, and while neither of them have a win as good as Tyson, you'd have to go through several of each of their opponents before arriving at Buster's #2.

 

Both of these guys can be termed "head cases" to an extent.

Wlad is more consistent. Buster, less so.

Overall, Wlad is more focused than was Buster.

Both have what I would call so-so chins.

Wlad has climbed off of the canvas, so has Big Bus.

Buster has dropped guys at the world class level with his jab.

Wlad is more apt to be tentative in bouts where he percieves a threat.

Buster had the superior mobility and fluidity.

When Douglas had it going on (when he was in fighting shape mentally and physically) - he REALLY had it going on.

The best Big Bus versus Wlad?

Douglas TKO 6 Klitschko.

Anything less and Klitschko looks the level of a young Tony Tucker.

 

Sorry, I thought this was Tokyo Douglas. Maybe I misread the initial thread.

 

On their respective best nights.. Which I guess was Tokyo for Douglas...

 

The Golota fight doesn't prove that Tyson was not in decline in his later years. This is because Golota was over the hill himself at that point, and stylistically, the slugging Golota was tailor-made for a big puncher like Tyson.

 

Read my response on new thread that I have started about Tyson and his loss to Douglas... I have since edited this post..

 

I think the big difference between Wlad and Douglas is power. Douglas, besides being a bit shorter and a bit more fluid, was very similar to Wlad on that night. And although any 230lbs professional boxer hits hard, he was not a big hitter by heavyweight standards, and Wlad certainly is. And think that will make the difference. Douglas was down after the first good shot Tyson landed, and went into Bruno-mode after being hit by a good right hand from no one less than Tucker. I think if Wlad lands good, Douglas is out of it directly or indirectly, whereas Wlad might be able to take a few of Douglas' shots.

I think the bigger brother will lose a few early rounds, but eventually sort of walk Douglas down and stop him.

 

Well that's one of the assumptions in this "fantasy" fight: assume that Wlad faces the same Douglas that fought in Tokyo. In realistic cases you'd be right - judge a fighter by his long track record then one single performance.

 

This is not true. Tyson landed dozens of good, rocking shots that Douglas absorbed well before the knockdown. Sure, none of those shots were AS good as the uppercut but they cannot be written off. Nobody, including Lennox Lewis, has beaten Tyson without taking a few decent hits. People need to stop with extreme standards and think that just because shot didn't get a knockdown means it didn't test the chin.

And that's wholly irrelevant. Power was not Douglas' main asset the night he beat Tyson and it wouldn't be the night he faces Wlad either. Douglas' speed, fluidity, combination punching, excellent sense of timing, awesome jab, DETERMINATION, RING GENERALSHIP - these are the things that allowed him to beat Tyson and these are the things that Wlad would have to overcome (which he has a good chance of doing so).

It'll probably be the other way around. Douglas will take some decent shots from Wlad like he did against Tyson. The Tyson fight did not prove Douglas had a granite chin or anything like that but it proved that when he was determined that he was durable enough. Now Wlad has heart but I think 4 punch combinations from Douglas could shake him around and take away his confidence. Of course, Douglas is less likely to land on Wlad like he did on Tyson due to reach / fighting style differences.

 

I thought we were talking Tokyo Douglas as well, Douglas does not handle a large fighter as well as he did Tyson but Tokyo Douglas I feel would have enough to defeat the Klitschkos, mind you the Holyfield Douglas would be in deep ****.

 

Really who do either have better than Oliver McCall? I don't think Peter is, fat versions of Sanders/Kirk Johnson/Danny Williams aren't better. Past prime BErbick outranks Byrd for my money

 

Dozens?? He landed some good shots, but they were rather rare.

I would say it's a pretty relevant point, as Douglas doesn't have the best chin and Wlad has top-end power and handspeed.

You suggest that Douglas outpoints Wlad - i wouldn't rule it out, but Wlad has never dropped many rounds and with the exception of Sanders, all of his opponents got rocked, dropped or stopped. Even Brewster and Purrity went through hell before they managed to win. Douglas doesn't nearly have the same durability. Now i understand that he fights more intelligently and gets hits less, but i still think it's highly questionable whether he will be able to take those shots. It's clear he couldn't take Tucker's, who is inferior to Wlad in every aspect outside of chin.

Sure, that's possible... not my view, but okay.:good

 

Douglas would be the best fighter Wlad would have faced, I don't believe though that Douglas was better than the Lewis that Vit faced, Lewis in any form was formidable even if he does have a couple of losses he shouldn't have.

Tucker is much more of a durable fighter than Wlad, well past his prime he went the distance with Lewis who was entering his prime neither Wlad or Vit would do this. Could Douglas hurt Wlad or Vit, yes

Tokyo Douglas is a tough fight for anyone.

 

I sure don't like that uppercut Douglas frequently throws from the outside against the Klitschko's. I think he gets the same results as he got in the Holyfield fight--beat to the punch.

Douglas fired way wat too many of those uppercuts to not get countered or beat to the punch. And he was stationary and wide open when he threw it. When you factor in the additional height advantage of the Klitschko's and right hands they threw, Douglas out to just forget about throwing any uppercuts. but he won't--especially if stung and he wants to land something to thwart a klitschko attack or get some respect or paypack.