How good was Tokyo Douglas who beat Tyson?What's your oppinion about fight? And what if that Douglas fought Tucker and Holyfield?
His jab for me looks like the finest I've seen next to Larry. His power is a little underrated. Check the Ferguson fight if its still on YT. I think his achilles was his chin and his motivation for boxing. Like Tucker for example, he had very good feet and coordination for a man his size and especially height (wasn't his early goal to enter Basketball?) That Douglas might imho make the distance and win a close decision against Tucker. Holy would brake him later in the fight. The Tyson fight had alot to do with Tyson not beeing sharp offensively, not using his power advantage. 87 Tucker or a Holmes would give that version problems too.
Douglas looked terrific that night. Fast, hard hitting and aggressive. That version of Buster v Tucker would have been one for the ages with Buster winning on points. Possibly a couple of knockdowns in that one too. Douglas would have given Holyfield trouble as well. His jab would have meant he had a much better chance of being first in the exchanges and scoring when he needed a breather. I just wonder if he could have matched Holyfield's pace and workrate over 12 rounds. Could go either way to be honest.
It's really hard to say. I think that version of Douglas beats Holyfield; Buster had almost the size of Bowe - albeit without the aggressive intent - but much better footwork and defence. He may have just been a step too far for Evander. I see him outboxing any version of Bowe and Lewis in that form, as well. Buster was brilliant that night. The fluidity of his movement, speed and timing of his punches and the variety. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if Tyson had been in top form but I would say that was the heavyweight boxing masterclass for my generation. I get that is easier to look great against a drug-addled shell but you can only go on what you see. I don't recall any heavyweight looking that sharp or talented in my time watching boxing outside, maybe, of Evander when he fought Buster. Again, it's easier to look sharp against an opponent who was so unprepared. In a nutshell, Tokyo Buster's performance gives him more than a fair chance against any heavy of his time or since. For mine, it was that good a showing.
Tokyo douglas is a bull****, an invent from Tyson fans, evander holyfield destroys tokyo douglas,madrid douglas.and moon douglas. Douglas showed heart and fighter spirit that Night sure but he looked better than actually he was because Tyson was horrible that night, but it does not mean at all that it would have worked equal against another focused prime great fighter. douglas was hot and cold an inconsistent fighter and would never have been a solid or dominant champion
Its often forgotten how sudden, and in some way easy, Buster got dropped by Tysons uppercut, to say he would outbox Bowe and Lewis. Against Holyfield, he threw a wide sloppy uppercut that missed, took one right hand and was gone. He beat Tyson by not facing much power, as absurd as it sounds.
well said eddie! Masterclass by buster for sure. I think holyfeild might have been able to outpoint him though because of his nonstop workrate, though I'd still favor buster. Tucker would get his butt kicked. Only holmes would maybe beat him, and that's only a maybe. some guys up their game when they have to, Buster probably had more to give that night if needed
James Buster Douglas executed the blueprint on how to defeat Mike Tyson opening much speculation how the past all time greats would have fought him. Douglas had too much on his mind to be intimidated, and nothing to lose. He was not terrified like Michael Spinks, he had a job to do to take care of his personal tragedies. If you think about it a champion should never take his opponents lightly, Tyson was not hungry any more, and that is a factor for defeat many times. There have been many fighters through history that have become complacent, and are not hungry or believe their own hype, remember when Sonny Liston fought a young Cassius Clay in 1964, he did not train hard, he really believed what people wrote about him, he must have felt like if I can knockout Patterson, I can do the same to Clay. Tyson did not train, but that is on him, it is not Douglas's fault. There are very few fighters that can spend time with the ladies all night and train for a title fight for example, Carlos Monzon could, he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day during training, partying all night with a different lady, this practice frowned upon by most trainers, like a Cus D Amato for example.
And lets not forget the women Richard....the constant non stop hanky panky with Japanese girls and women for 42 days non stop unrelenting..it killed tysons reflexes,,speed,aggression and hunger... I would be interested in mike making a film where he returns to japan 30 years later....revisits matters...and the sites and places...the documentary could interview anonymously the former tyson groupies in tokyo...to give an insight into tysons dramatic capitulation
That would put a spin on a decent Tyson Documentary. I'm really tired of the same old Tyson docs talking about his meteoric rise from poverty and his swift fall. Been done a thousand times over. Something like this would be interesting. Even his traveling show didn't differ from his usual story.
Did Douglas put in a performance significantly better than his others, or did Tyson simply train down to Douglas's level? Both in my opinion.
