Did mike ever fight someone who could jab or move as good as douglas?

Although not in the best shape for Tyson, Tony Tubbs was looking quite mobile in there for a while and was a career boxer with highly regarded skills.. Biggs could stick and move pretty well too, as could Tucker.. And of course, I almost forgot Carl Williams, but who didn't last long enough to get anything going.

 

No, he didn't, I've told you Douglas had a perfect blueprint and I'm glad you're seeing the light LUFC. It wasn't just the jab and movement, it was the angles, timing counters on the way in and smashing with uppercuts on the inside. The combinations were simply brilliantly fluid too. Douglas was also very big, very rangy, massive shoulders, his father was a great trainer

Tucker, Tubbs, Holmes, Biggs, Williams all tried to do the same, but I don't think any of them did it nearly as well as Douglas.

Douglas was and is an enigma

BTW kudos to you for having an open mind on the matter

 

no one ever doubted that the man to beat Tyson would need a good reach, a hard fast accurate well-timed jab, and good lateral movement

no one thought it would be douglas. but the blueprint was known

the only other type was a big strong bomber like a young Foreman who might catch Tyson coming in with knockout blows. but most those types tend to be too slow

 

They all fought Rooney-Tyson, PP.

Except Williams who always was a sucker for a left hook - even Tua has a chance to put him away in 1 round.

 

Well Pinklon Thomas had a pretty good jab and in their actual fight was able to win 2 rounds before being stopped in the 6th despite getting rocked in the first round.

Tony Tucker had a decent jab and could move. So did Tyrell Biggs for that matter who was doing fairly well in the first round with his "Muhammad Ali" rendition until Tyson caught him and slowly broke him down over the course of the fight.

Douglas even if he shows up in the same condition as he did in Tokyo wouldn't beat a better prepared Tyson. Tyson fought lazily, had low activity and allowed Douglas to set the pace of the fight. Tyson was dancing to music Douglas was playing where as it's usually the other way around.

Boxing is very subtle, the difference between what happened in Tokyo against Douglas vs what happened against Biggs is that Tyson did not impose his will on Douglas. He was far too patient and ended up fighting Buster's fight.

Tyson as a result of his speed and power typically has the edge early in the fight because he has the ability to hurt guys early. Hurt not stun; and essentially what I mean is that guys who feel Tyson's explosive power early tend to mute their own offense to some degree. It is the reason why nobody has ever come from behind to beat Tyson. If they beat him it's because they were able to set the pace early.

A rematch would have seen Tyson correct the mistake.

 

Larry Holmes comes to mind

 

Good post. However, I belive Douglas put Tyson out of his comfort zone because he was having success. Douglas was in the zone! He had Tyson where Tyson wanted his victims to be -Tyson was the one who was discouraged because each time he drew a jab from buster it was a feint. Tyson paid for buying feints all night and was stepping into punching range naked.

Tyson could not produce "explosion" or "wild tenacity" on a whim because it required the other guy being frozen with confusion or being down right discouraged. Douglas was neither confused or discouraged so Tyson never got out of the blocks. A fully or adequately trained Tyson would still be discouraged if he was getting hit each time he tried anything.

Maybe Douglas could not be that driven again and maybe he would have become discouraged in a rematch. The Tokyo win was a lifes work at the end of an 8 year journey.

 

No, Tokyo Douglas would not beat Kid Dynamite.

 

Tucker

 

I recently watched the fight and think it is one of the most overrated wins ever. Douglas was looking good against a punchbag basically.

Tyson was very slow and sloppy.

 

People make alot of excuses for Tyson, but the fact is he was dominated and ktfo in his prime by Buster Douglas