Douglas vs Tyson among great HW perfomances?

I really, REALLY, don't want to gt into all that stuff about 'he on this one night was one of the best heavyweights of all time', but i just want to talk about the performance itself, abolutely fantastic it was.

That vision of him holding up hid arms, surrounded by his team, at the climax of the bout, with his mouth wide open is one of the best images ever in boxing i think. Not sure if they are lifting him up in the air or not, can't tell.

 

There should be no dispute over this.

Douglas' performance against Tyson is a lock for top 5, at least.

 

If Douglas had actually been facing an opponent who was fighting back, THEN I'd say yes..

 

Yeah, Tyson looked like he was sleepwalking. Even before the bell rang he looked disinterested. And even so Douglas couldn't avoid getting knocked down and was saved by the bell.

Holyfield's performance deserves more praise.

 

I agree with Muchmoore. I noticed tysons decline since the Frank Bruno fight. He got hit more times in that fight than all of his other title fights combined...Tyson did not train for the douglas fight...He partied and caught pigeons for the japanese people. Still impressive fight for douglas...He trained for the fight of his life, and had a heavy heart with his recent passing of his mother. He promised his mother the title and delivered.


I would like to add I do think Douglas got a long count from the referee in round 8 and should have been counted out there and then

 

The standard 1-2 and when Mike came in close a clinch.

Pretty basic.......and effective on the night.

Oh well.

 

Yeah also the smashing Mike up against the ropes and pounding him,

 

Even if he did not train, he still looked in better shape than 99.9999% of all people out there. His workrate was lower than normally though, and his focus on boxing was lacking thoroughly. Not his best night, but let's be honest, Douglas showed n a ****ing WONDERFUL performance and i wouldn't mind ranking it in the top5. Right up there with Schmeling/Louis.

 

It would be interesting to know what would have happened if Tyson was in peak form. However regaurdles of Tyson being at his best or not Douglas had one of the best in ring preforemances in heavyweight history that night.

 

Tyson was clearly not 100% (or even 80%) but he was still on that night one of the top 20 heavyweights of all time and he was made to look like a complete pile of excrement by Buster Douglas, who hadn't had a REALLY impressive fight in his life before then. In sense of totally transcending his career (up until then painfully mediocre) and changing the course of heavyweight history against all expectations, Douglas's performance has a profoundity arguably unmatched in the history of the sport.

Also: forget everything people say about Tony Tucker, James Tillis, Mitch Green (or whichever coke-head they prefer) creating the blueprint to beat Mike Tyson. It was Buster Douglas who worked out that the key wasn't to stick-and-move, but to stand firm and fire out a heavy jab to control the action on the outside then hold on tight on the inside. He essentially put together the best parts of the Pinklon Thomas attempt (which had some strongpoints) and the Bonecrusher attempt (which showed how not to be beaten up) which happened to match the talents that Buster Douglas had: strength and a great jab.

Would Buster Douglas on that night stand a chance against any heavyweight ever? No. Would he stand a very good chance against any version of Tyson? Yes and that in itself is amazing, especially considering almost everything James Douglas did before and after that fight.

 

That too.


I'm not particularly convinced that that version of Douglas would have a strong chance against the 86-88 period given how few times Mike was hit clean and hurt during that period. (only Tony Tucker 1st round and James Smith last round readily come to mind).
That's one line of thinking.


The other is that Douglas,at his best,always had Tyson's number stylistically.

 

No doubts that Douglas performance was unique. Watching Buster knocking down Tyson like a sack of potatos is one of my more cherished memories

However, I agree with the other posters that consider that, unfortunately, there will always be a "what if?" hanging on that fight, because Tyson that night was a subpar version

However, it doesn't change the fact that Douglas gave the fight of his life

 

Never have I seen a heavyweight so determined to be THE Man than I did Buster Douglas in his complete domination of Mike Tyson.

Great performance, easily top 5.

 

If only Douglas had taken his career a little more seriously...