James Douglas on his best night

Well, a guy who could punish Tyson like that would be very dangerous for any ATG having an off night.

 

Buster seemed to flourish through 87- Tyson in 1990.....

Louis reigned supreme 37-49........................... with a single career loss in the same years!!!!!!...

Fair enough, Buster busted the Iron Man....... One great fight dont make for an eternity of superiority.... His legend of the win is eternal...... however, a degree of credibility has to be questioned..

A huge man he was.. although, his attitude as champ remains the most disinteresting since Max baer.... Having too much fun elsewhere...

I doubt Buster would have been suited to the days of men fighting for a slice of the money for dinner...

Cant take anything away from him.... He defeated an already dispondant Tyson.... A mere husk of Tysons former self...

 

Whe "on", Big Bus was an extrordinary heavyweight.

 

On the subject of Douglas. I once read an interview with Eddie Futch* who said he picked Buster over Tyson and "it was common knowledge". Anyone know if they read this before the fight? I can't imagine Pap Smurf fibbing I just wondered if it was in print anywhere?






* Sorry, I meant to say the 'venerable' Eddie Futch.

 

I think that Douglas, on that night, had the stuff to beat ANY heavyweight champion of history. I realize now that THAT Buster was a one-time only phenomenon, almost like an android from space that dropped in for one fight, one time only. THAT Buster is hard for me to argue against. It's almost like he got into some special zone, with God's help where he was guided by his subconcious, as confident as a sleepwalker.

 

I don't know about that. I don't see how anyone could have foreseen that Douglas would beat Tyson, although you had guys who picked against Tyson in every fight like Ron Borges, and Teddy Atlas who then gloated that they picked him to lose

 

Not a cat in hells chance.

Douglas had the corect tools to beat Tyson just as Schmeling had the corect tools to beat Louis.

Even on his worst night Louis was never as unfocused as the Tyson of Tokyo.

 

I know but this is the venerable Eddie Futch we're talking here. I know he rated Douglas highly and thought only his fitness let him down vs Tucker (which is true, he looked the much better man that night). Yeah, but I think it's a case of him picking against Tyson once or twice before perhaps.

 

With all due respect Douglas that night had the tools to beat not just Tyson but just about any heavy in history. No Louis wasnt just any heavyweight but Busters long fast jab, quick right hand and brutal uppercuts suggest to me Joe would indeed struggle with Douglas of Tokyo.

Tyson may well have been unfocussed but it was a comprehensive beating perhaps one of the most dominant title performances at that weight.

Ive heard it said when Buster was dropped that Frazier, Marciano, Foreman etc wouldnt have let him off the hook, well Tyson was a pretty ruthless finisher also.

THAT NIGHT Buster is even money with just about anyone

 

The Douglas of Tokyo would have always beaten Tyson IMO.

 

I honestly cant acept that Douglas went from being a second rater to an all time great beater overnight and then back again overnight.

If he was that good he would have built up some sort of resume outside the Tyson win.

If you want to understand the outcome of that fight start by looking at what Tyson did wrong.

 

I disagre, Tyson was very unprepared for that fight, his cornermen didnt even have the proper equipment and resorted to using a condom filled with ice instead of a proper swelling compress.

Tyson negleced head movement and just looked for the one punch KO all night, and arguably he got it in the 8th.
Tyson usually does very well against boxers, Tyrell Biggs who had a similar style to Douglas was beat down brutally and a prime motivated Tyson would of done the same to Buster. But props to Douglas for fighting the fight of his life.

 

Douglas hit a lot harder than Biggs one of the keys to this fight, he was quick enough to catch Tyson and hit hard enough to hurt him.

 

I can't either, but it happened before our eyes. However, as others said, he clearly was better than Tucker until he run out of gas. And after the Tyson fight, he never bothered to turn up in great or even decent shape.


If you were an alien knowing nothing about records but only able to judge based on film, and you just saw one fight of each fighter in his prime, Douglas would definitely rank up there with the genuine greats.


On his best night he could beat any heavyweight in history, and on his worst he could lose to an average Joe.