James Douglas on his best night

My answer is no.

James "Buster" Douglas, though a solid heavyweight contender, would not have scored repeat KO's over history's all time greats on the basis of his win over Tyson.

WhY?

MIke Tyson may have appeared invincible due to his feat of having been the youngest champ in history, recording a record of 37-0, unifying the titles, and demolishing Michael Spinks in one round, but this is telling only half the story.

Mike Tyson had lost probably 90% of the personel that got him to the title by 1990. Bill Cayton was gone. Kevin Rooney was gone. Jim Jacobs was gone. Cus D'Amato was gone.... His mother and sister had both recently died prematurely, and he had just gone through a terrible divorce. Additionally, knowing something about troubled youth ( as a once education major myself ), Tyson's behavior as shown in the media, projected that he was a 23 year old kid with the maturity level of a 16 year old.

The fight with Douglas showed all. He was clearly not closing the gap, nor displaying the skills or tenacity that he had shown in the Berbick and Spinks fights. Additionally, his corner showed exactly how incompetant they were ( as later commented by Gil Clancy and Angelo Dundee ), by using a disolved bag of water to reduce Tyson's swelling, as opposed to the recommended tool, the inswell device that was common at the time. I myself wondered what they were doing, even being a 15 year kid from the upper middle class suburbs of Chicago. If Dundee, Duva, Clancy or Steward had been in there, I have no doubt they would have slapped him upside the head and said " what the **** are you doing", rather than saying " common Mike, let's get going".

Conclusion :Douglas did not beat the best version of Tyson that night, and if that was the best win he had, then I say he would have been in trouble against other all time greats. His best wins to date were decisions over shot versions of Page and Berbick. These are the true calibur measurements of what Douglas really was, and frankly I don't think that it was enough.

 

Buster Douglas on that night in terms of skills the jab, uppercuts, power, speed, combos, footwork, you name it. Douglas was in the twilight zone, a Masterpiece!!!! he also showed guts, man on that night I think that was the greatest diplay of boxing I have ever seen. It would have been a tough night for any heavy in history bar none against Douglas that magic night in Tokyo.

 

If I had been in a coma for the seven years before the fight and the first thing you showed me was the Douglas win over Tyson I might indeed conclude that I was lookig at the curent all time great.

However............

We tend to focus on Douglas too much when watching that fight and not look at what Tyson was doing or not doing. Watch Tyson in the first round and compare it to his other fights.

Also it might be a case of a lesser fighter having the ideal tools to beat a greater fighter. A stylistic foil if you like.

How well would Douglas do against sombody who thrived on his stylistic characteristics?

 

Well i am hugely read and i ain't never ever came across that. As a matter of fact i do not believe it.

What i can tell you is that Futch openly picked Holyfield over him, think the odds were 20-1 or something at the time.

 

Douglas was a solid contender. Was properly trained and had a good style to beat Tyson.

Tyson was believing his own hype and got spanked. I don't see anything in Douglas' performance that makes me think he'd have beaten Louis, Ali or Holmes.

 

Yes, but do you have issue 107 of Definitely True Gym Tales?

 

The interview where he says it came in International Boxing Digest (around the time of Bowe-Golota I) but I never read it earlier. But this is Papa Smurf we're talking about, not the kind of man to talk shite. :think

 

His mother had just died, a couple weeks before that fight. He'd been a chronic underachiever up until then. My guess is he was inspired.

 

In addition, the version of Tucker he beat wasn't really the best either.

 

Wasn't it Dundee that picked him over Tyson, I remember somewhere that he said Douglas had the style to worry Tyson. I have read comments by Dundee on Tyson and he is no fan.

 

I remember Jimmy handling Tnt Tucker with reletive ease until Tuckers grade A - engine kicked in.....

I also remember on the Tyson v Spinks undercard he was showcased against Ring Magazines prospect of the year 1986 Mike Williams.. Buster knocked Williams down twice with a Jab, and Ko'd him with that same punch...

 

A HBO broadcaster labelled him as the second coming of Sonny Liston..

 

James Buster Douglas's performance on the night he dethroned Tyson is probably my all time, favorite boxing performance. It wasn't just who he beat but how he did it. A performance for the ages.....

And a night to forget against Holyfield. I swear with the shape he came in and the way he went down he took a dive.....:-(

 

I'm still waiting for Jan to send it!

 

Which is a stupid comparison because they are almost complete oppositites. Liston is short, powerful and slow, whereas Douglas is tall, fast and not a big hitter by comparison.

The guy had probably only heard stories about Liston and perhaps seen the "anchor punch" moment and nothing more. Who was it?