James Douglas. Where did it all go right?

I don't think its all that complicated to be truthful... In one corner you had a guy who knew that this was the biggest moment of his career, and hence, sported the greatest performance of his life, while in the other, there was a man who would go out and give the very worst of his.....

 

It was highly documented in the prefight vinettes that Douglas was inspired by not only the death of his mother but his managers pep talk three fights into his comeback from the Tucker fight that this was basically it. It was also documented that Tyson was not taking the challenge seriously with footage never shown before of Tyson getting dropped in sparring.
Douglas didnt institute any type of master gameplan, he simply came to fight, stood his ground and took apart Tyson. Others had tried, implementing the same gameplan, only they were challenging a different fighter in my opinion.
As much as people think Douglas became a great fighter that night, theres also the thought that he would have never gotten started against a better Tyson, so to answer your question, it all went right in the timing of the fight.

 

I thought Douglas looked good coming into the fight in his McCall/Berbick, then he obviously raised it a notch

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amwbtPQpze4[/ame]

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Douglas is/was a very good fighter, massively underrated imo, just Mike was seen as invinsable.

 

J.B. Douglas had great tools and talent to box. BUT! He lacked heart and soul---for the most part.. When properly tuned, Buster Douglas was very good...:good

The Buster Douglas who came to Japan in 1990 to fight Mike Tyson was in peak shape at 231 pounds and mentally focused as ever.... That Buster Douglas was the total package deal....:deal

The Buster Douglas of February 1990 could hang in there with any former champion going back to 1887 in a time machine..... He'd be very lively and game for anyone......:yep

MR.BILL:hat

NOTE:

The Buster Douglas of October 1990 who was harpooned by Evan Fields in Vegas, was a ****ing 246 pound piece of blubbery **** who gave a rats ass about his fans.... That Buster Douglas came for his payday and limo ride off into the sunset........:roll::twisted:

 

Lacked heart and soul? I think he showed heart by coming back up from that right uppercut!

 

I love the way Douglas fights Tyson his use of distance/angles and moving in and out of range to get his jab working is perfect. I certainly think he upped his game for Tyson, most fighters can up their game for a title shot, but he was always a fighter with massive potential.

 

Not to **** on Douglas game but if you watch even the first minute or so of that clip of his fight with Mcall, he continues to make that stupid mistake of leading with an uppercut.
Holyfield took advantage of that quickly, and really it was a glaring flaw in Douglas' game.

 

You see that I was kissing Douglas' ass hard in Japan........... That B.D. was a "One Night Stand." Yes, great for a brief moment in Feb. of '90......
:think

MR.BILL:hat

 

Tyson, outta shape in Japan, was made-to-order for Buster Douglas....... Tyson's size, height and faded skills, made it all the easier for a primed B.D. to execute a perfect fight plan.......:deal

YES! B.D. got careless when he tired a tad in round 8 and was nailed by the Tyson uppercut. Very true so.. But he got up at 9... Ballsy, but respectable....:yep

The 10th round Douglas barrage that left Tyson down and on ***** street is classic footage.....:hey

MR.BILL:hat

 

I don't think he lacked heart, more desire and focus.
His Father was a warrior, Buster had the tools but not the temperament.

 

Dude, regardless, he didn't really lack heart. Just, after the Tyson fight, he just wasn't the same fighter. He just didn't have the same dedication and determination to fight like he did against Tyson.

 

Well, doing the "Carson and Letterman" shows, along with photos' for 'Fortune' magazine sure as hell didn't help Douglas' mental and physical dedication for Holy in Oct. 1990...

Christ, Douglas grossed a cool 1.1 million for his upset win over Tyson in Japan, and was to gross 24 million for his defense against Holy in October of '90, but team Douglas wanted to shine on Don King, so team Douglas paid-off King 6 million bucks and settled as a free agent against Holy for a contracted 18 million smackers after the smoke was cleared.... Not bad...

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