Max Schmeling vs Buster Douglas

Schmeling beat Louis (who is arguably the best jabber of all time), specificaly by countering off his jab.

If Douglas is depending on his jab to win this fight for him then he is f***ed.

 

Douglas-at his best-should win without too much trouble.Obviously,he was pretty inconsistent.In any case,I think it's basically a mismatch;I think Schmeling rates higher historically-and hopefully he'll get the recognition he deserves for being an all-around great guy who was defamed for being a war criminal during WWII;he saved Jews during the Holocaust.And I think Douglas-at his best-would've done the same thing to Tyson in a rematch.

 

A well trained and motivated version of Douglas ( not the one who fought Holyfield, Tucker, or Ferguson ), would have had my vote to take a decision or Tko win over Schmeling. Max was great in his day, but in this case, he'd be fighting a well skilled boxer who could battle from the outside, and use his sizeable reach and servicable jab to keep Max at bay. In addition, Douglas, had a very underrated right hand, that after a number rounds of creating openings with the jab would begin to land on Schmeling perhaps causing a fair bit of damage. Buster was a 6'4", 225 Lb black heavyweight who generally fought better athletes. Schmeling is a much better legacy fighter, but Douglas was a product of a stronger era, and head to head this match is all wrong for Max.

 

The enigma of Douglas is that he really is a champion who only had one great fight in him.

I can honestly say that if I had seen nothing of Douglases career apart from the Tyson fight I would asume that I was looking at an all time great, even if I had seen nothing else of Mike Tysons career.

If Nat Fleischer came back from the dead tomorrow and the first thing you showed him was that fight he would asume that he was looking at a great fighter.

The problem is that outside of that fight he really didnt have any outstanding wins.

If Schmeling had fallen under a bus the day before the Louis fight we would asume that he was rescued from a brutal knockout but his resume would still stack up against a Baer or Sharkey.

 

True, the Tyson fight was by far his grand opus, and that wasn't what I would call the best rendering of Tyson by even a long shot. Still, the physical ability and natural talent was there. He was a big strong heavyweight with an above average jab, good footwork, medium power, and the capacity to go the distance if he had to. Although the Tyson fight can't be used as an accurate measure of how good Douglas really was, we can say for certain that he was a top rated heavweight fairly consistantly between 1987-1990. He had notable performances against Greg Page, Trevor Berbick, Oliver McCall and Tex Cobb ( for what those fights are worth. ) Legacy wise, we can't say much for James, but in head to head matchups, his talents need to be considered.

 

He isn't a top 10 HW jabber by a long way

 

I meant at heavyweight.

 

Well actually Joe didn't get caught. Max studied Joe very thoroughly. and found a flaw in Joe's style in which Max exploited. After Joe threw a jab he pulled back his left very low and was vulnerable to a counter right hand. if you see the film of the first fight. Schmeling countered with a right hand over and over again. As far as Tyson he was just not prepared & there is no excuse for that.

 

douglas, as far as i know, had one night when he actually fought up to his abilities................that was when he beat tyson.

that douglas probably would have beaten schmeling.

but i wouldnt pick a fighter based on the ability he showed in only a single fight.

so its schmeling all the way, maybe even by stoppage.

 

exactly. In Douglas' next fight against Holyfield, he looked horrible, getting kayoed in the process.

 

This is another fantasy classic for me- Just as competitive of a fight as Douglas - Moorer would've been. God, what a fight.

Schmeling countered well off of the jab, but he would've had to clear a much longer distance to get in and counter on Douglas, and though it's not impossible, I'm not sure about it happening every time. But at the same time, Maxie is still really durable and tough, and if he is able to get in at least a couple times, he should be able to knock James out. Just pick whoever you feel like picking and enjoy the show.