I was only 12 at the time and was shocked whenever one of Tyson's fights went beyond the second round. I remember getting up a few hours after the fight had taken place - it would have been in the early hours of the morning, UK time - and turned on the radio to see if Douglas had actually made it to round 3. However, and I'm not sure if many people remember this, Tyson and Douglas fought on the same day Nelson Mandela was released from prison and on the radio it was 'Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, ….. blah de blah de blah' As I was only 12 I couldn't care less about Nelson Mandela and wanted to know what round Tyson stopped Douglas. Finally on the radio they must have had a 20 second gap where they were able to talk about something other Nelson Mandela and they basically said 'By the way Mike Tyson was knocked out by James Buster Douglas' - at which point I almost spat my breakfast across the kitchen - before the BBC went straight back to 'Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, Nelson Mandela, ….. blah de blah de blah' I then rushed to the TV for a report on the fight but instead all there was to see was footage of the road that Mandela would appear from after being released. This was on for TWO HOURS before the fight even got mentioned!
I was working at a restaurant (first job) and somebody called in to tell us Tyson got knocked out. We all thought it was a prank call.
This. I’d be lying if I said I was’t shocked about Tyson getting beat by Douglas. The only person on our block at the time that was certain Tyson was going to lose was an old barber and former fighter Mr. Thesmond, who bet $100 at 37/1 odds on Douglas. Everybody including his wife thought he was an idiot to throw away $100 on Douglas.
I was surprised, but not at the loss itself. Looked to me Tyson lost his drug connection for that fight...he definitely looked different. It's just ... Douglas? Never more was the fact of his former juicing more apparent. It showed both in his body and performance. Drugs only work for awhile.
I was more pissed off than shocked ( though it was undoubtedly a shocking result) because I was looking forward so much to a Tyson Vs Holyfield matchup at the time. Both were unbeaten and logically it seemed like the biggest fight out there yet there were always problems making it. A bit like the Joshua/Wilder current situation and then Tyson goes and loses against Douglas. I was not a happy man
I was stunned when I learned that Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson. During the fight, Buster was absolutely terrific while Tyson seemed to have not come into the ring fully prepared. In fact, one of my most vivid memories while seeing a tape of the fight was that Tyson was getting hit with punches that he used to block or slip in his previous bouts. - Chuck Johnston
