Prime Frank Bruno vs Prime James Douglas

He was a ranked contender for the better part of four years going into the Tyson fight and had some good wins yes. He wasn't by any means the "bum" that the odds makers made him out to be or that he was presented to the general non-boxing fan public as.. He was a good boxer with decent power and one that I acknowledge "could" have beaten Frank Bruno... But I only make this a 50/50 bet. Those wins he accumulated between 86-89 were mostly over past prime guys like Page and Berbick or over trial horses like Jaco. Oliver McCall was still years away from having any impact on the division and a 242 lbs Douglas looked unimpressive in decisioning him. That streak was threaded with losses or lackluster points wins. The Jesse Ferguson defeat of 1985 has been pretty much swept under the carpet as well..Frank Bruno hit like a truck and was always in top shape. He beat a better version of McCall than Douglas did and was primarily only beaten by elite punchers who were able to impose their will against him. Smith, Witherspoon, and Lewis all needed come from behind wins to beat him which is fine.. But if James started off getting hit with big shots as those men did, I doubt he had the heart or will to turn the tables later.. He was notorious for quitting when the going got rough or if he wasn't in complete control.

 

Tokyo Douglas destroys Frank.

 

Douglas at his best would beat Frank at his however Frank was more consistent than buster if Frank starts hitting Douglas with his big shots then I could see Douglas going over and perhaps packing it in if the going got tough. Buster when mentally up was a sight to behold his movement and speed of hand and foot and combination punching wonderful but if not right I see Bruno bullying him getting on top and forcing a stoppage.

 

I don't disagree with a lot of what you said.. But when you view a fighters prime or when you envision them as "prime" for the sake of our vs. forum; you're generally looking at only a few fights anyways. You're looking at the best version you ever saw in some instances, and again, that can only be a fight or two. Point being, the best version of Douglas that I can envision vs. the best version of Bruno... equals a Douglas win to me. I agree it's pretty close, but it clearly seems like Douglas' fight to lose.

 

Lazy Douglas gets ko’d in 5 rounds, Tokyo Douglas wins a late stoppage

 

Frank always looked powerful knocking out 3rd raters but never actually stopped a top level Heavyweight. Coetzee had retired and Bugner was ancient and shot.

 

As opposed to those wins against Jeff Jordan, Bill Sharkey and Chuck Gardner ?