Prime Tyson vs Douglas?

Douglas was a flash in the pan. Tyson in there that night was a Tyson who just turned up wasnt taking this fight seriously, had personal problems but figured he was invincible and just had to turn up...he was wrong. But c'mon guys..their respective pedigrees are poles apart. A serious motivated, in shape focused Tyson would have defo got the KO vs Douglas..quite possbily quicker than the lighter punching Holyfield did. Listen to Douglas tell his story about how he'd not really focused vs Holyfield..was having problems with his training and weight and falling back into his old ways...and see what Holy did! I think the Douglas in Tokyo would have given Holy hell to that night!

Prime (the real prime..see above) Tyson KO inside 5 rounds.

 

Yeah - they underestimated so didn't properly prepare.

I recall an interview with Rooney where he said had he been in Tyson's corner he would have told him you have 3 rounds to get this guy out of here because he knew he was out of shape.

Found the article - check it out:

But for Douglas, the minute I saw Mike walk into the ring, I knew he wasn't in shape. I saw the fat. He wasn't ripped. I just KNEW he was partying it up in Japan before that fight. They really like to party over there in Japan. Believe me! I found that out when we went over to Japan the year before to fight (Tony) Tubbs. But, we had to refrain until AFTER the fight. It was a long plane ride over there, something like 14 hours. When we got there, Mike slept for a while and then I woke him up for a 3 mile run. Then, he would go to the gym and he worked out hard. There was no fooling around before the Tubbs fight!

Two weeks before the Douglas fight, I heard Mike weighed 250 and had to take off 30 pounds. So, he dehydrated and starved himself. In the first few rounds, Douglas came out throwing a few jabs and you could see that he was nervous. But, he was throwing punches and Mike wasn't! If I had been in Mike's corner that night, I would have said: 'Look Mike, you came all the way over here and all you did was party. You've only got 3 or 4 rounds in you and you better throw EVERYTHING you've got. If you don't knock him out in that time, I'm throwing in the towel.' If Mike had done that, he could have knocked Douglas out. But, he didn't. He let a scared fighter get brave. Once you do that, you've got problems. Brave fighters don't go back to being scared. So, as the rounds went on... Douglas got confident! And when Douglas got knocked on his ass, he punched the canvas and got up. The next round, he beat the hell out of Mike... and then stopped him.

http://www.markstraining.com/2009/10/kevin-rooney-on-mike-tyson.html

 

x 1 Trillion

 

Tyson at his absolute best still probably has problems with Douglas's long range boxing and that stiff jab of is, but a better Tyson should be able to spark him out within 7 or 8 rounds IMO.

 

In agreement. A more focused, conditioned, mentally prepared, and Rooney-trained Tyson probably wins by stoppage, but would have a tough puzzle to solve. Douglas was a man on a mission that night. It was one of the best performances in boxing history.

 

The guy you're quoting didn't even watch any of the interviews before the fight. Motivation and focus are very important in any sport. Tyson wasn't focused that night, but Douglas was hyped and ready to fight the fight of his life. Tyson still almost had him out. Any fighter can lose in any given night if the focus is not there. This doesn't mean that Douglas beats Tyson every time. Why did Douglas fold so quickly against Holyfield?

 

He was 23. Was 37-0-0, coming off a string of 10 consecutive successful World title fights.

If he wasn't prime then, he was never prime !

 

He was prime. It wasn't Tyson's night. Why did Wlad get blown away against a faded Sanders, when he was in his mid twenties, and also coming of many defenses? Does that mean Sanders beats any version of Wlad?

 

Tyson wide UD Douglas, *maybe* late stoppage. See the fights against Tillis and other big fighters as to why I think Douglas would last the distance.

 

He was prime age wise, but not fighting wise. It's been well documented that Tyson had to go on a crash diet just to look like he was in fighting shape. It didn't help that he had the weakest cornermen in boxing history, using a water filled condom as an enswell.

Tyson was not prepared physically or mentally, nor was his team.

 

Prime Tyson easily over prime Douglas.

 

I concur.

 

Prime Tyson stops Douglas in one or 2 rounds. Same as the guys who fought Tyson when he was prime in 1986-1988 some of them would stop the Tyson who was stopped by Douglas. It was more Tyson than Douglas. Just look at how Douglas did with Tucker and Holyfield to see his real skill level.

 

If Tyson had still have Kevin Rooney as his trainer he would have stopped Douglas. Don King was a disaster for him...............

 

Tyson had trouble with big, tall fighters and Douglas fit that bill. He tore threw smaller HWs though. Tyson's corner and training camp deserve a huge amount of blame for that loss. As for Douglas, talent was never his problem, coming in in good condition was.