Buster absolutely took it to Mike in that fight. A lot of people say "Mike wasn't himself." and "Mike wasn't in shape." but I just think the Douglas of THAT NIGHT would always be a huge problem for Mike and many other great heavies. Buster was a man on a mission
I believe it's a bit of both, it takes that type of perfect storm for a 42-1 underdog to pull it off. Buster was a monster for one night.
Even after all these years though I still find the result of that fight a massive shock. There was so much myth built up around tyson. Yes he struggled against Bruno but he ended the fight in empathetic fashion. He was still young and it looked at the time like he would reign for years. Even holy field would have come in massive underdog so to most people buster had no chance! And then to see the fight unfold, how good buster was and u could see tyson actually looking bewildered! Hearing the result next day I was stunned and couldn't get my head round it
I remember a few months before a boxing mag had pitted him against the legend s. People like dempsey, Johnson, marciano, prime Holmes, foreman and Ali. The mag had him beating them all apart from Ali and u thought at the time, yes tyson is one of the greatest. And now nearly thirty years on its so different
It's even in the top3 upsets of all sports, and that's for a reason. And don't forget it almost never happened due to round 8. Of course Tyson was massively overrated at the time by practically everyone, and Douglas underrated due to losses against Tyson victims. But top for top Tyson was significantly better as Douglas head to head of course.
And it does make u wonder what would have happened had Douglas not got up in time in the 8th. How tyson would have been affected by that fight in his next. Would he have rematced Douglas. Would he have fought holy field differently perhaps with a lot less confidence. So many questions if he had won.
It was an upset for sure, but now that I think on Tyson's career and style...its NOT that much of a SHOCK! Tyson had speed, head movement and a punch to the body and uppercut with devastating POWER. There were some things that allowed Tyson to easily use those tools.... His overly aggressive fast starts, which ultimately lead to fear in his opponents eyes. If you can weather that storm, then you get to find out how great his mind is mentally and how strong his chin is.
Buster deserves credit for what he done. But tyson was a shell of himself that night. Was lethargic from the very first round and stayed that way throughout. He was getting more lethargic in fights leading up to the buster fight. Half the guys on tysons cv would have beat that version of tyson. He hadnt been training properly for a while. The wheels were coming off for him buster was just lucky to get him at the right time. Buster was a decent fighter but no more than that. But stick anyone of note in with tyson that night they d have beaten him as well. Or stick the berbick version of tyson in with buster and see how far he goes. Tysons book pretty much gives good insight into why he didnt fulfill his potential. But people are wrong imo thinking it was down to buster being just really motivated for a fight.
