Charles Dickens's quote "It was the best of times and the worst of times" could have been written about Buster in 1990. That magnificent performance against Tyson early in the year,and that flabby sluggish one with Holyfield at the end. In fact it was a total capitulation. How would Douglas have done against Holyfield if he'd been in the same shape,and had the same determination,that he displayed against Tyson ? This would have been the best heavyweight fight since Holmes-Norton twelve years earlier. I still think Holyfied would have won,but it would have been a close one. Lasting the distance.
Probably a reasonable outcome.. There were even a few people at the time ( though not the majority ) who actually thought that Douglas might win.. Even if Buster had shown up in stellar physical and mental condition though, I myself probably would have still picked Evander to break him down and stop him late. Holyfield's momentum had reached incredible heights in 1990, and more specifically in this fight.. This was probably the hungriest and most motivated he had ever been, and at 28 years of age, was at his absolute peak.. I think that the relentless and ongoing pressure would have eventually gotten to Douglas. I do however feel that James would have stollen a few rounds on the cards and lasted well beyond the eighth, but I don't know if I can see him making it to the final bell. This wasn't an aging Trevor Berbick or a half focussed Mike Tyson that he was in the ring with...
I think Holyfield would have won by KO or TKO anyway. He had Douglas's number when it came to countering that long uppercut that Douglas always threw from the outside. I read that Evander and his trainers noted the flaw and drilled that counter over and over in training. It wasn't the only way to win, but it was inevitable that Douglas would open himself up for that sometime during the fight. Even in great shape he would have been wobbled or floored by that and then Holyfield would have been all over him. Eventually he'd break Douglas. I dont think Douglas has the style to really threaten the Evander Holyfield of 1990. When Douglas was on form he was too aggressive to outbox Holyfield - Evander thrives on countering aggression. And when Douglas wasn't aggressive he was just too sluggish to spoil he way away from a swarming Holyfield. Douglas was a good boxer though. Just we are talking about a prime Holyfield here.
Agreed, in fact it wasn't really the deconditioning that led to an early loss, so much as it was a styles issue in truth.. Holyfield nailed Douglas with a huge right hand, right after Douglas had tried to lunge forward with an uppercut... That's not a conditioning thing, so much as it is fighting the wrong type of fight. I can even remember George Foreman commenting on it, and saying that an uppercut is not the type of punch that you come forward with, but rather the kind that you use as your opponent is coming towards you, or if you're already on the inside... Bottom line, Douglas made an amateurish error, and had he made the same mistake even when in top condition, the outcome would have been unchanged.
Even in Tokyo, Buster got floored with that one big shot. If a sub par Tyson could do it, then a peaking Holyfield, hungry for the title, certainly would be able to manage it. The difference is that Evander would have been able to finish the job. Douglas would have gotten into the later rounds, but Holyfield's camp was prepared to deal with the Buster who showed up in Japan. Douglas had to improve from that performance to have any chance.
Yeah if you watch the fight with Holy, Douglas was trapped into throwing that uppercut from the outside. Holy knew about it and was looking to feint him into throwing it. I will say a well conditioned and motivated Douglas WOULD have gotten up and continued like he did in the Tyson fight, with probably less chance of getting knocked out if he realized the trap Holy was setting and continued to box smart and throw combinations in close.
Holyfield simply had too much for Douglas. He was too fast all-around and versatile in his attack, which prevented Douglas from settling into any kind of consistent rhythm or gameplan as he could against Tyson, Berbick, McCall, etc. Holyfield by early-ish KO, again.
