Tyson called Buster a coward when they were answering questions about the fight they had just had against each other, but what would have happened if there had been an immediate rematch? Apologies to Philly but this fight was one that left me gobsmacked as a 13 year old. This content is protected
Rematch - Outcome depends on Douglas and how motivated he is mentally and in training, Tyson's skills were eroding and his personal life was about to implode so he was certainly vulnerable for another loss but Douglas was lazy in training as we saw against Holyfield, the Buster who fought EH would have been flattened by the Tyson who fought Ruddock. Long Count - BS used by Tyson apologists. Douglas was clearly lucid and aware of what was happening when he was knocked down, if the ref had started the count a second or two earlier as he should have I'm confident Buster would have beaten he it, when he was down he was clearly aware of the count, considered getting up at 5 but stayed down to give himself a few more seconds to recover - not the actions of a fighter who was incapable of beating a count regardless of whether it had started a few seconds earlier or not.
If there were an immediate rematch, I believe Douglas would have shown up unmotivated and out of shape like he did against Holyfield. I think Buster's performance in Tokyo, which was amazing, was truly a one time deal and he would have never reached that peak again in his career no matter who he fought.
I agree, and a more motivated Mike who works the body early and avoids the right wins in a few rounds.
