Was Douglas beating Tyson the biggest upset in boxing history?

yes. Mike was being considered as one of the greatest heavyweight champions ever, and Douglas was a nobody.. And then he completely dominated him, with practically no trouble..

 

It was the greatest upset in all of sports, not just in boxing. It certainly was when it happened and since then I can think of no comparable upset that rivals it.

 

Douglas was ranked in the top ten at the end of 3 of the previous four years leading up to 1990.

He wasn't some random journeymen pulled out of a hat.

But yeah, huge upset.

 

yes

 

Yes & it shall remain so.

 

I will say this....If people did their homework on Douglas, they would have found that he was one of the 5 most talented heavyweights in the division in the late 1980s...If they had watched his recent fights leading up to tyson, the odds would have been a lot lower. Tyson, still the heavy favorite, but not nearly by 40 to 1. The experts of the day vastly underrated Douglas. If they had checked out his fights with Mike Williams and Trevor Berbick, they might have changed their mind.

 

YES having lived through it I would say its the biggest upset in sports period that I have ever seen..

 

The funny thing is we were all blind to his behavior at the time. Firing his trainer, crashing cars, getting divorced, street brawls etc. He just had this aura that he was unbeatable under any circumstances, but the train was already off the tracks. Part of that was Douglas, who had never shown much grit in a fight. The fights with Berbick and even Mcall were not really fights that pushed him. Tucker was, and he decided to pack it in. Personally I was suprised Douglas got up in the 8th. I saw that same look in his face that said ok, I tried my best, but he got back up. That same look resurfaced in the Holyfield fight, only this time he didnt get up.

 

I know regardless of what happened in Tyson's personal life I never once thought he would actually lose inside the ring back then, he just seemed to always be in full command there..

 

I can remember Nelson Mandela coming out of prison the following morning,and saying to my family that two momentous events have happened in less than twenty four hours ! Probably the biggest upset in boxing,yeah.

 

I would have to agree.

Tyson reached a level of such regard that he is easily in foresight the best scalp that boxing ever had. The thought of him losing was not even plausible during that time period. So the thought of him losing to Douglas? No way. Never gonna happen.

It should be noted that it had more to do with Tyson's ability or perceived ability than Douglas's competence as a fighter.

When Tony Tucker caught Tyson flush with a right hand in the first round it was news because Tyson was actually moved. Lets face it, its not very often that Heavyweight Champions top p4p lists, but Tyson did it thrice 1987-89; he was ahead of Pernell Whitaker, Julio Cesar Chavez, Donald Curry, Meldrick Taylor, Marlon Starling, Buddy McGirt, the list goes on....




In retrospect things are different but in foresight, he was huge.

 

Yes, 42-1 odds... that's like some crazy horse racing odds.

 

I remember I was making a P.B. and J. during the intro and I was thinking to myself, "I better hurry up before I miss the fight". That's how it was back than, Tyson was just wrecking guys. I really wanted to make another sandwich but I couldn't turn away from the TV.