Was Douglas beating Tyson the biggest upset in boxing history?

It was a year and some months before I was born but it still remains not only the biggest boxing upset but the biggest upset in sports. There have been other big upsets like Curry/Honeyghan but none come close to Tyson/Douglas. The only outcome that I think that can come really close is Holyfield ko'ing Vitali.

 

The odds were insane, but there were warning signs. It made news when Page decked him in sparring, but many journalists dismissed it, saying, "Yeah, but that's Greg Page!" Bonecrusher rocked Tyson in the closing seconds of Smith's 12 round walking tank job, but Douglas didn't have that kind of reputation for power. Producing a clean count out stoppage was stunning, different than Braddock-Baer or Clay-Liston.

Biggest upset in ALL boxing history? SRL-Hagler was pretty startling also, and seems to make less sense in hindsight than Douglas-Tyson. Ray had been decked and looked horrible in his previous outing three years earlier against fringe WW contender Kevin Howard, and was saved from defeat only by an over reactive referee in the ninth round when hopelessly behind. (Howard screamed afterward that, "He fought like a ******!") The southpaw styles of Larry Bonds and Ayub Kalule earlier exposed some technical deficiencies in SRL against that stance.

Hagler was the acclaimed P4P best in the world, and the greatest southpaw in the history of the sport. Where Howard was a mediocre punching welterweight, Marv was a full fledged middleweight block of granite who had produced stoppages in 12 of his 13 MW Title wins, all of those halts coming before round 12. Only Minter, Duran, and Hamsho in his first challenge, had managed to stay upright throughout. Watch Hagler-Mugabe again. Yes, Marv is a little slower, but still extremely formidable. Next, watch SRL-Howard. Unlike Douglas, I think Ray made a pact with the Devil prior to challenging Hagler.

 

Absolutely:yep

This was a global sporting tsunami event, i remember you could here all the screaming from houses in the road i lived in at the time. Some neighbours came banging on the doors screaming "Do you ****in believe what you've just seen:yikes

No one could take in what we had just witnessed, everyone was totally dumbstuck as here was the baddest man on the planet & global icon wiped out by an alleged tomato can:bbb

 

There have since been bigger upsets in horse racing.

 

It was the biggest upset in boxing history.

Whether it should have been is open to question.

 

Kevin Howard wasn't a bad opponent to face after a 2 year 3 month layoff. Howard had went the 12 round distance vs. Marlon Starling a year earlier and the only other stoppage loss of his career was in his last fight vs. Simon Brown (LKOby7) two years later.

Leonard stopped him in the 9th (some say a bit premature). Leonard was dropped for the first time in his pro career in the 4th round. Leonard was up on all cards at the time of the stoppage. Howard wasn't going to win the fight had it continued.

Leonard didn't look great and retired again. He did not come back for another three years... vs. Hagler.

 

As far as I'm concerned, it's easily the biggest upset.

Yes, we all should have seen Tyson's downfall coming. Yes, Douglas should not have been written off like 1-13 stiff.

But Douglas beating Tyson? Impossible. It was never going to happen. If you were alive then, if you were aware of sports at all in the era when Mike Tyson was a superhuman phenom, there was simply no way on earth that you could imagine it happening.

To me, it's the biggest upset in sports, period.

 

Me too. Nothing can compare imo.

 

Im not convinced .Honeyghan was a huge outsider against Curry and Ali was given little chance against Foreman..Turpin against Robinson 1 as well..
There were signs with the perfect science of hindsight but no i didn't see it either
Perhaps Tyson v Douglas in terms of the general public now but within the sport i am not so sure

 

Jerry Izenburg said it best during the Fallen Champ documentary
he said "Mike Tyson was a fine fighter, but by the time he got to Tokyo all that was left was the aura of a fine fighter"

 

Yes and no. to the casual fan undoubtedly yes, a mega upset. But if you really followed boxing at the time. it was enivitable. anyone could see it coming. Tyson was a mess, spiralling out of control. from his personal life, Don Kings negative influence. all of Tysons origional corner which help build this boxing mschine, were gone. replaced by King lackeys. When Tyson was in distress by Douglas. his corner was clueless as what to do. Douglas did do a magnificent job that night. but in reality. if it easnt Buster. someone else would have done it soon afterwards.

 

my order of biggest upsets:
Tyson-Douglas
Ali-Foreman
Tyson-Holyfield


I was told that the odds for Tyson-Douglas was something like 42-1, if you could find a place that would actually take your bet. Tyson-Holyfield initailly started at 25-1, but I know it went down closer to the fight itself

 

It is the biggest upset in boxing history (even with the retrospective understanding that Douglas could be better than his underachieving ways would tell you, and that Tyson was already on the slide and/or susceptible to mental deterioration when counter-bullied), and by wide enough of a margin that there is no argument for any other.

There's a good argument for it being one of the top five sports upsets of all time.