He made a comeback a few years later but let's say he learned from his devastating loss and conditioned himself again to be like the fighter that took down Tyson, would he be considered among the top contenders of the early to mid 90s and get another chance at a title shot?
Him mixing it up with Old George would have been a fun barn burner. He made a TON off fighting Holy and Tyson he received one of the highest if not thee highest purse to date at the time of the Holy fight. He really did REALLY well for himself in a short span of time I am not sure how he held up after boxing however.
He piled on the pounds & ended up in a diabetic coma at one stage I believe & then started training again.
Apparently Bus is still holding on at 10mil- Weirdly I had no idea SRL is still at 120mil I thought he was broke.
Yeah, I read in some interview that after he defended against Holyfield he wanted to give Foreman a shot, and then finally Tyson again before calling it quits.
I have my doubts Foreman would take on a motivated Douglas unless he was champion. So in this scenario we have Tokyo Douglas all the time after Holyfield? He's going to be frozen out of Don King heavyweights I'm assuming unless Tyson really wants that rematch. I'm assuming they probably try to give him a rebuilding fight maybe someone like Alex Stewart or Michael Dokes, then who knows, Moorer? Mercer? Morrison? If Tokyo Douglas is showing up regularly I think Rock Newman probably skips out on this fight as well for Bowe. Maybe Lewis decides to take him on instead of the Phil Jackson defense. Its an alternate reality I'd like to peek into.
He probably would spend a year or two taking on journeyman and gatekeepers before getting another crack at a top tier fighter. The Holyfield loss was pretty embarrassing for him. It wasn't that he lost it was the way that he lost. He didn't even try to win that fight.
Imagine if Douglas managed to retain his motivation for a couple of years. Beats Holyfield in October 1990, gives Tyson another shellacking in June 1991 & knocks out Big George in November 1991. Throw in a defence against Bowe in 1992 & not only would his bank balance be astronomical but also his legacy. I believe he was capable of doing everything I mentioned if only.......
1990 Ring Magazine ratings had him at #4, think winning a few fights against the other contenders the following year could have given him another title shot. Evander Holyfield Mike Tyson Razor Ruddock James (Buster) Douglas Tim Witherspoon Carl Williams Francesco Damiani Riddick Bowe Ray Mercer George Foreman 1991 was: Evander Holyfield Mike Tyson Riddick Bowe Razor Ruddock Ray Mercer George Foreman Tim Witherspoon Tony Tucker Lennox Lewis Michael Moorer
Simply a question of getting in shape for this guy. Talent was there for sure. He was in his 230s for three years (86-89), even came at 226 for Berbick and appeared overweight (242 1/2) for McCall. Then got himself back to 231 for Tyson and show up like a blob for Holyfield (246). In between Tyson and Holyfield he looked even much heavier. I doubt he´d get back to what he accomplished for MT after Holyfield.
I don't think that the initial premise is very plausible. Douglas had nothing left mentally after the Tyson fight, and I cannot see him motivating himself for a fight with another contender.
Yes he would (be considered a top contender in the early 90s). Anyone capable of moving and punching the way he did that night in Tokyo is going to make waves in any historical top 10 if they're in good physical and mental shape. Whether he gets a shot though would depend on how quickly he got back into shape. He had two years to get Holyfield again. Could he recover and get back into contention in that time? Yes, he could. Would Evander give him a return? Yes. I think he would. If it took a bit longer and Bowe was champ, does he get a shot? Not sure Rock Newman would have fancied it if Buster'd been showing some form on the comeback trail. I'm glad he didn't. He's got money, seems to have his health and is, by all accounts, a lovely man. And, yes, he bombed against Evander but he had his night in Tokyo where he thrilled the whole world. I'd settle for that.
