Buster Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield

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The Moment of Truth
DateOctober 25, 1990
VenueThe Mirage, Paradise, Nevada
Title(s) on the lineWBA, WBC and IBF undisputed heavyweight championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer United States James Douglas United States Evander Holyfield
Nickname "Buster" "The Real Deal"
Hometown Columbus, Ohio
Atlanta, Georgia
Purse $24,075,000 $8,025,000
Pre-fight record 30–4–1 (1) (20 KO) 24–0 (20 KO)
Age 30 years, 6 months 28 years
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 246 lb (112 kg) 208 lb (94 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA, WBC and IBF undisputed
Heavyweight Champion		 WBA/WBC/IBF
No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion
Result
Holyfield defeated Douglas by 3rd round KO

USA and saw Douglas making the first defense of the titles he won from Mike Tyson
in February 1990.

Background

After becoming the first boxer in history to win all three major sanctioning organizations' world titles in the cruiserweight division, Evander Holyfield decided to move up in class and take on the top heavyweights. In his first fight at heavyweight he defeated James Tillis by knockout and then knocked out former champion Pinklon Thomas before the year was out. Shortly after that Holyfield became regarded as the No. 1 contender to Mike Tyson, who was the undisputed champion of the division and who in 1988 won the lineal championship from Michael Spinks. A match between the two was signed for June 18, 1990, and Tyson elected to take a tuneup fight on February 11, 1990, against fringe contender James "Buster" Douglas in Tokyo. Despite having been regarded as a top contender for the title in the past, Douglas' reputation was as a lazy, out of shape fighter who did not pay much attention to his training. As a result, most casinos didn't even bother to make odds for the fight. The only one that did so, the Mirage, installed Tyson as a 42-1 favorite. Douglas was not given much chance to last against him. Not only had Tyson never been defeated, but he had only gone the distance four times in his career and had not gone past the fifth round with an opponent since Tyrell Biggs took him to the seventh round in 1987.

Douglas, however, had other plans and subjected a stunned champion to a severe pounding. Tyson was so unprepared that his corner did not bring proper equipment to the fight, with no ice bag or

Don King, claimed that referee Octavio Meyran had not properly counted the knockdown on Douglas from the eighth round (saying that Douglas was down for ten seconds and not the eight count he received), and that the result should be reversed and Tyson should instead be declared the winner. The WBA and WBC initially agreed with King and announced that they would not recognize Douglas as champion until they reviewed the allegations, though the IBF accepted the result as valid.[2] After much public backlash, King rescinded his protest and both organizations officially recognized Douglas as champion.[3] Though Tyson and his camp had hoped for a rematch[4] Douglas ultimately decided to defend his title against the top contender and signed a fight with Holyfield.[5] Prior to the fight, it was announced that Douglas and Holyfield would split a $32,100,000 purse with Douglas guaranteed a then-record $24,075,000, the largest purse ever paid to a single fighter at the time. Holyfield, meanwhile, would earn $8,025,000.[6]

Pioneering Television Sales

Casino mogul Steve Wynn, then chairman of the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, hosted the Douglas-Holyfield fight and made an unprecedented move to manage the television pay-per-view and international sales through his own organization with the help of individual consultants with expertise.[7] Typically the pay-per-view rights were sold to local US cable operators via either Showtime or HBO, and international rights were sold through the champion's promoter. Wynn hired Mike Trainer, known best for his work as attorney for Sugar Ray Leonard to distribute the international rights directly for the Mirage, and sought out an entrepreneurial television producer who would produce the manage and arrange distribution to over 100 countries around the world. He selected Alexis Denny, formerly of ABC Sports and CBS News, and who had been one of the only people in sports television to work on all 3 Leonard-Duran fights, boxing's most well-known trilogy of the 80s.[8] Denny set up a distribution plan for providing interviews and training footage, in addition to other promotional material on behalf of the Mirage, to broadcasters on every continent, including major rights holders in the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, Germany, Australia and more. From a business perspective, the rights fees earned and the reviews of the international production created by Denny and Wynn were a big success. The fight itself, however, proved more disappointing.

The fight

An out-of-shape Douglas came into the fight weighing 246 pounds, 15 pounds heavier than he was for the Tyson fight. Holyfield, meanwhile came into the fight at a lean and fit 208 pounds and dominated the sluggish Douglas, winning both the first and second rounds. In the third round, Douglas attempted to hit Holyfield with an uppercut. Not only did Douglas telegraph the punch, he missed Holyfield completely and knocked himself off balance. Holyfield countered with a straight right to Douglas' chin, knocking the champion flat on his back as referee Mills Lane counted him out. Douglas remained on the canvas for several seconds after the knockout and needed to be helped up twice before he got to his corner.

Aftermath

Douglas was heavily criticised for both his excessive weight gain and his lackluster in-ring performance.[9] His former promoter King was particularly critical, shooting down any chance of a Douglas–Tyson rematch while also calling Douglas' performance "disgraceful".[10] Douglas left boxing after this, not to return until 1996. He won the first six fights of his comeback before being knocked out in the first round by Lou Savarese. He won his next two fights before retiring for good in 1999.

Holyfield's first defense of his title came on April 19, 1991, against former heavyweight champion

1997 rematch, then followed it with a defeat of Moorer in a rematch to reclaim the IBF title. After losing his titles in a unification fight with Lennox Lewis in 1999, Holyfield won his fourth heavyweight title by defeating John Ruiz for the WBA title in 2000. He promptly lost the title in his next fight against Ruiz, and after a draw in their third match
, Holyfield largely faded away from the title scene.

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:[11]

Broadcasting

Country Broadcaster
 United States Showtime

References

  1. ^ "James (Buster) Douglas vs. Evander Holyfield". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  2. ^ Boxing Officials Could Overturn Defeat of Tyson, N.Y. Times article, 1990-02-12, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  3. ^ What They Really Meant to Say Was . . ., L.A. Times article, 1990-02-14, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  4. ^ Tyson Concedes; Wants Rematch, N.Y. Times article, 1990-02-14, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  5. ^ Douglas Shuns Tyson For Holyfield, N.Y. Times article, 1990-02-19, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  6. ^ Record Jackpot for Douglas, N.Y. Times article, 1990-06-11, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  7. ^ "Enough Bang for the Bucks?: Douglas v Holyfield". Los Angeles Times. 21 October 1990. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  8. ^ "The Sugar Ray Leonard Roberto Duran Trilogy". saddoboxing.com. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  9. ^ All He Needed Was a Mask and Gun, L.A. Times article, 1990-10-26, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  10. ^ No Tyson-Douglas Rematch Planned, King Says, L.A. Times article, 1990-10-29, Retrieved on 2013-05-13
  11. ^ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Buster Douglas's bouts
25 October 1990 		Succeeded by
vs. Tony LaRosa
Preceded by Evander Holyfield's bouts
25 October 1990 		Succeeded by
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