Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas
Date | February 11, 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Venue | Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Title(s) on the line | WBA, WBC and IBF undisputed heavyweight championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Douglas wins via 10th-round KO |
Background
Going into the fight, Mike Tyson was the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and was very popular at the time. He held the
Buster Douglas was ranked as the #7 heavyweight contender by Ring Magazine and had met with mixed success in his professional career up to that point. His
HBO boxing analysts Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley expected to see "another 90-second annihilation." (When asked by a Japanese customs official how long he expected to be working in Japan, Ed Schuyler of the Associated Press replied, "Oh, about ninety seconds.") Instead of discussing Douglas's chances against Tyson, Merchant and Lampley compared their pets: Tyson had a white pitbull named "Duran" (after his idol Roberto Durán) while Douglas had a beagle named "Shakespeare." Merchant, after saying that "this fight is over before it begins or soon thereafter" and describing Douglas as "just another frozen tuna" from the Tokyo fish market, opined that "any prizefighter with a dog named Shakespeare can't be all-bad." In an interview given to HBO prior to the fight, Douglas told reporters that his favorite Shakespeare play was the romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Lampley suggested that if Tyson were asked the same question (assuming he had read Shakespeare), he would choose something more bloody and violent, such as Henry the Fifth or Macbeth.[6]
Singer Bobby Brown wrote in his autobiography that he met with Tyson in Tokyo and the two partied extensively the night before the fight. Brown claims Tyson refused to go to sleep early for the fight, deeming Douglas "an amateur" he could beat "if I didn't sleep for five weeks".[7]
Fight
This section possibly contains original research. (March 2011) |
From the beginning of the fight, it was apparent that Douglas was not afraid. Douglas displayed a lot of spring in his body movement and was not cautious in letting his punches fly whenever he saw the opportunity to attack Tyson. He used his quick and accurate jab to prevent Tyson from getting inside, where Tyson was most dangerous. When Tyson tried to get inside, Douglas tied him up, moved away, or would immediately hit Tyson with multiple punches as Tyson came within Douglas' range. Early on, Douglas was more agile than Tyson and outlanded Tyson in exchanges. Douglas finished the second round with a snappy uppercut to Tyson's chin.[8]
Seeming to regain his form, Tyson landed a punishing left to the body that had Douglas look at his corner. After an ineffectual and lackluster third round, Tyson cornerman Jay Bright screamed at his fighter "Don't just stand there and look at him, you've gotta work!" Boxer "Sugar" Ray Leonard, at ringside doing commentary for HBO, noted Douglas' dominance with the jab and right hand and said Tyson was having one of those occasional days in the ring where "you just don't have it...things just don't click in".
Douglas would still dominate the middle rounds, although Tyson managed to land a few of his signature uppercuts. Tyson was wobbled by a chopping right during the fifth round. Soon, Tyson's left eye began to swell from Douglas' right jabs, preventing him from seeing his opponent's punches well.
Within the last ten seconds of the eighth round, Tyson, who had been backed onto the ropes, landed a big right uppercut that sent Douglas to the canvas. Although the knockdown timekeeper began when Douglas's backside touched the ring's surface, the referee was said to have started his own count behind by two beats. Douglas rose as the referee signaled nine, but the bell ended the round. In obvious annoyance at his own lapse, Douglas pounded his left fist on the mat.
In the ninth round, Tyson came out aggressively to try to end the fight and save his title, hoping that Douglas was still hurt from the knockdown. Douglas was able to fight off Tyson's attack and was able to close Tyson's eye completely. Both men traded punches before Douglas connected on a four-punch combination that staggered Tyson back to the ropes. With Tyson hurt along the ropes, Douglas closed in and unleashed a four-punch attack to try to knock Tyson out. Tyson withstood the punishment and barely survived the round.
In the tenth round, Tyson pushed forward, but he was still hurting from the accumulation of punishment he had absorbed throughout the match. As Tyson advanced, Douglas measured him with a few jabs before landing an uppercut that snapped Tyson's head upward, stopping Tyson in his tracks. As Tyson reeled back, Douglas immediately followed with four punches to the head, knocking Tyson down for the first time in his career. In a famous scene, Tyson fumbled for his mouthpiece on the canvas before sticking one end in his mouth with the other end hanging out. The champion attempted to make it back to his feet, but referee Octavio Meyran counted him out. Buster Douglas thus became the new undisputed heavyweight champion, engineering one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. The official scorecards through nine rounds were 87–86 for Tyson, 86–86, and 88–83 for Douglas.
During the post-fight interview, Douglas broke down in tears when asked why he was able to win this fight when no one thought he could. "Because of my mother...God bless her heart," said the emotional new champion.
Merchant concluded that it was the expulsion of Kevin Rooney, who still rooted for Tyson every time he watched him fight (despite their split), which led to the stunning knockout loss. Merchant said Tyson needed Rooney in much the same way that Muhammad Ali needed Angelo Dundee. Merchant speculated that with Rooney in his corner, Tyson would have managed to end the fight on his feet, and to change the tide of the fight, exactly as in the Tucker fight, after he was rocked in the first round but weathered the storm with Rooney's help and came back determined to win, outboxing his opponent.[6] Butch Lewis shared the same opinion, believing that after he got rid of Rooney, Tyson found himself in a situation where there was no one to enforce compliance with the training regimen and a normal daily routine, and tell him "Back on track, Mike!" when needed. So did Jerry Izenberg, who commented:[10] "They assemble a corner for that fight which looks like it was picked up out of the semi-finals of the Intercity Golden Gloves."
Aftermath
As a 42-1 underdog,[11] Douglas earned $1.3 million from the fight while Tyson got $6 million.[8]
Tyson's camp, led by
In an HBO studio interview with Merchant the following week, Douglas stated the protest and post-fight confusion ruined what should have been the best time of his life.
At the time of the fight, Don King was said to have been negotiating for Tyson's next fight to be in the fall in Berlin against former champion Greg Page, who had decked Tyson while sparring with him three weeks before the Douglas fight. A future Mike Tyson versus George Foreman fight to be promoted by the Sultan of Brunei was also shelved.[8]
Plans for a rematch fell through, so Douglas' first title defence was against No. 1 contender
Tyson would fight four more times after the Douglas fight before being convicted of raping beauty pageant contestant
Buster Douglas went down in sports lore as a prize fighter who defied the odds to pull off one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Among the honors was a cover photo on an issue of
In popular culture
The fight appeared in the Mike Tyson Mysteries episode "Help a Brother Out".
Douglas's upset against Tyson is the inspiration for
The fight is referenced in a short film by Paradigm Studios when a boxer, who came out of retirement, made a promise to his dying son; the short film also references how Douglas made a promise to his dying mother that he would win.
Undercard
Confirmed bouts:[28]
Broadcasting
Country | Broadcaster | Studio host | Studio analyst/s | Play by play Announcer | Color commentator/s |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brazil | Rede Bandeirantes | Elia Junior | Alexandre Santos | Newton Campos | |
Japan | Nippon TV | None | Kazuo Tokumitsu, Shigeo Nagashima and Junji Yamagiwa | Toshimi Ashizawa, Masashi Funakoshi and Yoshihiko Murayama (guest) | Fighting Harada, Tsuyoshi Hamada, Shigeo Nagashima and Evander Holyfield (guest) |
Philippines | IBC 13 | None | Freddie Abando | Ron delos Reyes | None |
United Kingdom | Sky | Paul Dempsey | Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis and Glenn McCrory | Ian Darke | Colin Hart and Evander Holyfield (guest) |
United States | HBO | None | None | Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley | Sugar Ray Leonard and Evander Holyfield (Guest) |
References
- ^ "Mike Tyson vs. James (Buster) Douglas". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Douglas' knockout of Tyson still resonates 20 years later". Sports Illustrated. 2010-02-11. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "This Month In Boxing History: Buster Douglas – Mike Tyson 1990". Saddo Boxing. 2006-02-16. Archived from the original on 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ "Timeline James "Buster" Douglas". The Columbus Dispatch. 2007-06-08. Archived from the original on 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ a b "Douglas reflects on upset, talks Pacquiao-Mayweather, MMA". Sports Illustrated. 2010-02-11. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ a b Mike Tyson vs James "Buster" Douglas - ENTIRE HBO PROGRAM.
- ISBN 978-0062442550.
- ^ a b c d e Hoffer, Richard. "Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson in 10th round". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com.
- ^ Solotaroff, Ivan (2010-08-10). "Everything You Think You Know About Mike Tyson Is Wrong". Details. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
- ^ Mike Tyson - The Fallen Champ (The Untold Story), ESPN Classic.
- ^ "ESPN: Page 2 : Boxing still capable of crashing party". proxy.espn.com.
- ^ Berger, Phil (1990-02-12). "Boxing Officials Could Overturn Defeat of Tyson". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ "What They Really Meant to Say Was..." Los Angeles Times. 1990-02-14. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ Berger, Phil (1990-02-14). "Tyson Concedes; Wants Rematch". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ Rosenthal, Michael (March 12, 2010). "Where Does Pacquiao Rank All Time". The Ring. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
- ^ Berger, Phil (1990-10-26). "Holyfield Flattens Douglas and Takes the Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ "Douglas reflects on upset, talks Pacquiao-Mayweather, MMA". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ Kram, Mark (1990-02-14). "Buster Beats The Count Debate; Rematch Likely". Philly.com. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
- ^ Raissman, Bob (1999-07-21). "TYSON-DOUGLAS REMATCH IN WORKS". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
- ^ "Douglas wants rematch with Tyson". Bangor Daily News. 1995-02-21. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
- ^ "Apex: Tyson reduces Spinks to dust". ESPN. 8 June 2005. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ https://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sports/ci_2798815
- ^ "The List: Biggest upsets". ESPN. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- Daily Telegraph. Archived from the originalon 2010-02-14. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
- ^ "The 10 Biggest Upsets In Heavyweight Title Fight History". EastSideBoxing. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
- ^ "Greatest Upsets In Sports History". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ^ The Killers: Brandon Flowers Fights Back From The Brink. Q Magazine. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- ^ "BoxRec - event".
This was in 1992, as no award in 1991.