More than two decades have passed since James ‘Buster’ Douglas’ knocked out the terrifying and seemingly invincible ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. If you were around then, you can still feel it.
It was not just a great fight, it is widely considered to be the greatest upset in boxing history, and one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Douglas a solid fighter, with a questionable heart. Tyson was Godzilla in Japan.
This is what happened.
Don King, the high-haired promoter, handled both fighters but certainly had more interest in a Tyson victory than one by Douglas. He was as shocked as anyone, especially since he was the person who made the fight.
“Everybody was shocked. So was I,” King said, sounding as though he still had a hard time believing the upset actually happened. “It always kept me humble to know this can happen. It was like a soul-searching thing. It was unbelievable, but this is something that can happen. It is one of the biggest upsets in sports history.
“It falls into the pantheon of the great upsets, right up there near the top. I also did ‘The Rumble In The Jungle.’ You had Muhammad Ali beating George Foreman in another big upset with a billion people watching. You have fights like that, you have Tyson and Douglas. This great sport of boxing can deliver that magic.”
Tyson was just 23 at the time and the most feared fighter in the world. He was a knockout machine who didn’t look like he could be stopped, and certainly not by Douglas, a decent-enough contender with a record of 29-4-1 with 19 KOs. But Douglas’ heart and work ethic were in serious question, especially after a 1987 bout against Tony Tucker, whom he had faced for a vacant belt.
Although Douglas was winning on the scorecards after nine rounds, he quit in the 10th round. So there was no chance he would be able to deal with Tyson’s relentless pressure, right?
Oh, so wrong.
“That’s a good fight. I don’t take it personal. I’ve watched it,” Tyson told ESPN.com in a 2011 interview. “I missed him with some bombs, but Buster was hurting me and he was moving pretty good. He did an awesome job. He did a great job. That was my bravest fight, one of my best fights. I took that beating like a man.”
Said King, “I didn’t think Buster would beat Tyson. If I said that I’d be telling a lie. But did he have a chance because he got the opportunity? In boxing, yesterday’s nobody can become tomorrow’s somebody. The man who wants it the most is going to come home with it. He had the will to win.”
“Nobody could beat Tyson but himself, and he beat himself,” King said. “He was so unbeatable, and everyone believed that and supported that theory that he strayed away from what had made him champion. He fell short there because he began to believe his own headlines. He took this guy lightly.”
Source: ESPN
