25 years ago today, James "Buster" Douglas (1 Viewer)

[Sinrman]

For whatever reason, I kept the Sports page the day after Tyson floored Spinx. The man was a BEAST back then. I was never a huge boxing fan, but admired his ridiculous ability. When Buster beat him, I was shocked, like

everyone else.

 

[jamny]

For whatever reason, I kept the Sports page the day after Tyson floored Spinx. The man was a BEAST back then. I was never a huge boxing fan, but admired his ridiculous ability. When Buster beat him, I was shocked, like

everyone else.

I remember racing to meet friends at a bar to catch the Spinks fight. You knew not to be late to a Tyson fight. I was too late. 90 seconds. I heard the cheers just as I got in the door.

 

[T Bell]

He took a dive

Always interesting when a huge chalk's odds go down right before the fight. From about 50-1 to 35-1 before it was pulled?

He didn't look as fit in that fight as he had been, and there were rumors about his training or lack thereof that came out. That's probably what led some money to go Douglas' way in the betting at the last minute.

 

[The General]

He took a dive.

I honestly think he would have confessed or let it slip by accident if he did at some point in the last couple of years.

Read his autobiography that came out last year and the guy really has lead one of the craziest lives of anyone out there.

 

[The General]

Bad beat. Should've never happened.

Black swan event. This is why these type of events should be best of 5

Each title fight would take like 2 years if this were the case.

 

[cstu]

He took a dive

Always interesting when a huge chalk's odds go down right before the fight. From about 50-1 to 35-1 before it was pulled?

He didn't look as fit in that fight as he had been, and there were rumors about his training or lack thereof that came out. That's probably what led some money to go Douglas' way in the betting at the last minute.

His life was a mess at that time - Cus was dead and Robin Givens played him for a fool.

However, the most over-looked thing was that Tyson was never as good as we wanted to believe.

 

[ILUVBEER99]

He took a dive.

I honestly think he would have confessed or let it slip by accident if he did at some point in the last couple of years.

Read his autobiography that came out last year and the guy really has lead one of the craziest lives of anyone out there.

Yup, there is no way Tyson took a dive in that fight, he was just unprepared and Douglas had the fight of his life. He almost knocked Douglas out, if he was taking a dive he wouldn't have tried to KO him.

Definitely the most memorable fight i've ever seen, so unexpected and was actually an awesome fight overall.

 

[Ditka Butkus]

Thanks for pointing out Deontay Wilder

Long reach and quick hands for a tall lanky guy. Leaves himself wide open with those windmill punches.

 

[Tennessee_ATO]

He took a dive.

I honestly think he would have confessed or let it slip by accident if he did at some point in the last couple of years.

Read his autobiography that came out last year and the guy really has lead one of the craziest lives of anyone out there.

Yup, there is no way Tyson took a dive in that fight, he was just unprepared and Douglas had the fight of his life. He almost knocked Douglas out, if he was taking a dive he wouldn't have tried to KO him.

Definitely the most memorable fight i've ever seen, so unexpected and was actually an awesome fight overall.

Douglas's mom had died shortly before the fight and he had dedicated the fight to her, which certainly helped his training and focus. The knock on his entire career to that point was always his commitment to training. That was born out when he ballooned for his next fight (a pasting by Holyfield).

Buster had one of the greatest post-fight quotes of all time. This is totally from a 25 year old memory, so take it with a grain of salt. Merchant tracked him down in the ring and asked, "Buster, what was your strategy coming into the fight?" or something functionally equivalent. Buster's response (and I think this is verbatim), "To do what I did, whip his ###".