Fight Club: The night James Douglas proved Mike Tyson was human after all

Andy Lewis 10:13 16/02/2015
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  • On a high: James 'Buster Douglas' celebrates after he knocked-out Mike Tyson in their 1990 bout.

    A quarter of a century on and James ‘Buster’ Douglas still doesn’t get the credit he deserves for his near incomprehensible upset of Mike Tyson.

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    Indeed, 25 years ago this past week, on February 11, 1990, Douglas entered the ring a lamb to the slaughter, but emerged as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Left in his wake was a battered, confused, broken ‘Iron Mike’, who was so feared at the time, his opponent was rated as a 42-1 shot. Two years earlier Tyson had obliterated Michael Spinks in 89 seconds to confirm his status as the lineal champion of a division he had been menacing since a little after his 18th birthday.

    Left for dead: Mike Tyson was knocked out and left with a bruised eye from James Douglas.

    At 23, and still unbeaten, he had perfected his vicious blend of speed and power, not to mention a near demonic aura which so clearly spooked those who faced him.

    And with Douglas having a reputation as a quitter, few expected him to survive the early Tyson onslaught at the Tokyo Dome.

    Perhaps the Buster who had run out of gas while ahead on points fighting Tony Tucker for the IBF title in 1987 would have buckled.

    Douglas could never have been accused of lacking talent but commitment, discipline, mental strength and desire were the perceived weaknesses of a man whose fighting weight oscillated in tell-tale manner. But in 1990 something changed in him, and on that night in Japan he managed to draw upon the benefits of an unusually rigorous training camp and merge his skills with a steely focus he’d previously lacked and could never again harness.

    There was a good reason. Three weeks before the fight, Douglas – who was going through a divorce at the time – suffered more personal trauma as his mother suffered a stroke and died.

    But a situation which could have derailed everything instead had a galvanising effect.

    “Once I signed to fight him I knew that I could beat him. And then, of course, it intensified as my mom passed,” Douglas later explained. “She raised me to be a really strong man. So, really, like I said, that just intensified my training and my last couple of weeks before the fight. There was no doubt in my mind that I could do it.”

    Douglas’ belief was obvious from the very start. Where Frank Bruno, Tyson’s previous victim, had walked to the ring with terror etched on his face incessantly signing a cross on his chest, Douglas cut an authorative figure. Yet such was the scale of the upset, what subsequently unfolded will always be remembered as a freak episode – a sporting anomaly.

    What the bout is not remembered for is a genius performance from Douglas, who boxed with exceptional skill. His movement exasperated Tyson, and his imperious jab left him unable to see through a swollen left eye.

    The champion’s corner were so unprepared for the disaster confronting them they had failed to bring an enswell (eye iron) to control the damage, and were left scrambling around filling rub-ber gloves with cold water as an alternative.

    Still the question remained, though, how Douglas would react to adversity. That moment arrived in the eighth when a desperate Tyson finally floored him. Douglas was up at nine, his head clear, and in the 10th he put a bedraggled Tyson out of his misery. It was no lucky punch, no fluke.

    "But in 1990 something changed in him, and he merged his skills with a steely focus he’d previously lacked and could never again harness."

    He measured the shorter man for the uppercut perfectly, holding back for just a second as Tyson lurched forward before spearing it up through his feeble guard.

    The image of a disorientated Tyson on the floor fumbling around for his dislodged gumshield forever shattered his veneer of invincibility. The aftermath was of course sullied by claims from the Tyson camp that Douglas had benefitted from a long count in the eighth, and the Columbus man would be blown away by Evander Holyfield in his very first defence.

    But on that night in Tokyo he produced the performance of his life. A shocking upset that still resonates today.

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