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[fennec fox]

From Wikipedia:

James 'Buster' Douglas (born April 7, 1960) was a heavyweight boxer from Columbus, Ohio who scored one of the biggest upsets ever in the sport by knocking out then-undefeated Mike Tyson in 10 rounds in 1990.

Douglas had already been fighting since the early 1980s, but there was nothing in his record that suggested that he was capable of handing Tyson his first loss. In fact, bookmakers made him a 42-1 underdog for the February 10, 1990, fight in Tokyo, Japan. Douglas surprised the world by dominating the fight from the beginning, seemingly hitting Tyson at will with jabs and right hands and getting out of range when Tyson launched his own punches. Only in the 8th round did Tyson come close to victory. In the waning seconds of the round Mike Tyson hit Douglas with an uppercut to score the first knockdown of the fight. He was up at the count of 8, and the bell rang before Tyson could follow up on his sudden success. After the fight Tyson and his team would protest that the referee had started his count too late and that Douglas should have been counted out, but those protest were of no avail. In the 10th round, a devastating combination from Douglas floored Tyson for the first time in his boxing career. When Tyson failed to climb to his feet on time, the fight was over. For that upset, the public reaction could be typified with a cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine with his picture and the text, "Rocky Lives!" in allusion to the movie boxing hero who also defeated his champion opponent against all odds.

Douglas couldn't follow up on that success, however. In the following months he did little training and his weight ballooned. When he defended the title later in the year against Evander Holyfield, he was nowhere near the fighter he was when he had beaten Tyson. Holyfield knocked him out in three rounds and Douglas retired from boxing afterwards. A couple of years later he made a comeback. He was successful at first, but when unheralded Lou Savarese knocked him out in the first round he hung up his gloves for good.

I've been in the habit of watching old boxing matches, as they're always on ESPN Classic when I happen to be in front of the TV, and they showed this fight last night. Tyson looked like a badass muscular street fighter, but man, Buster just dominated his ass for the first seven rounds. Tyson must have done no training whatsoever beforehand.

I think the "slow count" accusation is BS, too, since Tyson got even more time for his own count afterward.

It was hilarious to see an incredibly young Evander Holyfield in the crowd, looking on. It was also hilarious to see how silent the Japanese crowd was the entire match -- the only people making any noice were the fighters' entourages. Finally, it was even more hilarious to see Buster make all these stupid poses to the camera after winning -- you could tell right off that he'd never bother training hard again.

Tyson definitely wins on the video game front, though.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I would like to hijack this into a "Buster" Keaton appreciation thread!

 

[fennec fox]

I would like to hijack this into a "Buster" Keaton appreciation thread!

Screw you!

 

[karasu]

What a zany fight.

 

[Team Rancid]

I liked the game

 

[bionic77]

I would have liked to have seen what Douglas could have done if he tried after this fight.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Douglas was a decent fighter, who just happened to rise up at the right time against a guy who thought he was invincible at the time. Tyson had just gone through a tone of turmoil in his personal life. Marriage on the rocks, personal assistant had died, fired the trainer that had been with him since the Cus D'mato days, and signed up with Don King. On top of that Tyson put a bunch of his friends in his corner who had no idea what they were doing.

Douglas, on the other hand, trained hard for his shot, and was inspired by the death of his mother just a short time before the fight. He was the first guy to not be afraid of Tyson when he entered the ring. He was big, and strong, and had his jab in Tyson's face all night. This fight is not an indicator of his ability as a fighter. It was basically a fluke brought on by circumstances. Just look what Evander Holyfield did to him in the next fight. Buster certainly left his mark on boxing, but he was just an inspired, but average, fighter, who rose up at the right time to knock off an over confident, undertrained, champ. Still, it was one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Too bad Douglas' career was mostly down hill from there. He did survive a diabetic coma though, and managed a semi-decent come back a few years ago.

On the video game front, it's no contest. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is a classic, while Buster Douglas Boxing falls under the Sega Sports Curse.