Twenty-five years ago today, the sports world ? and a sizable chunk of the general public ? experienced a powerful ?Where were you?? moment. James ?Buster? Douglas, who was such a prohibitive underdog that only one Las Vegas bookmaker (the Mirage) was willing to post odds of any sort, became the new undisputed heavyweight champion of the world by scoring a dominant, devastating, off-the-floor 10th round knockout over the previously undefeated Mike Tyson.
The combination of the final result, the way it was achieved and the fighter who pulled it off produced global shock waves and the very idea that it happened at all literally drove this scribe to his knees.
I had just returned home from my job on the copy desk of the Parkersburg News and Sentinel in Parkersburg, WV, which I had begun exactly one month earlier. As I walked into the living room, my older sister was sitting to my right and the TV was on. The first image I saw was a close-up of the WBC championship belt.
?Oh, the fight must be over and they?re interviewing the winner,? I thought. ?I wonder what Tyson has to say.?
Except when HBO?s cameraman pulled back and panned up, I realized that the belt was around Douglas? waist, not Iron Mike?s.
Upon seeing this, I dropped to my knees, turned to my right and exclaimed, ?No!?
?Yes!? my sister replied.
?How?!? I asked.
?By knockout,? she reported.
?Don?t tell me any more,? I said. ?I want to see this for myself.?
As always, I had set the timer on the VCR in my bedroom just before I left for work and I trusted that it had worked properly. It had. Even though I knew the final result, I didn?t know when it occurred or how it was executed. I watched with a mixture of astonishment and exhilaration as I saw the drama unfold, then conclude. The rush was such that it took quite a while to fall asleep. Just as was the case when Leon Spinks upset Muhammad Ali nearly 12 years earlier, I struggled to wrap my mind around the concept that this most unlikely of fighters now held the most celebrated prize in sport.
The announcement of the Tyson-Douglas fight was met with a collective yawn and, in most quarters, the challengers? chances of success were summarily dismissed. One Sports Illustrated writer captured the mood when he wrote that Tyson would go through Douglas ?faster than a plate of tuna in a sushi bar.?
Based on past performances, that line of thinking was sensible. The electrifying 23-year-old champion was 37-0 with 33 knockouts and was making the 10th defense of the WBC belt he won from Trevor Berbick in Nov. 1986. He added the WBA strap less than four months later by beating James ?Bonecrusher? Smith, won IBF recognition by decisioning Tony Tucker in Aug. 1987 and earned lineal status four fights later by blitzing Michael Spinks in 91 seconds. ?Iron Mike?s? magnificently muscled physique not only produced massive two-fisted power but also generated mind-blowing hand speed. His knockouts were the very definition of the term ?highlight-reel material.? Fighters didn?t just fall down; they were splayed, splattered and steamrolled. Jaws were broken; ribs were smashed and psyches were ruined. His menacing disposition in press conferences and inside the ring intimidated even the largest and most imposing of opponents and the fact that Tyson himself stood under six feet made that aspect of his ring profile even more impressive. To many, Tyson indeed was the ?baddest man on the planet? and to historians, his physical and psychological supremacy linked him to the likes of John L. Sullivan, Jim Jeffries, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Sonny Liston and George Foreman.
His level of dominance also prompted thoughts of what Tyson could achieve. Should he beat Douglas, then turn back Evander Holyfield in their already-scheduled June 18 showdown, Tyson would be in position to perhaps surpass Louis? divisional (and all-time) record of 25 consecutive defenses and 11 years, 255 days as champion. Heck, by the time Tyson would reach that mark, he?d be only 32.
The conventional wisdom of the time said that the fighter who would beat Tyson would be tall and long-armed, fire snappy jabs and powerful crosses, own a solid chin and possess enough mental fortitude to bounce back from Tyson?s firepower and burn him with plenty of his own. Several Tyson opponents had the physical tools but lacked the wherewithal to sustain whatever successes they managed, mostly because Tyson inflicted enough damage to quell the threats. To date, journeyman James ?Quick? Tillis came the closest to derailing the Tyson Express as his wiles got him to within a 6-4 rounds score on two cards while the first-round bombs of Tony Tucker and Frank Bruno briefly shook Tyson?s foundations. Otherwise, it had been one-way traffic.
The 29-year-old Douglas certainly had good physical equipment. At 6-foot-4, he was tall enough and his 83-inch wingspan was a full foot longer than Tyson?s. His jab was the centerpiece of an attack that included a solid right and decent combination punching. He had enough pop in his fists to include 19 knockouts in his 29-4-1 (1 NC) record. He also was a second-generation fighter, for his father was hard-bitten middleweight/light heavyweight Billy ?Dynamite? Douglas, who went 41-16-1 (31) between 1967-1980 and had fought the likes of Wilbert ?Skeeter? McClure (TKO 10), Willie Warren (W 10), Don Fullmer (D 10), Tom ?The Bomb? Bethea (W 10, L 10), Bennie Briscoe (TKO by 8), Willie ?The Worm? Monroe (L 10), Victor Galindez (L 10), Matthew Saad Muhammad (TKO by 6) and Marvin Johnson (TKO by 5).
The main criticism against Douglas was that while he was physically superior to his father, he lacked his drive. Three of his four losses were by knockout and the fight most critics pointed to when describing his shortcomings was his 10th round TKO loss to Tucker for Spinks? vacated IBF title. Scaling a well-conditioned 227, Douglas, the number-two contender, boxed his way to an early lead. But just when it appeared he was on his way to upsetting the 4-to-1 odds against him, Douglas suddenly unraveled. A barrage of unanswered punches prompted referee Mills Lane to stop the fight. Based on that fight, many observers felt Douglas, while owning good physical tools, lacked the mental strength to give Tyson a proper challenge.
In Joe Layden?s book, ?The Last Great Fight,? Douglas laid most of the blame on himself but also cited discord between his father and the other two men in the corner, co-trainer/uncle JD McCauley and manager John Johnson.
?I was just going through the motions,? Douglas said in the book. ?Watch the tape. You can still see it if you look in the corner. J.D. would go to give me water, and my dad would snap the water bottle out of his hand. And Johnny would just be standing there, saying nothing. It was all mental. There wasn?t any problems with me physically. They always say that bulls**t about me running out of gas. I was in great shape. I was 227 pounds. Physically I was ready for that fight. Mentally? Man that?s something else. I?m telling you, I was on cruise control. I?m lucky I didn?t get hurt, because I was just going through the motions. Shadowboxing ? that?s what I was doing. I guess I just got tired of everything.?
Whatever the reasons for Douglas? defeat, the pre-fight template was established: Tyson would tear through Douglas in short order to set up the superfight with Holyfield. Under virtually every scenario, a prime Tyson would have done just that but a confluence of circumstances served to erode Tyson?s level while enhancing Douglas?.
While Tyson still was years away from his chronological prime, his party-hearty lifestyle and listless preparation devastated him physically while the chaos surrounding his marriage to actress Robin Givens and the legal war between manager Bill Cayton and promoter Don King adversely affected him psychologically. Finally, the removal of trainer Kevin Rooney and the insertion of King-favored Aaron Snowell and Jay Bright would end up negatively impacting Tyson during the bout. Even after Greg Page floored Tyson during a public sparring session on Jan. 23, the champion still was regarded as the runaway favorite. That?s because, at least thus far, Tyson?s troubles weren?t reflected in his in-ring performances. Tyson was riding a six-fight KO string and only one opponent ? Tyrell Biggs ? managed to last past round five. Douglas, too, had won his last six bouts, including back-to-back wins over former champ Berbick and future champ Oliver McCall.
As Tyson?s life careened wildly from crisis to crisis, Douglas greatly bolstered his prospects on multiple fronts. With his father now out of the corner by mutual agreement, Douglas? team of John Russell, McCauley and Johnson was solidified. His training sessions were focused, purposeful and productive, resulting in a toned physique and ring tools that were sharpened to the finest edge.
But not all was perfect in Douglas? world beyond the ropes. He and wife Bertha were estranged while the mother of his 11-year-old son Lamar recently had been hospitalized for a severe kidney ailment. The worst news came during the early-morning hours of Jan. 18 when he was told his mother, Lula Pearl had suffered a massive stroke. By the time he arrived at her home, she was gone. She was just 47 years old.
Knowing his mother would have wanted him to be strong in every way, Douglas remained on track. When he arrived at Port Columbus International Airport to begin his journey to the Pacific Rim, he was a very confident ? and exceptionally prepared ? man.
The results of his hard work were evident at the weigh-in as the scale read 231 1/2, 11 pounds lighter than in his last fight against McCall nearly seven months earlier. Tyson, who reportedly was as high as 300 when he began training and 240 two weeks earlier, had managed to weigh a relatively svelte 220 1/2. Nothing that happened at the weigh-in persuaded anyone to change their minds about the ultimate outcome. Tim May, a columnist for the Columbus Dispatch, predicted victory for Douglas but to virtually everyone else, this showcase was the appetizer that was to be served before July?s main course ? Tyson-Holyfield. ?The Real Deal? himself was at ringside to scout his presumptive opponent ? and to make sure the $12 million he stood to make was secure.
Although the 3,000 $1,000-per-ticket ringside seats were filled, large swaths of blue could be seen within the 63,000-seat boxing configuration inside the Tokyo Dome. Those who did buy tickets were subdued, perhaps due to the 12:30 p.m. start time.
An energetic Douglas bounced down the aisle, then, after stepping through the ropes, hopped lightly and effortlessly on his toes as he awaited Tyson?s arrival. An iron-faced Tyson strode toward the ring with a smaller-than-usual entourage and, as was his custom, eschewed a robe in favor of a towel with a hole cut in it. Tyson impatiently waited out the pre-fight festivities, which included the awarding of the WBA?s ?Joe Louis Heavyweight Super Belt? signifying his many successful title defenses.
Douglas continued to bounce and shadow-box throughout the pre-fight pageantry while Tyson, eyes focused on the floor, mostly paced slowly from corner to corner while only occasionally engaging in warming-up exercises. The stare-down, what there was of it, was brief and devoid of drama.
The fight itself, however, was the complete opposite.
It took just a few seconds to realize that Douglas? hand and foot speed was at least comparable to his six-years-younger opponent. Moving in small semi-circles in both directions and using subtle upper-body feints as well as affixing brief but well-timed clinches, Douglas also showed a feisty side as he fired two punches on the break. A sharp right to the face followed by a double-jab moments later showed that Douglas could penetrate Tyson?s guard. Several more right leads in the final minute not only allowed him to reach the end of the first round ? something 17 previous Tyson opponents had failed to do ? but to win it. According to CompuBox, Douglas out-landed Tyson 22-8, including 12-5 in jabs.
?That was a good round for Douglas and I gave it to him,? HBO analyst Larry Merchant declared. ?Probably the best round I?ve ever seen him fight.?
There would be more ?best rounds? for Douglas this day ? many more.
Douglas started the second by throwing combinations at close range, many of which found the target with impressive regularity. Tyson tried to use his once-vaunted side-to-side upper body movement but because it lacked its previous verve, it wasn?t nearly enough to avoid the challenger?s missiles. Tyson?s singular scuds mostly found air or gloves and those that did get through inflicted little, if any, damage. Most importantly for Douglas, he never was a stationary target; he continually shifted his position, moved his upper body and changed angles. And yes, he punched and punched effectively.
With each passing second, Douglas? self-belief was felt by everyone observing him. For once, a Tyson opponent was living up to his pre-fight declarations of bravery. At least for now, he was fearless.
Midway through the second, a right lead to the temple briefly stunned Tyson and another series of rights a minute later triggered a cascade of leather that had Tyson befuddled, if not bedazzled. A frustrated Tyson tried to hit Douglas on the break but it, like most of the rest of his punches, missed. Out-landing Tyson 30-8 in total punches, Douglas won the second round by an even bigger margin than the first.
?I don?t know if he?s going to shock the world but he?s shocked me so far,? said Merchant.
Tyson started the third with a hook to the body, his best punch thus far, but Douglas swiftly returned to long range and nailed the champion with his own piercing right, then a prickly right/left to the face. Tyson continually fell into clinches instead of unleashing his formidable body attack and while he tried to sneak in a stray elbow from time to time, mostly he languished until referee Octavio Meyran broke them. As for Douglas, he throttled down his pace and rested. Though Tyson was out-landed 20-12, the third was, for him, a better round comparatively as he landed several singular body shots in the final minute.
Still, it was clear that Tyson wasn?t on his A-game. He was passive, passionless and incredibly impotent. For the first time, the urgency level in the champion?s corner increased.
?Six-four-one inside, don?t just stand there and look at him; work!? barked Bright.
?You?re not closing the gap, Mike,? added Snowell, who continued to speak in low tones. ?You?ve got to get inside, like jabbing and moving your head. When you get on the inside, you?ve got to punch. Punch, Mike. Jab, jab, jab, overhand right and come back with the left hook. Relax. You?re too flat-footed in there.?
?Right,? Tyson replied. But according to his autobiography, ?Undisputed Truth,? he was thinking, ?No f*****g s**t. Why don?t you try to get inside? The guy had a 12-inch reach advantage on me.?
How commanding was Douglas so far? After three rounds, Tyson threw 73 punches. Douglas, on the other hand, had landed 73 punches.
Douglas commenced the fourth by firing bursts of jabs, several of which found Tyson?s face. Even as he continued to control the action, questions about his stamina arose. Along with his history of tiring late, Douglas had been battling flu-like symptoms and was taking penicillin and antihistamines to combat them.
?About 30 seconds [into the pre-fight interview], I start to realize that this guy has one of the worst head colds I?d ever heard in my life,? Ross Greenburg, who served as executive producer for HBO?s broadcast, said in Layden?s book. ?I mean, just a horrendous head cold. And I?m kind of thinking, ?What? How is he going to get in the ring? This is insanity!? His voice sounded like he had a head full of congestion.?
The illness obviously didn?t have any effect on his technique, for with a minute to go in the fourth, Douglas threw a jab, nipped back in a semi-circle, planted his right foot and delivered a flush right to the jaw. Tyson couldn?t do much more than rush in behind cuffing punches and let himself be grabbed.
With another round in Douglas? column, Snowell now upped the intensity ? and the volume level ? of his instructions.
?You?ve got to use that seven (jab) to get inside, Mike, to back this guy up and you got to move that head,? he urged.
?You won all four rounds,? Douglas was told. ?You got to hold your concentration. It?ll come back; everything will be there.?
In the fifth, it was. Douglas hammered Tyson with jabs and a big right in the opening minute stunned the champion. A jolting left/right/left appeared to wobble Tyson and, at that point, one had to ponder two results that, a half-hour ago, bordered on lunacy: (1) A Douglas victory and (2) a Douglas victory by knockout.
Douglas? repeated rights helped create a 33-11 connect gap in the fifth and raised a knot over Tyson?s left eye. The challenger punctuated the session by throwing a right hand a full two seconds after the bell, showing the bully that he would not stand to be bullied.
Few believed the fight would go five full rounds and that carelessness apparently extended to cutman Taylor Smith, who neglected to pack an Enswell to address the swelling.
Snowell, the chief second, was forced to make an infamous audible as he filled a latex-based object with cold water and pressed it against Tyson?s eye. Snowell said it was a glove but Tyson said in his autobiography that it appeared to be an extra-large condom. Whatever it was, it didn?t work.
At ringside, blow-by-blow man Jim Lampley and Merchant began to sift through their memory banks to put this potential stunner into perspective.
?This would create a new standard of upsets if this went on,? Merchant said.
?[Max] Baer and [Jim] Braddock, not as big as this,? Lampley agreed.
The sixth and seventh rounds featured more of the same: Douglas controlling the action and Tyson pursuing the one-punch knockout. As round seven began, Lampley and Merchant noted the eerily silent crowd, which seemed shocked by the proceedings. The Godzilla-like creature that destroyed Tony Tubbs two years earlier was nowhere to be seen and their muteness was such that the cornermen?s instructions were clearly perceived and the punches could be heard through the headsets. But as the second minute of round eight neared completion, Lampley asked the question that was on countless minds.
?Can you imagine: James ?Buster? Douglas, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world??
?It?s not over yet, Jim,? analyst Sugar Ray Leonard replied. And, as if on cue, Tyson confirmed the wisdom of Leonard?s caution.
Moments after Douglas stunned Tyson with yet another right hand and after backing him to the ropes and belting him with combinations, Tyson cranked a short right uppercut to the jaw that dropped Douglas as if he were shot. Douglas regained his feet by Meyran?s count of nine but since four seconds remained in the round when Douglas was decked, the round-ending bell sounded.
It has been written that the last asset that leaves a spent fighter is his punching power. With one single blow, Tyson had pushed back an avalanche of adversity and had put himself in position to save his championship.
A resurrected Tyson pursued the knockout at the start of the ninth but after just missing with a dangerous short hook, Douglas successfully tied him up and bought a few more seconds of recuperation. Tyson added a left to the body and two hooks but 25 seconds into the round, Douglas proved he had fully recovered as he jolted Tyson with a right lead followed by a fusillade of blows that forced Tyson to retreat and the crowd to roar in astonishment. Tyson then rocked Douglas with a compact right to the chin that raised the hopes of his faithful. However, that mini-rally was snuffed out by Douglas? octopus-like arms as well as Tyson?s own weariness.
By reasserting his credentials as a power puncher, the suspense that hung over the arena now was two-pronged: Would Douglas complete the enormous upset or would Tyson prove himself an even greater champion by conquering the ultimate adversity? With both men?s batteries running low, the race to the finish line was desperate.
With a little more than a minute left in the ninth, Douglas summoned a four-punch volley highlighted by a power jab to the ear that had Tyson teetering sideways. He retreated to the ropes near his corner for much-needed support and Douglas blasted away with strafing blows that had the champion?s head snapping like a speed bag. Following a brief respite, Douglas fired another hurtful flurry that had Tyson at a virtual standstill. Then finally, the bell ended the most dramatic round yet.
The heart that many said failed Douglas against Tucker was on ferocious display in round nine. On this night, Douglas not only brought all the physical skills needed to tame the monster to life, he also embodied the intangibles that were equally necessary to overcome a great champion?s gifts. By rising from the knockdown and rallying so strongly, Douglas cleared one of the final hurdles between himself and his ultimate, seemingly impossible dream.
After a round that saw Douglas out-land Tyson 37-12 and connect on 64% of his total punches, one had to wonder what Buster could do for an encore. That answer would come soon enough.
With a minute gone in the 10th, Douglas poked out a series of range-finding jabs that set up a murderous right uppercut that grotesquely snapped Tyson?s 19-inch neck upward. A final right/left to the face sent Tyson crashing to the canvas directly in front of the challenger?s corner. Tyson desperately tried to find the gumshield that flew out of his mouth when his back hit the floor. Once he did, he stuffed it in halfheartedly and rockily hauled himself up just after Meyran tolled nine. But unlike Douglas, who was erect and in control of his faculties at nine, Tyson?s condition was badly compromised, a state that moved Meyran to wave his arms overhead and stop the fight.
?This makes Cinderella look like a sad story,? Merchant declared as Douglas and his corner erupted in wild celebration. A still unsteady Tyson needed to be told, ?You were counted out?K-O.?
The CompuBox stats revealed the high-impact nature of the contest. Douglas out-landed Tyson 230-101 overall, 128-23 in jabs and 102-78 in power shots and connected on 52% of his total punches, 53% of his jabs and 52% of his hooks, crosses and uppercuts. Though badly out-gunned in terms of volume, Tyson showed that when he punched, he landed. He connected on 47% of his total punches, 30% of his jabs and an impressive 57% of his power shots but because he mustered only 22.6 punches per round to Douglas? 46.7, he was, for the first time, on the losing end of the equation.
As stunning as those statistics were, the judges? scorecards revealed that Tyson was still in the fight mathematically. While Larry Rozadilla saw Douglas a rightful 88-82 leader, Masakazu Uchida scored the fight even at 86-86, while Ken Morita astonishingly had Tyson ahead 87-86. Thankfully for Douglas, the challenger?s fists removed Uchida and Morita from the equation.
?I told you in the [interview] room that it was time for James ?Buster? Douglas to come out of the closet,? the new champ told Merchant. ?I told you that I also had times where I had great fights and come back with two or three fights where I was mediocre and I would leave a lot of doubt. I don?t blame you guys [the media]; you guys go by what you see. But I know and my people know what the real James Douglas was all about.?
On the knockdown, Douglas credited Tyson for landing a good shot but blamed himself for his carelessness.
?A man over 200 pounds has a good shot,? he said. ?I was just starting to get real relaxed. I got hit and I came back and sucked it up. But I knew I had him also. Every time he tried to get off, I would come back and offset him by beating him to his punch. And another thing: I was very relaxed. I wasn?t afraid of him and I fear no man because I believe in God. That?s the only man I fear.?
As the WBC belt was strapped around his waist, Douglas couldn?t help but be wistful about the moment.
?I watched you on HBO thousands of times putting belts on guys and interviewing guys and I said, ?One day, it?s going to be me,’? he said. ?And thank God it was me today. Like my dad said, you hit him with shots; let him take it and I go, ?Oh, OK, you want to take a shot, yeah, be a tough guy.? Just keep chopping on him, keep chopping on him and eventually he?s going to go. And that?s what happened. As you seen over there, he was flat on his ass!?
With his meal ticket suddenly title-less, Tyson?s promoter, Don King pulled out an unexpected trump card that almost forced the boxing world to un-see what they just saw. At a hastily arranged news conference seven hours after the fight, it was announced that Team Tyson, led by King, lodged a protest with the WBA, WBC and IBF to contend that Douglas did not get up within the required 10 seconds at the end of round eight and that the first ?knockout? should nullify the second knockout.
In terms of real-time, King had a point because 14 seconds had elapsed between the time Douglas hit the floor and when he arose. The videotape clearly showed Meyran?s count lagging behind that of the official timekeeper. But in practical terms, King had no case. Once a referee establishes his count ? fast or slow ? all a fighter needs to do to satisfy all requirements is to arise before the referee?s count of 10. Douglas did just that as he steadied himself by Meyran?s count of nine. Also, Meyran?s count over Tyson was equally slow; it also took 14 seconds of real time to reach his count of nine, after which he waved off the fight based on Tyson?s woeful condition. While the referee is obligated to look toward the timekeeper to establish where in the count he must start and to try his best to stay synched throughout, most times, an official?s count slows down as he goes about the task of assessing the fighter?s condition.
While the IBF immediately recognized Douglas as its champion, the WBA and WBC initially withheld recognition. A firestorm of protest by fans and media prompted King and the other sanctioning bodies to officially award Douglas his rightful victory.
The enormity of Douglas? feat cannot be understated. Some declared it the biggest upset in heavyweight championship annals while others labeled it the most seismic surprise boxing has ever known. To me, however, the Douglas-Tyson shocker exceeds team sport stunners such as the 1969 Mets that won the World Series, the New York Jets that won Super Bowl III, North Carolina State?s magical run to the 1983 NCAA championship and the U.S. team?s ?Miracle on Ice? in the 1980 Winter Olympics. The weight of Douglas? deed was made even more clear six-and-a-half months later when, in his first defense, a far different Douglas in terms of motivation, conditioning, durability and tenacity lost by a one-punch, third-round knockout to a man in Evander Holyfield who scaled 38 pounds lighter than the champion.
That said, Douglas? disgrace of October will forever pale to his brilliance in February. For one amazing night a quarter century ago, James ?Buster? Douglas was everything he could possibly be ? and much more. For that, he will enjoy a place in boxing lore that will last until the last clock stops ticking.
