As Andy Ruiz Jr. basks in the glory of his mind-bending upset of three-belt champ Anthony Joshua last Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York and discovers a world that has suddenly fallen in love with him, it?s hard to be too cynical.
The big man from Imperial, California is a genuinely likable guy who has legitimately earned this moment in the sun.
But, while Ruiz is making the media rounds and hitting the late night talk show circuit, one can?t help but look back to James ?Buster? Douglas, whose unimaginable 42-to-1 upset of Mike Tyson back in 1990 was immediately resurrected as the measuring stick by which the Ruiz upset was evaluated.
Douglas, like Ruiz, also became the toast of the nation in the wake of his big victory. Appearing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Douglas still had an ?aw shucks? humility to his tone, almost as if he, himself, had not really processed what had happened, similar to the look and feel of Ruiz?s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live this past Tuesday. Big money and gigantic opportunities await Ruiz, just as they did for Douglas all those years ago.
But all does not always go well for those who, from one day to the next, punch their way from being blue collar prizefighters and background players to THE story?just ask ?Buster.?
?It was like achieving something you always wanted to do in your life; and once you achieved it, it was nothing like you thought it was going to be,? Douglas told ESPN. ?You think it?s going to be all sunshine. You look down in your hands, and it?s like, man, it?s a bunch of snakes.?
Douglas? status as beloved underdog conqueror didn?t last long. In the days and weeks following the upset, the narrative shifted from hailing his achievement to finding an explanation for how Tyson could lose. The media focused on Tyson?s tumultuous personal life and a rumored lack of preparation for Douglas. The partying had made him soft, they said, and his lack of seriousness had led him to underestimate an opponent who should?ve otherwise been overmatched.
Ruiz, if he?s got his eyes and ears tuned into the online Universo Pugilistico, has to be witnessing the same turning of the narrative. It took about one full day before his feat switched to Joshua?s failure. Rumors emerged about Joshua having been brutally knocked out in sparring and walking to face Ruiz already concussed. A story then emerged of Joshua having a panic attack in the dressing room on fight night, but being forced to the ring anyway. It has even been theorized publicly that Joshua?s inability to ?juice? in a more doping test-stringent US scene was the cause of an unusually flat performance.
In Douglas? case, the dismissive chatter, coupled with a legitimate attempt from promoter Don King to have the Tyson fight outcome reversed due to an alleged missed count in the eighth round, got to him and caused him to withdraw into his own private world?a world that had become populated with ?yes men? eager to line their own pockets by appeasing his every whim.
?I felt I wasn?t given the respect I felt I deserved,? Douglas said. ?It escalated as time went on. It got out of control.?
?After you win, everyone suddenly wants to hang on to you. I started getting angry with it all and started drinking,? Douglas told The Sun in another piece.
Eight months later, the instant hero from Columbus, Ohio cashed in on a $24 million payout against Evander Holyfield. Out of shape, both mentally and physically, Douglas fell to the sharp and hungry Holyfield in three rounds.
Post-Holyfield loss, the cruel and dismissive became downright merciless. The defeat fueled the notion that his upset of Tyson was nothing but a one-hit fluke and, suddenly, it was as if he had never done the impossible in the first place. The cosmos had seemingly realigned and had placed him back in the shadows.
He responded by self-destructing, drinking and eating himself into a diabetic coma, weighing nearly 400 lbs. at the time of his hospitalization in 1994.
To Douglas? credit, though, he battled back from the edge and reclaimed his life. After going 8-1 in a three-year comeback bid from 1996-1999, the former champ retired into civilian life, leaving boxing behind for a bit before re-discovering his love for the sport via coaching youth in his home town. Now 59 years of age, he appears to be at peace about what he did, who he is, and how it all fits into the big picture of life.
When recently asked to comment on Ruiz?s own improbable leap into history, Douglas went right back to the best of his own professional days.
?The man believed in what he was doing. He believed in himself despite all the naysayers,? Douglas told TMZ, also noting that he was so pumped he felt like running. ?It?s a lot of similarities there. I?m just happy for him, and wish him all the best.?
?It definitely takes me back. It?s like I kinda relate to what they?re going through, the emotion that they?re feeling going into the fight. ?I?mma show them tonight!??
Ruiz would do well to embrace the love now, but also keep in mind the road a man like James ?Buster? Douglas had to travel before he could look back and re-embrace his own unbelievable moment in time. Despite all the good vibes coming Ruiz?s way now, history generally doesn?t treat well those who flip scripts and upset plans. Those who don?t look and act the part of ?star? need to work harder and harder to establish themselves as ?for real.?
When the honeymoon is over and the world has had enough of the charmingly quaint chubby guy and his ?Rocky? story, there?ll be an effort to break him down and put him back in his place. Then, Ruiz?s character will truly be tested.
