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Buster Douglas (official thread)

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jlb1705

jlb1705

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Sports Illustrated has coverage of the 20th Anniversary of Douglas' defeat of Mike Tyson. Here's the first article, with more to come:

Buster Douglas' upset of Mike Tyson happened 20 years ago Thursday - Richard O'Brien - SI.com

Douglas' knockout of Tyson still resonates 20 years later


Before considering what happened on Feb. 11, 1990, in Tokyo -- that moment summed up so memorably, and yet so inadequately, by Sugar Ray Leonard on HBO as "Unbelievable!" -- cast your mind back to Atlantic City less than seven months earlier.
On the night of July 21, 1989, in Convention Hall, 23-year-old undefeated heavyweight champion Mike Tyson defended his title (his unified title, mind you) against Carl "The Truth" Williams. Tyson, who had become the youngest heavyweight champ in history when he KO'd Trevor Berbick in November 1986, was 36-0 (with 32 knockouts) and making his eighth appearance in a title fight. He took all of 93 seconds to dispose of Williams, dropping him hard with a single left hook. Though Williams would complain that the fight was stopped too soon ("It wasn't like I was disbobulated," he told the assembled press afterward), the truth was that The Truth was toast -- and that Tyson appeared to be on an unstoppable tear. "The Beatings Go On" was the headline on Pat Putnam's story in Sports Illustrated. And everyone, from the two hair-raising Donalds at ringside (Trump and King), to boxing writers, to the millions of fans who in those days actually cared about boxing, assumed they would continue to do so.
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I was young at the time, and my family didn't have HBO - but I remember they cut in on 700 WLW to break the news. I remember how big a deal it was, and being proud that it was somebody from Ohio that pulled it off. Did anybody here actually watch it live on TV?
 
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Buster Douglas reflects on Mike Tyson upset, discusses today's fighters - Bryan Armen Graham - SI.com

Douglas reflects on upset, talks Pacquiao-Mayweather, MMA


James "Buster" Douglas engineered perhaps the most shocking upset in sports history opposite Mike Tyson on Feb. 11, 1990. Twenty years later, many boxing fans are still trying to comprehend what happened that afternoon in Tokyo.
Douglas may have been something of a one-hit wonder to the casual sports fan, but the Ohio native spent most of his career in the top tier of boxing's glamour division. In fact, Tyson was one of four heavyweight champions Douglas defeated, along with Greg Page, Trevor Berbick and Oliver McCall.
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Original article from SI:

Buster Douglas was floored by Mike Tyson in the eighth - 02.19.90 - SI Vault

February 19, 1990
He Got Up And...

Buster Douglas was floored by Mike Tyson in the eighth round, but then...knocked out Tyson in the 10th round to win the heavyweight crown (no matter what Don King says) in perhaps the biggest boxing upset ever

Richard Hoffer

It was halfway between performance art and barnstorming. A fighter who wears a torn towel for a robe and who cuts down opponents with a terrifying swiftness was embarking on a strange world tour, starting in Tokyo, that was likely to take him to Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Brunei?coming soon to a country near you. His primary appeal was no longer as a fighter, since it had become clear that nobody in this world was capable of defeating him, but rather as an expensive novelty act. "It ain't about if he knocks a guy out," promoter Don King insisted. "It's about how he knocks a guy out. It's the style, the improvisation." Even a minute-and-a-half's glimpse?the length of two of the fighter's recent shows?of his savagery was considered good enough value for promoters around the world to bid his price beyond $6 million per appearance. China was said to be interested. Representatives from Zaire and Indonesia were exchanging faxes with King.
The arrogance was absolute and, of course, an invitation to disaster. So it was that on Sunday, at Tokyo's Korakuen Stadium, Mike Tyson, the undisputed, undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, provided real theater. Against a fighter whose principal qualification as a contender was his availability and pay scale, Tyson quickly found himself in trouble, was struck at will with right hands and had his left eye closed after nine rounds. Even with that, it was impossible to conceive what would happen at 1:23 of the 10th round. James (Buster) Douglas, so secure in boxing anonymity that he could not draw the attention of a single photographer as he waited for the weigh-in the day before, lifted Tyson upright with a right uppercut, hit the suddenly defenseless champion with two more punches and then floored the reeling Tyson, already more horizontal than perpendicular, with a chopping left hook.
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A couple SI covers:

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jlb1705;1658710; said:
I was young at the time, and my family didn't have HBO - but I remember they cut in on 700 WLW to break the news. I remember how big a deal it was, and being proud that it was somebody from Ohio that pulled it off. Did anybody here actually watch it live on TV?
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I watched it, but I was only 6 years old at the time, and I remember very little. My family went over to our friends' house who had HBO. I was spending most of my time shooting hoops on one of those little indoor basketball hoops that hung off of a ceiling beam. If memory serves me, I was making it rain in the living room that night. Anyway, I remember sitting on the floor watching it when Tyson got KO'd and seeing the look of shock on my dad's face and my friend's dad's face. Of course, I was much too young to understand the significance of what just happened. But my friend--apparently a big Tyson fan at age 8--started crying and left the room. He's 28 now and we still make fun of him about it every time the fight is mentioned or shown on TV.

Edit: This thread prompted me to send my friend a text:

Me: 20 years ago to this day you were crying like a little girl. Any guesses why?
Him: Damn you Buster Douglas

:lol:
 
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jlb1705;1658710; said:
Did anybody here actually watch it live on TV?
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I watched it live on TV. I remember being shocked that Tyson didn't knock Douglas out in a minute or so like he did with many of his previous opponents. Then the longer fight went on, I just got the sense that Douglas might actually win the thing, kind of like when a superior football team is only beating an inferior opponent by a TD late in the 3rd quarter. Of course, when Douglas got knocked down, I remember thinking that Tyson would finally pull out the dogfight, and that Douglas simply made a good effort in a losing cause. I couldn't believe my eyes when he got up and when, in the next round, he blasted Tyson to the canvas. One of the most enduring memories in sports that I have is Douglas simply raising both arms in victory after the fight as his handlers mobbed him. I still get chills when I watch that video clip. It's still unbelievable.
 
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