20 YEARS SINCE TYSON KO’D BY BUSTER!
February 15th, 2010 By Brian Gorman
FEBRUARY 11, 1990: “KID DYNAMITE” IMPLODED
Pittsburgh, PA- I was just a sophomore in high school, hanging out in our basement TV room and planning to watch Dominique Wilkins, Larry Bird and others at the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk and Three Point Contests, back when those activities featured the game’s best and were must-see TV. The plan was to flip on HBO and catch “the Baddest Man on the Planet” (and that wasn’t just a nickname at that time) Mike Tyson (then 37-0, 33 KOs) quickly knock out James “Buster” Douglas, whom some generously referred to as an underdog, since that implied that he had a chance. After that brief respite, I would return to the All-Star festivities. Little did I know that I wouldn’t watch anymore basketball that night.
HINDSIGHT’S 20/20: NO ONE SAW THIS ONE COMING
In retrospect, the signs were there: Tyson’s mentor and father figure Cus D’Amato had passed away, and he’d replaced his under appreciated trainer, Kevin Rooney and the rest of his team with hacks that seemed to spill over from his entourage and, infamously, Don King. His marriage had fallen apart, and personal problems mounted. He undertrained for Douglas and, though he still looked great, he seemed just a little soft and a lot distracted; clearly, he wasn’t taking Douglas seriously, but then again, did he need to?
“BUSTER” DOUGLAS: “I JUST WHIPPED HIS ___”
As it happened, the contest showed us the amazing possibilities when an uninspired, unmotivated favorite faces and inspired and motivated underdog, no matter the odds. (How any fighter can take another “lightly” – one of the false or ridiculous excuses we hear from sour grapes losers nowadays – makes you wonder after what happened in Tokyo that night.) A lean, conditioned Douglas kept his jab pumping in the champ’s face all night, repeatedly drilling “Iron Mike” with chopping rights behind it, round after round. A short Tyson uppercut in the eighth nearly bandaged the situation, though damage at that point had already been irreparably done. The Tyson puzzle had already been solved. More importantly, the fear factor had been vanquished. Bully the bully. Take the fight to him. Douglas regained control in the ninth, as Tyson barely survived the round.
TENTH ROUND: THE END OF TYSON AS WE KNEW HIM!
Six years ago, I sat in shocked silence, watching “Mr. Unstoppable” Roy Jones, Jr. suffer his first real defeat with breathtaking suddenness at the hands of Antonio Tarver. Stunning as that was at the time, it couldn’t even compare to the absolute amazement of watching a fallen Tyson. Punctuating this drama, Douglas landed a cinematic three punch combination to drop the champion, beginning with the uppercut now etched in all boxing fans’ memories. That compelling image was followed by the unforgettable vision of the great Tyson pawing for his mouthpiece, then shoving it in his mouth sideways after struggling to his feet as the count reached ten and the fight was waved off by referee Octavio Meyran. And with that, we witnessed the biggest upset boxing ever saw.
FALLOUT FROM THAT MOMENTOUS NIGHT
It wasn’t just two lives that were forever changed. Without his air of invincibility, Tyson assumed the role of the sport’s villain, multiplied when he lost four years of his career and his liberty after a rape conviction. He would return in 1996 and was never the same. Douglas, meanwhile, also stayed away from the sport in the early 90’s after acceding his title to Evander Holyfield later in 1990. Perhaps Douglas had nothing to inspire him anymore, knowing that he would never outdo his accomplishment in Tokyo. It wasn’t just about Tyson and Douglas, though. Boxing fans learned – perhaps were reminded – that terms like “invincible” and “unbeatable” shouldn’t be taken literally, especially by fighters who are at their most vulnerable when they start believing the hype.
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Brian Gorman
Tyson intrigued people and was an incredibly powerful puncher but he was probably very overrated. Even at his best it’s unclear if he would have been able to stand up to a disciplined, schooled fighter who wasn’t scared of him, like Buster Douglas.
Tyson was a personality and a fearsome puncher but ultimately pretty one-dimensional. I think prime Lewis versus prime Tyson, Tyson still gets throttled.
If Tyson was one-dimensional in his prime, it was a pretty impressive dimension! For me, the kick in the head is hitting the 20 year anniversary. The years really do go faster as you get older. . .
Just saying that he never beat another great fighter who could keep his cool. I don’t think he was as good as Holyfield or Lewis.
On today’s scene, it’s hard to imagine him–in his prime–not catching Wlad Klitschko at some point, but I doubt even in his prime he would have gotten past Vitali.
I was the DJ at a top 40 night club the night Tyson was KOed by Douglas and was the first in the bar to receive the news (not televised) and man oh man was I shocked. I got to announce (to over 300 people) that Buster Douglas had done the impossible (or so we thought).. Mike Tyson and I had a love hate relationship.. I loved his mind-set and distruction ways BUT hated his troublesome attitude. Guss would have turned over in his grave knowing Mikes situations and for him alone, Mike should have walked the stright and narrow. It is all sad but true.
Tyson in his prime one dimensional? someone needs to look at some old footage after he left Rooney it was obvious he stopped doing the things that made him great and relied on landing that one big punch he used that jab well along with head movement to get inside on those taller opponents was a thing of beauty.
There are conflicting reports that Tyson’s training camp consisted of bedding down as many whores as possible. My assumption is that the only time he trained was for photo ops and media. Regardless, Buster Douglas fought a perfect fight, 100 times over his head, to complete perhaps the biggest upset of all time. Truth be told, “Buffet” Buster could never fight like that again, which Evander and others proved afterwards. Just how much his dying mother played into the inspirational fight he put on that night in Tokyo remains, but we have to believe without her passing, Tyson wins in a 2nd round KO, and a completely different spin of fights.
About the one dimensional comment, that may be true after the Cus scheme was dismissed. But comparing the Tyson with Rooney to the Tyson/rotating bums is a bit unfair. The Mike Tyson who destroyed Spinks would have given any heavyweight in history a run for the title that night, Ali/Clay included.
Tyson was great as the aggressor, but he wasn’t anywhere half as great at fighting back. Holmes, Louis, Marciano and Ali….they proved much of their greatness under extreme duress….fighting back.
I agree with Rubber. There was something missing from Tyson’s arsenal. I don’t think he would have ever beaten a well-schooled boxer who could keep his cool and fight back, like Holyfield, Lewis or even Vitali Klitschko.
Shannon Briggs keeps his cool pretty well in the ring. Maybe he could have taken Tyson too.
Your points are well made, but let’s not forget that this is all in hindsight. Remember that Tyson was the guy who basically scared Hall of Famer Michael Spinks off of his feet. Perhaps it’s true that, knowing now what they do, Lewis or Bowe, or maybe even a Klitschko, could have peppered Tyson like Douglas did, but at the time he carried a well-earned aura into the ring with him, and his opponent had to overcome it. Up until Douglas, no one even came close.
I’m with RIO001 on Rooney, too. Rooney is not credited enough with the technical work he did with Tyson, and I’ll add that he used combinations much more effectively until he became champ. I distinctly remember Rooney breaking down the technical aspect of Tyson’s left hook.
Sure, he was overrated at the time, but who among us really can say we knew it? (And don’t start BS’ing.)
Back in the day, no one loved him more than me!
I remeber I was driving my old Kia home and happened to pull into a Starbucks for a cup of Joe. I decided to check my Blackberry just to confirm what I knew was going to be a blowout. Boy was I suprised. I couldn’t believe that Douglas had pulled it off. I can’t believe how the years have passed.
Evander Holyfield wrote the blueprint of how to KO Douglas because of this fight… A flaw Douglas did again and again against Tyson that Tyson either never recognized or was unable to do anything about… Right hand off the uppercut. Douglas left himself wide assed open for a right hand because he would dip into the uppercut and drop his left hand.
If you watch the Holyfield KO of Douglas, you will see the Douglas flaw during the Tyson fight that Holyfield exposed. The KO shot looks as if it takes place in slow motion because Holyfield already had his right hand in place for the counter shot after giving Douglas the opening for him to throw an uppercut at him.
If you rewatch the Tyson – Douglas fight with a critical eye. You will see where he does the exact same thing all night long against Tyson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkEGNgVWmEc
Mike Tyson was a good heavyweight, he was NOT however a GREAT heavyweight. He was very overrated. He had his share of weaknesses. Early in his career he was a carefully moved and heavily marketed fighter. His first two years as a pro, Bill Cayton put him in with blown up cruisers and guys who led with thier face.
Anytime the 5′9ish Tyson got in the ring with a fighter over 6′4, decent wingspan, and decent chin they gave him fits. The Klichkos, Bowe, Lewis, and even old man Foreman would’ve owned his ass.
Jack Dunne,
I really believe that if Tyson had a half decent cornermen that night he would have never lost to Douglas, even being in the pathetic shape he was in.
Chuck Shadowski,
They had blackberrys back in 1990?!?!? Wow, did not know that. Learn something new everyday!
No Blackberrys in 1990 unless they were the eatin’ kind.
Let’s say this tson was even better than advertised!!!! He was a man child in his late teens early twenties and was THE dominant heavyweight champ no questions!!!!! He was supposed to improve, but him knowing and being a student of the game knew he wasn’t being a proffesional. When his original corner was gone so was his technique and dedication. From there he realy wasn’t a pugilists only a pucher. And don’t start me with Holyfield and Lewis if mike would have fought them in the propper context propper corner, a steroidless Holyfield and a pre manny steward Lewis it would have been a wrap Tyson ko all of them
Tyson was sooo bad we r still talking about him? Is anybody talking Holyfield , Lewis, bowe? The reason is he was that good! Former undisputed, and unified title holder 2 time heavweight champion of the world 12 defences youngest heavyweight champion in history!!!!!!!! No he wasn’t good he was great. I hate when people say oh u can’t call somebody great until they r tested. But I say why they might be soo great in their prime nobody could test them ala Roy jones, and pbf they say they fought nobodies bit they made the somebodies look like nobodies. Because they were that great. At his best u could never bet against him vs anybody in the history of boxing
David,
Douglas beat Tyson pillar to post that night on the heels of his mother’s death and while suffering a severe fever and bronchial infection. The distractions Douglas was facing were far more severe than those Tyson was facing. Furthermore, ALL of Tyson’s distractions before the Douglas fight were self induced… Including his ill-prepared corner.
Part of being a professional prize fighter is… Being a professional. Mike knew this fact as well as anyone in the sport, in fact probably better.
Mike wasn’t as good as he could have been, James was and that’s on Mike… There is no woulda, coulda, shoulda in boxing. There is only result.
Mike doesn’t get any kind of a pass for that night. His corner isn’t to blame. Mike was thoroughly destroyed by a 42-1 underdog, in a fight that today is very easy to break down explain exactly why.
His corner was only one small part of a very big problem… All of which was of Tyson’s own making.
Something like this never happened to Ali, Holyfield, Lewis, Holmes, Foreman, Fraizer, Louis or any other great heavyweight and the reason why is obvious… These guys would NEVER allow it to happen… Tyson did.
I don’t mean to bash the guy. He’s a Hall of Famer and a Great… But this is what it was… Even 20 years later.
Dunne ur tripping louis had shmellig, Ali had spinks, hlomes had mike spinks, foreman had Ali and fraizer realy had no big upset at the times of these upsets they were big in their own right. If u remember Ali was gonna be killed by foreman. Upsets are a part of sports and Tyson was just a victim of his success. If he wasn’t soo dominant he wouldn’t have been a 42 to 1 favorite
OK, ill take a page out of your book rios, and tell you that Jack Dunne, whose posts i have been reading since 1999 or so on the old prince naseem guestbook and his articles on boxingpress/secondsout, has forgotten more about boxing than you’ll ever know. dunne is tripping? get lost. that post is about as impartial and spot on as it gets.
and no one talks about holyfield or lewis? you’re an idiot. two hall of fame fighters that destroyed tyson and would have done so at ANY point in his career. but why isnt it shocking youre a fan of yet another lowlife thug? maybe they remind you of yourself?
Roberto… NOBODY you mention ever got waxed by a 42-1 Dog… Upsets happen… 5-1 is a HUGE upset. Max Baer was a 10-1 favorite over James Braddock and Ron Howard made a movie about it.
The fact that Tyson DID get waxed by a 42-1 dog is why this fight is etched in history the way it is and brother… I’m not trippin’.
Upsets happen… George Foreman KO-ing Michael Moorer with two right hands after getting pounded on all night long was an upset… James Douglas assaulting Mike Tyson pillar to post for half an hour straight before KO-ing him can hardly be called an upset. It looked far more like a case of domestic violence.
The fact that Douglas was a 42-1 dog was based in no small part on his own past performances… The rest was all based upon projected money flow of the betting public… The fight took place in Tokyo on a massive delay because no venue in America would have any part of it…
There is no other upset in HW Championship history to match the outcome of this fight… Tyson was 24 and in his prime when he was terminated by Douglas. Ali was 36 and light years away from his prime when Spinks beat him by way of decision.
The one don’t equal the other… Not in any case you mention.
The Tyson fanatics were way worse than the Pacquiao fanatics back in the day. Even when Mike was fighting ham-and-eggers in the late 90s-early 200s he had an entire international army of rabid fans that refused to believe he 1) would ever lose 2) could have ever lost except for A, B, C, D extenuating circumstance.
Tyson got clobbered by Holyfield when he was 30 years old. That is your “prime” by any measure.
At 33, Tyson was losing to Francois Botha on the cards before he got the KO.
Dunne I have a question? Wasn’t foreman in his prime, a heavey favorite going against a past his prime fighter that people were scared he would kill? That was a huge upset at the time. And in my opinion like I said Tyson was a victim of his own success. If he wasn’t soo destructive he wouldn’t have been a 42 to 1 favorite. Nobody acused Douglas of not having talent. It was his heart and work ethic whic was galvinized with the death of his mother. What could Tyson or anybody done to hurt him at that time. The guy Tyson fought that night looked unstopable. Big, long quick jabs doubling crisp rights upercuts head movement feints. When o look at that fight I realy don’t ? What happened to Tyson. I wonder what of bister was this motivated every fight he might have been a top 3 to 5 heavy alltime. Like I said upsets are a part of sports that why we watch and the reason the games and bouts are played. Because if the favorite won all the time what would be the reason to go through the motions?
Again, I want to state… Mike Tyson had a great career and is IMO a Hall of Famer. You can talk about Mike Tyson in conversations where names like Louis, Foreman, Frazier, Dempsey, Marciano are thrown around and nobody is going to look at you like you are crazy or an idiot… But when you say Mike Tyson today, one of the very first things that pops into everyone’s mind is “Buster Douglas” …
I understand what u mean Mr. Dunne but I’m just bringing up other views. And by me saying ur tripping was in no way meant to be disrespectful to u
Roberto…
A little over a decade ago I was called an… lol — Lets just say, it sounds a lot like the Spanish pronunciation of ‘GARLIC’ — By a legend in the industry who did it not once, not twice, but three times… And on National Radio…So I dropped an F-U Bomb on the guy and dared him to call my house… He DID!!!
I wound up writing for that guy a few years later after interacting with him from time to time. Turns out that he was (and is) one hell of a good guy. Sometimes we would have professional disagreements and when we did, more often than not, I think I did a very good job in proving him right when the first time we spoke; he concluded that I was … The Spanish pronunciation of Garlic.
… You are on that man’s web-site as you read this.
I took absolutely no offense to the “ur tripping” remark. One, I understood what you meant by it and two… You didn’t even threaten to beat me up or kill me!
Roberto, this is the God’s honest truth… I’ve bought drinks for, meals for, hung out with and even bought lap dances for (Las Vegas) people who have called me things that I had to go look up in the Dictionary in order to find out what it meant.
We are good my man… I appreciate your perspective. I responded with mine.
The guy Tyson fought that night was not unstoppable… In fact, a near catatonic Evander Holyfield was sitting in the front row (after being paid several million dollars by Tyson in step aside money) watching what I’m sure he thought was his future mega million dollar payday going up in smoke while watching Douglas and thinking about Tyson.. THROW THE DAMN RIGHT BEFORE THE UPPERCUT!!! — He’s dropping his left! He’s dipping into a right hand!!! — THROW THE SHOT!!!
Douglas was leaving himself prone all night long and telegraphing the right uppercut. Tyson never responded… Holyfield saw it in the Douglas fight and DID KO Douglas with a right hand before a Douglas uppercut. I have posted the video clip. I have posted what Evander Holyfield has said about the Tyson – Douglas fight and what he saw Douglas doing wrong all night long.
The James Douglas who destroyed Mike Tyson that night. The one who looked so dominant… Evander Holyfield would have turned him inside out. Evander was staring at something all night long that Tyson and his joke of a corner never even saw
… They were too busy rubbing Mike’s face with an ice-water filled condom while whispering sweet nothings into his ear. These clowns didn’t even bring an end-swell with them.
Yea Jack that was pretty pathetic. That corner was soo inept! I would have loved to see a Rooney trained 218 pound Tyson vs a 202 pound Holyfield w/o steroids and hgh that would have been good
With Tyson it was either all or nothing. The vast majority of opponents he easily annhiliated, even late in his career. People who were actually decent to good fighters like Golota, Savarese and Francis (okay, Golota is the only one who could be described as “good”), he just destroyed, easily. That’s pretty impressive in and of itself.
He also beat a lot of good-very good fighters early in his career very impressively, such as Frank Bruno, Razor Ruddock, Alex Stewart, Tony Tubbs and Trevor Berbeck. No heavyweight fighter has shown such ferocity and dominance.
But he never beat a great fighter. Sorry, Spinks doesn’t cut it.
The only two great fighters he fought, he lost to, and it wasn’t like he lost because of a fluke. Holyfield and Lewis both systematically beat him down. Not to mention Douglas.
I’m sure the Tyson that fought Michael Spinks would have a *chance* at KOing any heavyweight in history, but I think most of them (adjusting for training, weight, nutrition, etc.) would have beaten him, prime against prime.
I hear what you are saying but the math just doesn’t work on any of that.
If you want Rooney in the corner, that ended in 1988. in 1988 Holyfield was still a Cruiser.
If you want Holyfield right after he jumped up, Snowell is in the corner of Tyson and you’ve got only a one year window there, 1989, because in February of 1990 Tyson got blown out by Douglas… And for good measure, by then Tyson was being managed by Beavis and Butthead… Both are shown here and shockingly enough were fired after this and later sued by Tyson…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_poRu1e9I0
By 1989 the Tyson Train had officially flown off of the tracks. It just hadn’t collided with anything yet. THAT happened the following year in Tokyo.
They were trying to put the fight together during 1989 but Tyson was paying Holyfield step aside money so that he could face other people… The fight you would have liked to see just wasn’t ever going to happen. They then secured a fight for 1991, Tyson went to prison that year…
This is all the woulda, shoulda, coulda stuff I was talking about… It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t mean anything. Its only grounding is based purely on conventional wisdom and if Tyson has proven anything as a professional prize fighter; it was that conventional wisdom, didn’t mean jack when trying to figure him out!
Conventional wisdom of the time said things like Michael Spinks (1988) would genuinely test him. Buster Douglas (1990) didn’t have a prayer. Evander Holyfield (1996) was picked to lose by every sports journalist in America except for Ron Borges of the Boston Globe because that was the conventional wisdom of the time.
Tyson’s sparadick professional outings were absolutely Cancerous when it came to conventional wisdom. Ruddock gave Tyson a good fight. So good that in 1992 when Lennox Lewis faced him, Ruddock was something like a 3-1 favorite! — In hindsight, who the HELL would have ever made insane odds like that again? In retrospect it should have been 3-1 the other way but THAT is what Tyson did to conventional wisdom.
Lastly, if you wanted to see a fight between them that didn’t have the word “STEROIDS” hanging in the air like some dark storm cloud (and believe me, Mike had no shortage of STEROID rumors)… That fight probably took place in 1984 at the Olympic Trials. Anything after that; all bets are off.
Jack, question for you, as someone who’s been around boxing longer than I have:
Did you see this upset coming in particular? Or at least an upset of Tyson on the horizon?
I’m 35, so at the time I was a 15 year old who bought into the Tyson is invincible stuff hook, line and sinker.
I’ve never heard of anyone involved in boxing in any capacity who actually picked Douglas to win.
Brian,
I didn’t see Douglas beating Tyson, no way in Hell! — But apparently Angelo Dundee saw a potential major upset and I have video of his talking about it. What he saw, why he came to conclusions that Tyson possibly could be prone against Douglas.
It is a round robin conversation between himself, Gil Clancy and Larry Merchant that I believe is priceless. The whole thing is about 60 minutes long, I can get a copy of it to you if you would like to see it… Pedro has my contact info.
I DID see Tyson losing around that time but I thought for sure that it was going to be Evander Holyfield who up-ended him and I can go into several specifics as to why if it is something you care to hear. The short list reads like this… And back then
1) Tyson is smaller than Holyfield
2) The 1984 Olympic Trial incident (this is KEY, you need to know this story if you are ever to understand these two guys)
3) Holyfield was a more complete fighter
4) Tyson was paying Holyfield millions of dollars in step aside money
5) Holyfield was stable, grounded and professionally locked in to the MAX.
6) TYSON WAS A TICKING TIME-BOMB!!! — And the ticks just kept getting louder and louder and louder.
I’m older that you are but not by that much. Believe me, Tyson was being sold to me the same way he was being sold to you and everyone I knew bought into it too… Do you have any idea how much CRAP I had to listen to? Coming from people who didn’t even know that Boxing was a professional sport until Mike Tyson came along… About how wrong I was about everything saw and could articulate to some measure… And what a PUSSY Evander Holyfield was and he was only chasing Mike because he wanted the paycheck.
I was there man! Mike Tyson, was bigger than GOD when it came his portrayal and guys like me who were pointing fingers and asking questions were looked upon as heretics.
Mark,
Angelo Dundee came as close to what you are talking about as anyone I heard but he wasn’t picking Douglas. He was just noting who Douglas was working with. That Douglas had the tools to do it and that the potential for a major upset was very real.
Interesting, Jack.
I only boxed a little in my life but I had a friend who boxed a long while and he was extremely impressed with Douglas that night. Said he was boxing like a 140 pound champ and that in his opinion he would have beaten Tyson any night of the week.
This was someone I used to talk to back in the old HBO BBS days!
Long time gone.
Douglas fought an incredible fight that night and he did look awesome!
He looked awesome to me, you, HBO, the media who was there and pretty much everyone on the planet with the exception of Evander Holyfield who was ringside, saw the whole thing and watched the thing and kept seeing the Douglas glitch.
Douglas looked so dominant that night, nobody with a normal pair of eyes could watch it and not marvel at how great he was that night and HE WAS GREAT!
But someone like Evander Holyfield doesn’t look at boxing with the same eyes you or I do. Evander’s eyes see things people like you and I can’t see, his brain processes the information 100 times faster and he has an enormous hard drive compared to the floppy disc that people like you, me, so called expert commentators or media people have… Evander saw what I noted and provided a video clip of.
Who do you think I learned the Douglas uppercut flaw information from? — It sure as hell wasn’t from the media, commentators or even my own eyes… Holyfield said it after the fact. After he had KOed Douglas. I had to go back and look at it on tape with a critical eye and my thumb glued to the rewind button… The guy ain’t lying!!! — It’s everywhere and it goes on all night long!!!
My point being and getting to yours… Fighters, like your friend, can teach you one hell of a lot about the sport if you are smart enough to listen to them. They can show you things that you have never seen before, even in a fight that you may have seen numerous times.
You will never see fights the same way they do, you can’t… But they can open your eyes to some things for damn sure!