OT: ESPN showing Douglas-Tyson fight

[nomar]

Following the 30 For 30 on the fight, ESPN is airing the fight itself. On now.

Biggest sports upset I ever watched live. Still get goosebumps thinking about it.

 

[Fishy]

Thanks for ruining the ending.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Was in college at a friend's apartment.

Someone knew how to acquire the PPV (or HBO or whatever non standard cable station was airing the fight) by modifying a junction box.

Completely shocked. Still biggest upset I've seen in my life. 'Nova over Gtown is second.

 

[B1GEast]

I didn't watch the fight, I remember the shock of it all.

I was expecting Holyfield to be the first person to knock out Tyson. Tyson's first match with Holyfield never happened as Tyson went to prison.

The 90's was filled with serveral great heavyweight fights, Bowe, Holyfield, Ruddock, Douglas, Foreman and a few others.

The Bowe Holyfield first fight in the 10th round was possibly the greatest round in all of boxing history

 

[Robertelamin]

Douglas has half a foot on Tyson. I think he pulls this off.

 

[superjohn]

Watched it last night, first time ever watching the full fight. Funny, I was always under the impression Tyson was winning the fight and Buster was only in it because of a slow count and then catching Tyson sleeping a round or two later. Buster pretty much kicked Tyson's arse the whole fight other than one round.

 

[nomar]

Douglas has half a foot on Tyson. I think he pulls this off.

No way. I'll give you 42 to 1 odds.

 

[nomar]

Watched it last night, first time ever watching the full fight. Funny, I was always under the impression Tyson was winning the fight and Bowe was only in it because of a slow count and then catching Tyson sleeping a round or two later. Buster pretty much kicked Tyson's arse the whole fight other than one round.

It was a championship performance by Douglas. Tyson took him for granted and didn't bring his A game, but all credit to Douglas, who came with a plan and executed it. And showed a lot of heart in the process.

I was 13 years old but my dad was a big boxing fan so I was too. Tyson wasn't just beating people, he was destroying them in 90 seconds. The notion that Douglas would make it past Round 3 was ridiculous. The thought he could win never entered anyone's mind. It's still crazy to think about.

 

[superjohn]

It was a championship performance by Douglas. Tyson took him for granted and didn't bring his A game, but all credit to Douglas, who came with a plan and executed it. And showed a lot of heart in the process.

I was 13 years old but my dad was a big boxing fan so I was too. Tyson wasn't just beating people, he was destroying them in 90 seconds. The notion that Douglas would make it past Round 3 was ridiculous. The thought he could win never entered anyone's mind. It's still crazy to think about.

When it's such a monumental upset usually it takes a lot of fluky stuff to happen but that wasn't the case at all. Tyson came in out of shape and unfocused and got his butt served to him. Buster may have turned into a schlub but he was certainly a really good fighter at that point and a championship fighter that night.

 

[Chin Diesel]

No way. I'll give you 42 to 1 odds.

So cliche-ish; that sounds like a documentary.

 

[JB75]

Tyson was such a savage. Shame he lost to that one hit wonder. But tyson slept on him and got upset. Fair is fair. Funny tho how ref gave buster a 10 count and tyson a 9 count tho. Too bad mike never fought Holyfield hen he was really in his prime

 

[JB75]

Buster was nothing after that fight. Feel bad fir mike always rooted for him. Only one he really trusted was cus d’amato and after he died the rails case off and people started taking advantage of him

 

[nomar]

Tyson was such a savage. Shame he lost to that one hit wonder. But tyson slept on him and got upset. Fair is fair. Funny tho how ref gave buster a 10 count and tyson a 9 count tho. Too bad mike never fought Holyfield hen he was really in his prime

The ref was looking in their eyes, and saw Douglas was alert and Tyson wasn't. Buster was waiting for him to hit 9 before standing. He got saved by the bell but the long count was a complaint I never paid any mind.

If Tyson had been allowed to go continue he would've got put right back down. His legs were jelly and he could only see out of one eye.

It was a great day for boxing, as big a fan as I was of Iron Mike. The real shame was him going to prison. We all missed some great fights, especially a real Tyson-Holyfield bout, and he was a shadow of his former self when he came back.

By the way, I'd never watched the fight with the Bob Sheridan call before. I didn't miss Merchant's ramblings, Sheridan was much quicker than the HBO crew to note the difference in stamina between the fighters in Round 9, and Sheridan's call of the KO was significantly more dramatic than that of Lampley, who simply seemed stunned.

 

[superjohn]

Tyson was such a savage. Shame he lost to that one hit wonder. But tyson slept on him and got upset. Fair is fair. Funny tho how ref gave buster a 10 count and tyson a 9 count tho. Too bad mike never fought Holyfield hen he was really in his prime

Could have been a slow count on Buster but Buster was fine. Tyson spit the mouthpiece out and was out on his feet at 9, the ref saved him from permanent damage.

 

[superjohn]

The ref was looking in their eyes, and saw Douglas was alert and Tyson wasn't. Buster was waiting for him to hit 9 before standing. He got saved by the bell but the long count was a complaint I never paid any mind.

If Tyson had been allowed to go continue he would've got put right back down. His legs were jelly and he could only see out of one eye.

It was a great day for boxing, as big a fan as I was of Iron Mike. The real shame was him going to prison. We all missed some great fights, especially a real Tyson-Holyfield bout, and he was a shadow of his former self when he came back.

By the way, I'd never watched the fight with the Bob Sheridan call before. I didn't miss Merchant's ramblings, Sheridan was much quicker than the HBO crew to note the difference in stamina between the fighters in Round 9, and Sheridan's call of the KO was significantly more dramatic than that of Lampley, who simply seemed stunned.

Sheridan's call was great, a true pro.

 

[Fishy]

Tyson was such a savage. Shame he lost to that one hit wonder. But tyson slept on him and got upset. Fair is fair. Funny tho how ref gave buster a 10 count and tyson a 9 count tho. Too bad mike never fought Holyfield hen he was really in his prime

Douglas was fine. Tyson was insensible.

He would not have been able to defend himself.

Watched it last night, first time ever watching the full fight. Funny, I was always under the impression Tyson was winning the fight and Buster was only in it because of a slow count and then catching Tyson sleeping a round or two later. Buster pretty much kicked Tyson's arse the whole fight other than one round.

It was a draw on the cards - Tyson was narrowly winning on one card, one was a draw and Douglas was comfortably winning on the third card. At the time, I thought Douglas was clearly winning....Tyson was lucky to survive the 9th. He was hurting in the tenth.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Douglas was fine. Tyson was insensible.

He would not have been able to defend himself.



It was a draw on the cards - Tyson was narrowly winning on one card, one was a draw and Douglas was comfortably winning on the third card. At the time, I thought Douglas was clearly winning....Tyson was lucky to survive the 9th. He was hurting in the tenth.

The fact the fight was a draw when Douglas TKO'd Tyson is more indicative of the crooks running boxing than the fight itself. Douglas was clearly winning the fight. As a youngin' learning to watch boxing my dad always said the only guaranteed way to take the belt from a champ is by knocking the champ out. Never want the fight to go to the judges when you are the challenger.

 

[CAHUSKY]

I was celebrating my 22nd birthday in San Francisco that night. Started with the Pepperdine v. USF basketball game and then watched the fight at the Bus Stop bar in the marina. Still can’t believe Tyson lost that fight.

 

[jayteeman]

Still waiting for the 30 for 30 episode on "11 in 11"

 

[nomar]

The fact the fight was a draw when Douglas TKO'd Tyson is more indicative of the crooks running boxing than the fight itself. Douglas was clearly winning the fight. As a youngin' learning to watch boxing my dad always said the only guaranteed way to take the belt from a champ is by knocking the champ out. Never want the fight to go to the judges when you are the challenger.

You can clearly hear Tyson's own cornermen telling him he's losing the fight!

Sheridan was a Don King guy and he had only given Tyson 1 or 2 rounds.

 

[Waquoit]

We usually had a pool for the finishing round of the big fights back then. But we didn't bother for this fight because we figured whoever drew the "1" would win.

 

[Dogdeacon]

What's craziest to me about this fight is that it was always going to come for Tyson, the bully always gets stood up in boxing. Yet Tyson fans of a certain age still cling to belief that peak Tyson was the best heavyweight ever. Tyson was 23yrs old when he lost this fight.

It stinks that either due to trainers, personal issues, prison or all of it, Tyson never re-found his mojo, got worse instead of better and this was the end of Tyson as a historically meaningful heavyweight.

In my opinion the fact that it was the otherwise mediocre Buster Douglass to beat Tyson let everyone including Tyson himself know that he wasn't quite as good as his hype - and this as much as anything else is why he never dominated again.

 

[nomar]

What's craziest to me about this fight is that it was always going to come for Tyson, the bully always gets stood up in boxing. Yet Tyson fans of a certain age still cling to belief that peak Tyson was the best heavyweight ever. Tyson was 23yrs old when he lost this fight.

It stinks that either due to trainers, personal issues, prison or all of it, Tyson never re-found his mojo, got worse instead of better and this was the end of Tyson as a historically meaningful heavyweight.

In my opinion the fact that it was the otherwise mediocre Buster Douglass to beat Tyson let everyone including Tyson himself know that he wasn't quite as good as his hype - and this as much as anything else is why he never dominated again.

Pretty much agree, although I think people would say that the Douglas fight represented the end of his peak. It's the 1983-1989 period that people point to. The problem with calling Tyson the best heavyweight of all time is that he never showed the ability to take another all-time great 15 or even 12 rounds deep. He beat some very good boxers and he destroyed a lot of good boxers. But his problem was that he never battled Holyfield when it mattered.

I will say that Douglas really gave a performance worthy of the title(s). He was in better shape than Tyson and he used his right arm to prevent Tyson from landing his left hook and was also great in defending against the uppercut.

That said, Tyson clearly took him for granted and, probably through a combination turnover in his team and his own laziness, did not show up ready to go deep into a fight.

While Tyson had gone to 10 rounds and more before, he wasn't used to doing it. He was used to knocking people out early, and he expected to do that again. When it didn't happen, he wasn't prepared to go the distance.

Why he wasn't able, after the right, to get back to his previous level of performance we just don't know, like you said. But even before he went to jail he wasn't as sharp. Could've been a confidence thing. Could have been the loss of D'Amato and Rooney.

 

[B1GEast]

What's craziest to me about this fight is that it was always going to come for Tyson, the bully always gets stood up in boxing. Yet Tyson fans of a certain age still cling to belief that peak Tyson was the best heavyweight ever. Tyson was 23yrs old when he lost this fight.

It stinks that either due to trainers, personal issues, prison or all of it, Tyson never re-found his mojo, got worse instead of better and this was the end of Tyson as a historically meaningful heavyweight.

In my opinion the fact that it was the otherwise mediocre Buster Douglass to beat Tyson let everyone including Tyson himself know that he wasn't quite as good as his hype - and this as much as anything else is why he never dominated again.

Tyson was very quick and powerful. If you didn't keep him away with a long jab and he got in close, he would combo a kidney and upper cut punch. He was so compact with his movement and he had good balance.

If Rooney would have stuck around, he'd have more titles. Don King ruined his career, but Don King could promote ants fighting and people would pay to watch.

 

[Towney007]

I haven't seen the 30 for 30 yet, but it's my most vivid memory of a sports event as a kid for sure and I haven't watched a single sporting event more than that fight.

Douglas' issue was in his heart, he was just never REALLY a prize fighter. He was twice as toosly as his father, super long arms, devastating knockout power and was really, really athletic. But he lacked the work ethic and just never quite found any consistency. People forget his was his second time fighting for a heavyweight title (he fought Tony Tucker and lost in 87 for the IBF belt) and he was ranked in the top-4 in spite of all that.

Tyson was just a total mess by that point - from the turnover in his camp, to this basically being a total tuneup fight to there just being no controlling influence in his life. He wasn't just out of shape, he looked uncoordinated and just wasn't sharp in anything he did. Douglas fought his best fight to date. That's what happens.

As for Tyson's place in history - I still think and stick to the fact that I think Tyson is the best boxer i've ever seen - or at least the 84-89 iteration. Physically more explosive, more powerful, illusive - and he could also take a shot (Tony Tucker hit him with a BOMB in the 1st or 2nd round of their unification fight and Tyson walked right through it)... Just as a physical specimen, he was different. The guy post-Douglas was never the same guy, even when he regained the title.

I think the 'he didn't face the greats' thing is a bad criticism of his early years. Holyfield was a Cruiserweight until late 89, and the Holyfield fight was pretty much signed for October of 1990 anyway. It's not like they were avoiding him. Holyfield put on a lot of size from 89-92 though but in 90, I don't think there was enough of him to beat Tyson if Tyson had a quality camp. And I like Holyfield a lot more than most.

The problem for Tyson and the 'greats' thing was he came along in a period where Holmes and Spinks had transitioned out and that next wave of Holyfield, Lewis, Ruddock, etc- weren't quite there yet. That or he absolutely exterminated anyone who would have had a shot of being great.

I've already mentioned him twice, but if Tyson doesn't exist, Tony Tucker would have legitimately had a shot at being an all time great heavyweight and up until Douglas (who Tucker absolutely smashed) - was by far Tyson's toughest opponent. Had he not shattered his hand in round 2, he might have won the fight (he won the first two rounds, including the uppercut I discussed earlier). But Tucker is on a list of a lot of guys who Tyson ran through that just never quite found their footing after getting beat by him. Tucker also found coke after the fight, so there's that. That being said - he still beat Frank Bruno twice, flat-lined Berbick and Spinks. Also put away Ruddock in 91. So I dunno. I just think that's kind of a weird thing to put on Tyson.

You fight who you fight and they never dodged anyone in that time period.