In fact, it probably would have been if Tyson were anyone else. It’s safe to say the fight was close to being stopped at the end of Round 9.
Douglas pounded Tyson, who looked to be on the verge of getting stopped, with hard shots for the remainder of the round. With about 70 seconds left in the round, Douglas rattled Mike again, sending him staggering back into the ropes. It was clearly evident Douglas was OK and the far fresher and sprier of the two.
#Did buster douglas beat mike tyson series
Undaunted, the challenger fired back, hurting Mike with a series of hook combinations about 30 seconds into the round. Invigorated by the knockdown, an aggressive Tyson swarmed Buster at the start of Round 9. At no time did Douglas stagger or wobble or give any inclination he was seriously hurt by the punch. The round immediately ended, and the fighters walked back to their corners.
#Did buster douglas beat mike tyson full
Then, an overconfident Douglas pitted his weakened foe against the ropes and lazily leaned in to deliver more punishment, nonchalantly and with his face well-exposed.Īn exhausted Tyson saw the opening and managed to uncork a short, powerful uppercut that snapped Douglas’s head back and sent him reeling to the canvas.ĭouglas, while lying on the floormat, punched the canvas in frustration, made eye contact with the referee, and wisely took a full eight count before rising. The champion, now appearing wilted and unable to offer a meaningful return, could do nothing but hold on for dear life. Douglas, on the other hand, kept working behind his brilliant jab and pounded away, occasionally dropping a hard right or uppercut after the jab.Īs the round closed, Douglas staggered Tyson again with a right hook. To the complete and utter shock of those who knew what they were witnessing, the fight was turning into a blowout and it was abundantly clear Tyson, whose left eye was completely closed and badly swollen by the end of Round 7, would need to do something spectacular to change what appeared to be an inevitable outcome.Ī faded, desperate, one-eyed fighter, Tyson tried to assert himself in the early stages of Round 8, unleashing wayward uppercuts and hooks that failed to find the target. The Douglas onslaught ensued round after round as Buster repeatedly shook Mike with hard, precise shots while the sluggish champion, exhibiting sloppy footwork and a porous defense, couldn’t mount a meaningful attack thanks to the challenger’s trigger jab and superior timing and elusiveness. Buster didn’t merely win the round, he dominated it. In Round 2, Douglas started to tee off, landing hard uppercuts and combinations. But Douglas controlled the fight from the opening bell, working behind a strong jab on the outside and tying up Tyson whenever the champion got inside. Who cared Tyson, now a 23-year-old wealthy mainstream athlete, had surrounded himself with inexperienced trainers and ‘yes’ men and wasn’t training as he should have?Īnd who cared he reportedly looked sluggish when sparring, and was famously floored by Greg Page in a media workout weeks prior to the Douglas fight?Īnd when a soft version of a very disinterested-looking Tyson stepped into the ring to face a motivated Buster Douglas in Tokyo, we still believed the challenger wouldn’t last three rounds.
Not surprisingly, there had been rumors of Tyson’s eventual demise in the weeks leading up to the Douglas fight but almost everyone assumed that even a poorly trained, unfocused version of Mike could knockout Douglas. Tyson vs Douglas was a one-sided whoppin’ from start to finish, but the wrong guy was administering the beating. Only one casino even posted odds on the fight as most bettors believed the match-up wasn’t competitive enough to justify a betting line.
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