At 6’4”, Douglas was preparing for the opportunity of a lifetime.
After a video surfaced of the knockdown, Tyson, and his camp, tried to downplay the rumors as well as the video. Those rumors got a swift shot of reality when Tyson was floored while sparring with Greg Page. Rumors were abound that Tyson wasn’t training and was nowhere near fighting shape. Tyson now looked to face Douglas as the world awaited a showdown with Holyfield. Just five months later in Atlantic City, Tyson knocked out Carl Outside distractions and the loss of Rooney had taken a toll on a once well-oiled machine. Against Bruno, Tyson looked rusty and was wobbled in the first round before knocking Bruno senseless in the fifth. In December, Tyson dumped longtime trainer Kevin Rooney just two months before his February 1989 title defense against Frank Bruno. In October, after less than eight months of marriage, Givens filed for divorce. The turmoil and chaos in his personal life continued.Ī street fight with Mitch Green left Tyson with a broken hand, although Green ended up looking much worse. Cayton was served legal papers at ringside as Tyson looked to break his contract with him and move to Don King. On June 28, in just 91 seconds, Tyson blew away what was supposed to be his toughest opponent, Michael Spinks.
The following month, his co-manager and confidant Jim Jacobs passed away leaving co-manager Bill Cayton to steer Tyson’s career. “Iron” Mike married actress Robin Givins in February. The axis, however, began to shift slightly in 1988 as Tyson’s life began to read like a soap opera. He was widely recognized as “the baddest man on the planet” and remained undefeated. The following year Tyson added the WBA and IBF belts to unify the title. At just 20 years of age, Tyson brutalized Trevor Berbick inside of six minutes to win the WBC crown. In November of 1986 he became the youngest Heavyweight champion in history. Tyson, fromĬatskill, New York, had steamrolled through the division. On February 10 stateside, February 11 in Tokyo, all hell broke loose as the boxing world was turned upside down by Douglas. If you could locate a casino that was taking action on this bout you would find that Douglas was installed as a 42-1 underdog. Like Joe Namath and the New York Jets facing impossible odds against the Baltimore Colts, or the United States men’s hockey team facing the unbeatable Soviet machine, public perception was that Douglas didn’t have a prayer against Tyson. Douglas was considered to be a safe opponent before facing Evander Holyfield in June. As we entered 1990, Tyson had signed to meet James “Buster” Douglas. Then, 15 years later, Mike Tyson defended his undisputed titles against Tony Tubbs and also won via a second round knockout. In 1973, George Foreman defended his crown against Joe Roman winning by knockout in the second round. In fairness, Tokyo had hosted a pair of previous Heavyweight title fights. It seemed as if it were light years away from the neon lights of Atlantic City and Las Vegas. “It might have just been luck, but I can tell you that Coach worked hard for it even if it was luck.Tokyo, Japan didn’t appear like the normal venue to hold a Heavyweight championship fight. It’s crazy that Coach, like, just beat him,” he said. “Really, Mike Tyson was the second-most greatest boxer in the world still to this day. “I mean, I really look up to Mike Tyson, but I don’t look up to him as much as Coach,” said 11-year-old Colton Matson, who has worked with Douglas since he was 6. His stable of students throughout Columbus’ parks and recreation system look up to the man they call simply “coach” as a teacher, friend and hero. The 59-year-old fighter will be celebrated at an anniversary gala Friday in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, where he’ll raise money for programs that help others who face seemingly insurmountable challenges. “Right now, everything is looking up,” Douglas said in a recent Associated Press interview, noting he struggles with diabetes. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.ĬOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -Thirty years afterhis startling victory against boxing titan Mike Tyson, Buster Douglas is feeling healthy and basking in the glory he says he was denied at the time. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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