Buster Douglas vs. Hasim Rahman

6 Pack · Post by **6 Pack** » 05 Apr 2002, 19:22

A super fight between two guys who rose to greatness on one night, and crashed back down in their next fight. THis fight is between the two in thier primes.

Douglas has beaten among others: Oliver McCall, Greg Page, Trevor Berbick, Tex Cobb, and Mike Tyson.

Rahman has beaten among others: Jesse Ferguson, Trevor Berbick (a much older one though), was beating David Tua before he was robbed, and Lennox Lewis.

Both have been KO'ed a few times, and both have looked great other times. Both also beat heavyweight champions who were very dominate and were huge underdogs who upset the odds with of all things a KO. I will go with Douglas in this one though because he has beaten the better opposition and done so over the longer period of time, proving himself more than rahman and somewhat shedding the one-hit wonder label. Tyson was just one of many world class fighters Buster has beaten, and Lewis is pretty much the only world class fighter Rahman has beaten. Douglas by decision.

P.S. Time is still on Rahman's side, and he may still prove to be a champion again. but as of now Douglas is the more proven man.

Justin · Post by **Justin** » 05 Apr 2002, 22:16

Douglas beat Tyson (dethroned even) in his prime... Which is much more than beating an already-exposed-poor-chin-lennox.

Tomato-Can · Post by **Tomato-Can** » 06 Apr 2002, 04:56

6-Pack.....Your P.S. says it all. The jury is still out but right now Douglas has the edge.

JDGAFFLIN · Post by **JDGAFFLIN** » 07 Apr 2002, 03:50

This is a tough call, but would have made for a great fight, if both came with thier "A game"

I mean, Rahman was robbed blind against Tua....That punch by Tua was definately ater the bell.... He was beating Maskaev soundly, until he got stupid, and went for the KO.....

Then you take Douglas....His performance against Tyson was magnificent, plus, he's beaten some great fighters.....

Its a tough call for me, but I say Rahman by TKO in the 10th, in a fight that Douglas was winning on all three judges score cards.....

6 Pack · Post by **6 Pack** » 07 Apr 2002, 23:09

If Tyson could not KO Douglas on his "A" game than Rahman could not either. Douglas was a demon who refused to loose and rose from the canvas after taking a bomb in the 8th. Rahman would be the one getting KO'ed in the 10th. The fight would be a see-saw battle until Douglas broke threw with a combo like the one that finnished Tyson. Rahman would be dangerous until the end with the threat of landing a fight ending bomb, but douglas would rise from the canvas if knocked down, and shake off what ever else landed. The night he beat Tyson Douglas looked amazing in his resolve, and would beat the Rahman who KO'ed Lewis.

overhand_right · Post by **overhand_right** » 08 Apr 2002, 06:26

douglas would annihilate rahman. check douglas against fighters similar to rahman such as mike williams or trevor berbick.

no contest.

james douglas ko7 hasim rahman

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 27 Aug 2006, 17:38

When last we visited this question in 2002....the prevailing winds favored Buster......has time changed opinions?

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 27 Aug 2006, 17:55

the tokyo douglas knocks out rahman. the toyko douglas was arguebably the greatest 230lb heavyweight of all time that night. he showed skills, movement that we have never seen before or since from a 230lb man.

evndrbsn · Post by **evndrbsn** » 27 Aug 2006, 19:56

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:the tokyo douglas knocks out rahman. the toyko douglas was arguebably the greatest 230lb heavyweight of all time that night. he showed skills, movement that we have never seen before or since from a 230lb man.

I disagree. It was a great performance by Douglas but Tyson at that time was made for Buster. Buster used a great jab to set up his shots, but I can't help but think another heavyweight on his A game would have let so many looping right hooks get in. That is traditionally a punch orthodox fighters shouldn't throw, unless to the body. Riddick Bowe was a much better 230 lb fighter and beat a better, more prepared heavyweight in Evander Holyfield in 1992.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 27 Aug 2006, 20:19

evndrbsn wrote:
BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:the tokyo douglas knocks out rahman. the toyko douglas was arguebably the greatest 230lb heavyweight of all time that night. he showed skills, movement that we have never seen before or since from a 230lb man.
I disagree. It was a great performance by Douglas but Tyson at that time was made for Buster. Buster used a great jab to set up his shots, but I can't help but think another heavyweight on his A game would have let so many looping right hooks get in. That is traditionally a punch orthodox fighters shouldn't throw, unless to the body. Riddick Bowe was a much better 230 lb fighter and beat a better, more prepared heavyweight in Evander Holyfield in 1992.

of course i forgot to add douglas did not beat a peak tyson either. the 86-88 tyson knocks out even the tokyo douglas.

douglas showed incredible movement for a 230lb man.......no 230lb + man has ever showed movement like that. busters upperbody movement was incredible. also his jab, sharp punches, combinations, handspeed were as good as any superheavyweight i have ever seen. douglas also kept switching up to southpaw throwing mike off.

i would have liked to seen holyfield fight a tokyo douglas......not the fat baloon completley useless douglas he beat.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 27 Aug 2006, 20:20

what gets tyson into my top 10 is his 1980s title reign....its a better reign than most in heavyweight history....not many holes i can find with it.

evndrbsn · Post by **evndrbsn** » 27 Aug 2006, 20:25

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:what gets tyson into my top 10 is his 1980s title reign....its a better reign than most in heavyweight history....not many holes i can find with it.

Except how many guys actually fought back? Most were too terrified. The Tyson mystique makes me sick. He was a good fighter but he has become very overrated.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 27 Aug 2006, 20:41

evndrbsn wrote:
BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:what gets tyson into my top 10 is his 1980s title reign....its a better reign than most in heavyweight history....not many holes i can find with it.
Except how many guys actually fought back? Most were too terrified. The Tyson mystique makes me sick. He was a good fighter but he has become very overrated.

I laugh at the people who say he lost to the first fighter who stood up to him. What a terrible insult to the character of Berbick, Holmes, Thomas, Smith, Tucker, Biggs, Tubbs and Spinks. The reality was that they fought the prime Tyson. Anyone here trying to tell me Buster Douglas was a better or more real fighter than these guys?

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 27 Aug 2006, 20:47

evndrbsn wrote:
BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:what gets tyson into my top 10 is his 1980s title reign....its a better reign than most in heavyweight history....not many holes i can find with it.
Except how many guys actually fought back? Most were too terrified. The Tyson mystique makes me sick. He was a good fighter but he has become very overrated.

You have to give Tyson some credit for them not fighting back. They weren't scared because they were meeting some tap tap tubby like Chris Byrd. They were scared because they were in danger of getting seriously hurt. If Tyson was all piss and wind and just a paper dragon how come none of these seasoned pros cottoned on?

evndrbsn · Post by **evndrbsn** » 27 Aug 2006, 20:52

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:
evndrbsn wrote:
BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:what gets tyson into my top 10 is his 1980s title reign....its a better reign than most in heavyweight history....not many holes i can find with it.
Except how many guys actually fought back? Most were too terrified. The Tyson mystique makes me sick. He was a good fighter but he has become very overrated.

I laugh at the people who say he lost to the first fighter who stood up to him. What a terrible insult to the character of Berbick, Holmes, Thomas, Smith, Tucker, Biggs, Tubbs and Spinks. The reality was that they fought the prime Tyson. Anyone here trying to tell me Buster Douglas was a better or more real fighter than these guys?

Are you kidding? Larry Holmes was terrified in the fight. Even if he didn't say that this fight was the only fight he considered not coming out for, he looked like a frightened child. Michael Spinks also was completely mortified and blown out for it. Smith used a vice grip on Tyson until the final seconds of the twelfth when he nailed Tyson with a good punch. I bet Bonecrusher was thinking, "oops, maybe I should have fought in the first 11.75 rounds." What about Tucker? Another grab affair that didn't impress much.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 27 Aug 2006, 21:00

tyson did something to holmes evander holyfield couldnt do to a older worse holmes.....he dominated holmes and knocked him out cold

hawaiianpunch · Post by **hawaiianpunch** » 27 Aug 2006, 21:16

Key here is "At their best". Which in this case I see Douglas winning a wide UD or late TKO!

Thunder and Lightning · Post by **Thunder and Lightning** » 28 Aug 2006, 06:04

The Douglas in Tokyo destroys Rahman easy, Douglas was the better fighter vs Tyson for the whole fight he dominated Tyson, Rahman got lucky against Lewis and probably would have lost had it gone to the cards.
Douglas had great potential had he just liked to box wich i don't think he did considering he stopped fighting in some of his fights he could have been one of the greats, that is something Rahman couln't have been, Rahman is avarege at best.

So the best Douglas vs the best Rahman, easy James "Buster" Douglas victory, however if the fight had happened Douglas probably would have been to out of shape and therefore lost the fight.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 28 Aug 2006, 07:20

Thunder and Lightning wrote:The Douglas in Tokyo destroys Rahman easy, Douglas was the better fighter vs Tyson for the whole fight he dominated Tyson, Rahman got lucky against Lewis and probably would have lost had it gone to the cards.
Douglas had great potential had he just liked to box wich i don't think he did considering he stopped fighting in some of his fights he could have been one of the greats, that is something Rahman couln't have been, Rahman is avarege at best.

So the best Douglas vs the best Rahman, easy James "Buster" Douglas victory, however if the fight had happened Douglas probably would have been to out of shape and therefore lost the fight.

I think even a sub-par Douglas beats a peak Rahman on most nights. In his prime years, Douglas was a skilled and well coordinated boxer with an excellent jab and straight right. Obviously, this is evident against Tyson, but it can also be seen in his loss to Tony Tucker, when he controlled the fight against Tucker before running out of gas and getting stopped. His questionable conditioning would be less of a problem against Rahman, who is also known for running out of gas in the second half of fights.

Thunder and Lightning · Post by **Thunder and Lightning** » 28 Aug 2006, 08:15

The Great John L wrote:
Thunder and Lightning wrote:The Douglas in Tokyo destroys Rahman easy, Douglas was the better fighter vs Tyson for the whole fight he dominated Tyson, Rahman got lucky against Lewis and probably would have lost had it gone to the cards.
Douglas had great potential had he just liked to box wich i don't think he did considering he stopped fighting in some of his fights he could have been one of the greats, that is something Rahman couln't have been, Rahman is avarege at best.

So the best Douglas vs the best Rahman, easy James "Buster" Douglas victory, however if the fight had happened Douglas probably would have been to out of shape and therefore lost the fight.
I think even a sub-par Douglas beats a peak Rahman on most nights. In his prime years, Douglas was a skilled and well coordinated boxer with an excellent jab and straight right. Obviously, this is evident against Tyson, but it can also be seen in his loss to Tony Tucker, when he controlled the fight against Tucker before running out of gas and getting stopped. His questionable conditioning would be less of a problem against Rahman, who is also known for running out of gas in the second half of fights.

I don't think so, if Rahman could knock out Lewis than a out of shape Buster Douglas also would have been knocked out, Rahman aren't a very good fighter but the Buster Douglas who showed up against Holyfield for example wasn't either.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 28 Aug 2006, 08:52

Thunder and Lightning wrote:I don't think so, if Rahman could knock out Lewis…

Have you ever heard the expression, “catching lightning in a bottle”?

Thunder and Lightning · Post by **Thunder and Lightning** » 28 Aug 2006, 14:07

The Great John L wrote:
Thunder and Lightning wrote:I don't think so, if Rahman could knock out Lewis…
Have you ever heard the expression, “catching lightning in a bottle”?

Ofcourse there is no doubt Rahman got lucky against Lewis but if he could get lucky against Lewis than a Buster Douglas out of shape and without focus would have been easy to hit and therefore Rahman who can punch would have knocked out Douglas.

Cojimar 1945 · Post by **Cojimar 1945** » 28 Aug 2006, 21:55

Rahman was unable to stop Maskaev the two times they fought yet Maskaev has been stopped five times.

Thunder and Lightning · Post by **Thunder and Lightning** » 29 Aug 2006, 15:49

Decagon wrote:
Cojimar 1945 wrote:Rahman was unable to stop Maskaev the two times they fought yet Maskaev has been stopped five times.
If Douglas was unable to stop David Bey, who was stopped eight times...

If Douglas was unable to stop Mike White, who was stopped six times...

If Douglas was unable to stop David Jaco, who was stopped seventeen times...

If Douglas was unable to stop Greg Page, who was stopped six times...

If Douglas was unable to stop Rocky Pepeli, who was stopped eight times...
That's a stupid argument, because both guys were unable to stop some pretty crappy fighters, and they both suffered embarassing losses throughout the courses of their respective careers. Basing your pick on a fight that is in no way analogous to the fight being discussed is simply bad analysis. Yeah, we all think it's pretty crappy that the guy who beat Lewis just lost a title to Maskaev, but ignoring the rest of his career is just sloppy.

Great point and he also got a tie with Steffen Tangstad not a very great effort either.

Buster Douglas vs. Hasim Rahman

Rahman lack of power