BoxRec

The Douglas fight still has me a bit confused as to where the truth actually lies and how it should be classified as an upset.

A great deal of pundits, boxing professionals and knowledgable fans now take the position that it really was not such a seismic shock. Douglas was not as incompetent as he was portrayed and Tyson was clearly on a downward spiral with a chaotic personal life and King kicking away all the essential professional advice/tactics/training regime 'pillars' that Tyson needed to make him an elite and unbeatable heavyweight.

On the other hand, Douglas was a colossal outsider and had shown nothing to suggest that he had the beating someone of Tyson's calibre. The fight was undoubtedly a last shot at glory for James and I still contend that at the time plenty of good judges - the majority in fact - viewed the trip over to Tokyo as a long way to travel for a mismatch and King PR stunt.

Ultimately, I think the huge upset was actually Douglas himself and that is where the real credit should lie. He found self-belief both before and during the fight itself, achieved better levels of fitness and conditioning and boxed exactly the right fight tactically. A previously ho-hum top 10 guy booked for a beating by King got it massively and epically right on the night.

There is a good deal of revisionism in the belief that Tyson was a basket case - with his subsequent failings kind of suggesting that he was already there to be taken - sure he was unhappy and not precisely primed as he once was, but he fought like hell and believed he could win.

Bodyshot3 wrote:The Douglas fight still has me a bit confused as to where the truth actually lies and how it should be classified as an upset.

A great deal of pundits, boxing professionals and knowledgable fans now take the position that it really was not such a seismic shock. Douglas was not as incompetent as he was portrayed and Tyson was clearly on a downward spiral with a chaotic personal life and King kicking away all the essential professional advice/tactics/training regime 'pillars' that Tyson needed to make him an elite and unbeatable heavyweight.

On the other hand, Douglas was a colossal outsider and had shown nothing to suggest that he had the beating someone of Tyson's calibre. The fight was undoubtedly a last shot at glory for James and I still contend that at the time plenty of good judges - the majority in fact - viewed the trip over to Tokyo as a long way to travel for a mismatch and King PR stunt.

Ultimately, I think the huge upset was actually Douglas himself and that is where the real credit should lie. He found self-belief both before and during the fight itself, achieved better levels of fitness and conditioning and boxed exactly the right fight tactically. A previously ho-hum top 10 guy booked for a beating by King got it massively and epically right on the night.

There is a good deal of revisionism in the belief that Tyson was a basket case - with his subsequent failings kind of suggesting that he was already there to be taken - sure he was unhappy and not precisely primed as he once was, but he fought like hell and believed he could win.

I respect your view, but, IT IS HARD NOT TO THINK THAT THIS WAS A MONUMENTAL UPSET. I never thought that Buster Douglas was the one that was going to pull the trick. What a night it was in boxing. I knew where I was when that fight happened. I would never forget it

BoxBuzz wrote:And honestly the world was more shocked by Braddock Baer than by Mike vs Buster.

Buster was a live underdog. Though Tyson was a media masterpiece.

Braddock winning was like a guy stepping out of Hospice to beat the Hulk.

Baer had quite the reputation himself at that time....But the greater discrepancy was in how completely written off Braddock was.

Gonna disagree on that. Tyson was coming up the Williams blowout and Buster was seen as a lesser threat. Buster had quit on his stool before and the bookies had him at a much bigger price than Williams. Douglas also had higher odds than Braddock.

Tyson was certainly considered much harder to beat than Baer. Baer had been beaten a few times previously.

On the other hand, Douglas was more highly regarded than Braddock going in.

I don't know if Buster Douglas was more regarded than James J. Braddock, but, no matter what, both were huge underdogs, especially Buster. A 42-1 odds is hard to see in the sport right now