BoxRec

Holyfield wanted to fight Tyson back in the 1980s. He seemed to think he could overcome even the peask version of Tyson.

Coulden't careful examination of different fights be used to settle debates about when a fighter is in his prime or not? I would think one could try slowing the film and timing punches also keeping track of punchstats.

>>>Being in good shape wasn't Douglas's main problem. His main problem was that he wasn't mentally able to compete with consistency on the highest levels.<<<

I think many would disagree with that considering that Douglas fluctuated between 230 and 400 pounds...his biggest problem was weight and conditioning!

He was 230 for Tyson, for Holyfield he was 246, a big difference, but from 1982 through the rest of his career he had difficulty keeping his weight down under 260, which was due to a lack of training, which resulted in poor conditioning...it had nothing to do with his mental make-up, it was his physical make-up!

No...Tucker and White were just the better man on the night they fought Douglas!

>>>It was the Tyson match that was the anomoly, where he stuck it out and won a tough one.<<<

Because he was in the very best condition of his life and any fighter will tell you, it is a hell of a lot easier to get up from a knockdown and it is a lot easier to take punishment when you are in top shape, but if you are in horrible condition then you will not respond to a knockdown, or punishment in the same way because your body is not physically able to do so.

He was in great condition against Tucker, no doubt about it and whether he would have quit, or not if he had been in better shape no one knows. I don't recall how the fight ended...did he quit, or did the ref stop the fight?

I recall Douglas himself saying that he simply decided he didn't want to continue for whatever reason vs Tucker but I can't seem to recall where I read this.

>>>You mean you didn't see Douglas-Tucker, Barry? Then how would you know that conditioning was a factor?<<<

If you are going to respond to something I say, then please start paying attention to what I say! I plainly stated that I could not recall how it ended...so why don't you enlighten me instead of trying to get one over because you will never do that, or have you not seen the fight?

Well Decagon, if you think that Douglas quit as soon as he got hurt then you most certainly did not watch it...Tucker landed some big shots on Douglas in the tenth round and had him on the ropes landing when Mills Lane jumped in an called a halt, which seemed to be a rather quick stoppage, but Douglas most certainly did not quit!

Conditioning was always a problem with Douglas as he just simply did not like to train and never did!