The thirty-eighth fight of Mike Tyson's career took place on February 11, 1990 at the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan. His opponent was 29-year-old James “Buster” Douglas from Columbus, Ohio. Before the fight, Douglas weighed 105 kg with a height of 195 cm. Before the fight with Tyson, he had 33 fights, won 29, 19 of which were premature, with one draw.
Mike Tyson showed 100 kg on the scales.
Judges: Larry Rosadilla, Ken Morita, Masakazu Ushida.
James Douglas, the son of professional boxer William Douglas, played basketball and American football in school. He came to professional boxing in the early eighties. His most notable early fights include victories over Randall Cob, former titleholder Greg Page and David Bey. In 1987, he had a chance to win the vacant IBF title against the undefeated Tony Tucker. Despite the fact that Douglas led the fight, he became noticeably tired in the later rounds and lost by technical knockout. After this defeat, James managed to win six fights in a row, including against Oliver McCall, Trevor Berbick and a knockout against Mike Williams on the undercard of the Tyson-Spinks fight.
Thus, he gets a second chance to become a champion in a fight against the undefeated Mike Tyson.
Almost everyone before the fight thought that it would end with another knockout of “Iron” Mike. In Las Vegas, only one bookmaker accepted bets. This fight was supposed to be just a warm-up for Tyson before a mega-fight against the undefeated champion in Kuruzery Evander Holyfield.
23 days before the battle, James Douglas's mother, who was a very close person to him, dies. After this loss, few believed that Douglas's morale would even allow him to enter the ring. However, the fight not only took place, but also went down in boxing history forever.
Boxers start the first round with a jab in the middle of the ring. Douglas moves well on his feet and manages to avoid Tyson's attacks. Mike pins his opponent against the ropes and lands two big defensive rights. Douglas immediately develops a counterattack, but without much success. Tyson gets close again with a jab, but James Douglas lands a deuce to the head and stops Mike. Referee Octavio Meiran admonishes both boxers for keeping their heads low. After the warning, Tyson manages to land a good right hand to his opponent's head. The boxers are clinching. The referee tries to separate them, but Douglas continues to throw punches despite the commands. Meyran issues another warning. Tyson works well with his jab, but unexpectedly runs into his opponent’s oncoming right. Once again the referee has to break the clinch. After the clinch, Tyson becomes more active and tries to carry out a series, but Douglas not only defends effectively, but also actively counterattacks. Landing a couple of good rights to the head, he emerges victorious from this episode. Taking a short break, Mike Tyson lands a good jab and adds a powerful left side to the head. Douglas is backed into a corner. After the clinch, James fires a powerful right hand to Tyson's head. Mike doesn't have time to completely dodge, but responds with a powerful side kick to the head. The gong sounds, but the boxers remain standing for some time, determined to continue.
In the second round, Mike Tyson literally runs out of his corner, but as soon as he manages to get close, he gets stuck in the arms of his opponent. One of these attempts, which began with a very sluggish jab, ends with James Douglas literally unleashing a series of eight punches on Tyson. Mike froze on his feet for a moment, but continuing to move forward he came across another powerful right straight to the head. After a few clinches, Mike again moves forward without punches and misses a straight right to the head. Tyson tried to respond, but not a single blow from his series reached the target. In the next episode, Mike manages to land a powerful left side to the head, but Douglas again extinguished the development of the attack with a clinch. After the clinch, Tyson starts working on the low level and lands a good right hook to the body. However, this blow did not confuse Douglas at all and he carried out ten unanswered blows to the head. This time Mike Tyson himself is forced to save himself in the clinch. He was clearly tired and very puzzled by the progress of the battle. After the next clinch, the gong sounds and the opponents go to the corners.
Mike Tyson starts the third round with a jab, after which he tries to land a straight right to the head. Douglas presses against the ropes and avoids punches in the clinch. After the clinch, James misses with a straight right to the head and Mike counterattacks with a left hook to the liver. However, he fails to develop initiative. Douglas fires back with a jab and again throws a straight right towards him. Mike responds in kind, but his blow is not so accurate. Meanwhile, James continues to throw more punches and land more. Tyson, on the contrary, is not accurate and gets bogged down in his opponent’s long arms. The referee makes a remark to Douglas about the hold, but he does not pay any attention to them and delivers an exact deuce to Tyson's head.
Mike Tyson takes a long time to measure up to his opponent until he finally manages to land a good right hand to the body. Long aiming follows again and Mike throws a powerful left hook to the head. Douglas responds with a straight right and a sliding right uppercut. Having missed another strong jab, Tyson delivers a straight right to his opponent’s head. After the gong, the opponents are again in no hurry to disperse to the corners and continue to remain in a standing position.
James Douglas starts the fourth round with some great jab work in the middle of the ring. Tyson misses, but continues to move forward. Mike manages to land a right cross to the head, but Douglas does not leave any of his blows unanswered. After a long and ineffective fuss, Douglas lands a powerful straight right straight to Tyson’s jaw. Mike freezes in place in the middle of the ring. Having come to his senses, Mike Tyson continues to attack, but again runs into a straight right to the head. The only way he could respond was with a right to the body in the clinch. Ten seconds before the end of the round, James Douglas delivers a powerful left hook to the jaw and literally a moment later Tyson responds in kind. Mike's blow is much heavier and James's legs noticeably buckle. However, he finds the strength to carry out a good series in Tyson’s head at the end of the round.
James Douglas begins the fifth round by literally shooting Tyson at a distance. Moreover, not only the jab is used, but also the right blows. Mike is confused. He moves forward by inertia, but practically does not strike. Single jabs occasionally reach the opponent's head, but this is clearly not enough to change the course of the fight. Douglas, on the contrary, in almost every episode turns out to be head and shoulders above his opponent. A powerful right straight to the head again makes Tyson freeze in place in bewilderment.
As soon as Mike starts to move forward, Douglas meets him with a two to the head and then ties him up in the clinch.
In the middle of the round, Mike Tyson misses a powerful right to the head and another series of accurate blows from his opponent. He doesn't respond to the blows and seems seriously shaken. After the clinch, Tyson tried to recover with a left side kick to the head, but the blow landed casually. Another left hook after the clinch and Mike stops again. He absolutely does not shoot combinations and stagnates in one place for a long time. A hematoma from missed blows begins to grow over Mike's left eye. For the first time in his entire career, viewers see him so helpless and broken. A couple of seconds before the end of the round, Douglas delivered another powerful blow to Tyson’s head and continued to attack after the bell.
The boxers begin the sixth round with a mutual jab in the middle of the ring, followed by a clinch. Tyson tries to escape and throws an elbow to his opponent's head. The referee does not react to this violation in any way.
After several attempts by Tyson to get into close range, he still manages to land a good uppercut to the head. A few seconds later, Mike repeats the same combination, but James Douglas doesn't look shocked.
In the middle of the round, Mike Tyson seemed to have taken aim and began to reach his opponent with a jab more often. But Douglas doesn’t even think about giving up ground; he also continues to use the jab and meets Mike with a powerful uppercut at the end of the second minute of the round. Tyson ends the round by firing a powerful left hook to the head, but misses and goes to his corner.
The seventh round Mike Tyson starts with a left to the body, but the blow gets stuck in the guard. After the clinch, Tyson hits a left to the head, this time more successfully, but again gets stuck in the clinch. Douglas responds with a straight right to the head, then adds a side left. Tyson continues to move forward, but again and again runs into oncoming blows. Only towards the end of the second minute of the round does he manage to land a good right hand to the body. Mike continues to attack the body and manages to land a powerful right hand, but Douglas immediately responds with a counter right straight to the head. Just a few seconds later, he carries out exactly the same blow towards him, but also connects his left hand to it. Tyson responds with a right to the body and a left, side to the head. These blows clearly seemed sensitive to Buster Douglas. In one of the ensuing clinches, Mike lands a low blow and is admonished by the referee. Douglas responds with a straight right to the head.
Ten seconds before the end of the round, Mike Tyson delivers a powerful blow to the body on the right and a left side to the head, but again the bell does not give him the opportunity to build on his success.
The boxers begin the eighth round with an exchange in the middle of the ring, after which Tyson manages to land a good left uppercut to the head. Apparently, James Douglas is starting to get tired and is striking less often. Tyson, on the contrary, stepped up and lands another good left to the head. After the clinch, Mike closes in again and lands a straight right to the head. Douglas was not at all embarrassed by this temporary success of Tyson, and he again began to actively throw the jab. Tyson desperately tries to land a decisive blow in close combat, but misses. Douglas, on the contrary, counterattacks and forces Mike to retreat to the ropes after several accurate blows to the head. James continues to attack and Tyson is forced to literally survive with his back against the ropes. But then something happens that the fans have been waiting for throughout the entire fight. Mike Tyson, barely able to stand on his feet, moves to the left after Douglas's blow and fires a powerful right uppercut right into his opponent's jaw. James "Buster" Douglas falls onto his back. The hall explodes with delight. Tyson showed that, despite the number of missed punches and incredible fatigue, he remains a dangerous puncher at any moment of the fight.
Douglas has difficulty getting up on the count of nine. Octavio Meyran gives permission to continue the fight. However, Tyson doesn't even have time to launch an attack. The gong sounds and the boxers go to the corners. The replay shows that the referee counted much slower than the timekeeper showed him. Their times differed by at least two seconds already on the count of “six”. After Douglas stood up, the referee did not ask him if he was ready to continue the fight, and also did not ask him to raise his gloves, as required by the rules. As it turned out later, this cost Mike Tyson victory in this fight.
Mike Tyson begins the tenth round with a desperate attempt to finish the fight by knockout. He throws powerful blows from both hands, but none of them reach the target. After a clinch, in which Douglas almost hit the referee with a right hook, Mike Tyson throws a left hook to the head and a moment later a left uppercut. Douglas not only did not lose his head, but immediately launched a counterattack. He delivers six unanswered blows to the head from both hands. Tyson responds with a powerful right cross to the head. Douglas felt a little unsteady again.
In the middle of the round, Mai lands another powerful left to Tyson's head. Douglas answers him in kind. Mike swayed on his feet and leaned on the ropes. James delivers four blows to the defense and again runs into Tyson’s right uppercut, after which he collapses onto his opponent with his entire body. Having come to his senses, he continues his series. Mike's head begins to rush from side to side from the blows and the referee closely monitors the development of events. Once again, Tyson manages to hit Douglas with a precise right uppercut, but he, apparently, does not pay attention to them and throws all his strength into finishing off his opponent. Both boxers had difficulty staying on their feet, leaning on the ropes. After the referee's command, Mike Tyson moves closer, but again runs into counter blows from his opponent, which force him to retreat to the ropes. Douglas ends the round with two side kicks to Tyson's head. Mike goes to the corner with an unsteady gait, his eye almost completely closed by a hematoma. It seems that he himself was knocked down in the eighth round.
Mike Tyson starts the tenth round with a powerful right straight to the head. Douglas responds with two right hooks to the head. Mike Tyson stops throwing punches and just walks forward, covering his head with his gloves. James "Buster" Douglas delivers a powerful uppercut straight to the jaw. Tyson freezes in place and immediately misses four unanswered blows to the head from both hands, after which he falls in the corner. The referee opens the scoring. Mike Tyson searches the floor for a mouth guard. He puts it in at the count of seven and tries to lean on the referee to get up. Like “Buster” Douglas two rounds earlier, he gets up at the count of nine, his hands are also down and he is just as wobbly. But in the case of Tyson, it is quite obvious that he cannot continue further, and there is still a minute and a half left until the end of the round. The referee stops the fight. The hall roared with delight. What seemed impossible just half an hour ago has happened. Mike Tyson lost by knockout to a boxer who was considered, according to bookmakers, an outsider with a score of 42 to 1. And at the beginning of accepting bets up to 49 to 1!
After the fight, Don King stated that there were actually two knockouts that night, but one canceled out the other. Since the referee was slow to count when James Douglas was on the floor, Mike Tyson should remain champion. The IBF and WBA were not convinced by this argument, and they recognized “Buster” Douglas as champion. The WBC resisted the longest. But after the main US boxing commissions announced that they would sever relations with this organization if it did not recognize Douglas as champion, the WBC management had no choice but to back down. James "Buster" Douglas is the absolute champion. The boxing world was in shock. Ring magazine called this fight "Disappointment of the Year." But to tell the truth, it was the biggest disappointment in the history of boxing.
This was Mike Tyson's first defeat in his entire professional career.
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James “Buster” Douglas - a hero for one great fight On this day, fifty-six years ago (04/07/1960), James Douglas was born in Columbus, who was destined to go down in history as the first fighter to defeat the great and terrible Mike Tyson. It may seem strange that we are talking about a man who won the title of world loser, but the fact is that Buster's entire biography is dedicated to his one great fight. And the fact that the battle was great is beyond doubt. What is unclear is where is the rest of his career? How could a man show such amazing talent for just one night and be a failure in most other fights? When you look at Buster's career, it's hard not to be surprised. Buster began his career like most famous boxers, beating several journeymen with ease. However, he then met David Bey, a tough boxer who subsequently fought many high-level fights. It was Bey's professional debut and he knocked out Douglas in the second round. Douglas fell back to lower positions, and won the next 14 fights against more than average opponents. He was then defeated by Mike White, a tall boxer who had some highlights in his career but lost every time he faced a strong opponent. He stopped Buster in the 9th round of a very boring fight. Buster won his next 14 fights against relatively well-known opponents, such as Oliver McCall, Greg Page and Trevor, on points. However, during this same period he lost to Tony Tucker and Jessa Ferguson. He also fought journeymen David Jacquot, Dee Collier and Jerry Halstead. He won against everyone, but didn't look very convincing. Most of Buster's victories were on points and did not look like a boxer with serious knockout power. We saw fights with McCall, Tucker, Rage and Berbick and while we thought Buster looked good in those fights, we didn't think he was capable of becoming champion. And when we found out that he would fight Tyson, we said: “Well, another lamb for Tyson to eat.” How wrong we were! This fight has been written about so many times that there is no point in repeating it. We all know that Tyson neglected his training, he had problems at home, and he underestimated his opponent. But we cannot diminish Buster’s merits in this fight. It was a great fight. Those who watched this fight live remember when Buster took off his robe and began to warm up, there was something in his eyes and in every movement that made you think. He looked concentrated, fearless, and next to Tyson he seemed simply huge, although in fact it was only an appearance created by his attitude. It was amazing, and no wonder Tyson and his team were shocked. However, Tyson is Tyson - he came to his senses and began to actively resist. He caught Buster with crazy punches, but Buster barely reacted and again took the initiative with an amazing technique. He was far ahead on points when, in the 8th round, Tyson hit him with a powerful uppercut and sent him to the canvas. The judge counted for a long time, and Tyson’s further actions were interrupted by the gong. But Douglas's gaze was conscious, and when the 9th round began, Douglas continued to attack Tyson with powerful jabs and right hands. Soon it was all over. The greatest shock in boxing history. Tyson had nothing to oppose to a series of accurate blows, and even such a strong boxer like him could not withstand this for long. Buster became the world heavyweight champion - deservedly so. It seemed that a new era had begun. It was one of the best boxing matches that left us with our mouths open in admiration. It seemed that Douglas had found himself and would continue to win for a long time. But we were wrong again. Whatever spirit had possessed Buster that evening vanished as quickly as it appeared. In his first title defense against the fearless Evander Holyfield, he looked pathetic. Body movements can tell a lot: when Buster entered the ring, he already looked like a loser. He seemed lethargic, unfocused, nervous, his face seemed to say, “I don’t want to stay here.” Holyfield won effortlessly. So what happened? Does Buster himself know the answer? Whatever the reasons, Douglas lost his peace of mind. He did nothing for the next 6 years and gained weight up to 180 kg. He returned to boxing, but had difficulty winning against journeymen Dickie Ryan, Louis Monaco and Rocky Pepeli. During the fight with Monaco, he could barely stand on his feet, and barely resisted a right hand in the first round. Monaco then hit him after the bell and was disqualified. But this blow nearly knocked Douglas unconscious; he couldn’t get out of his chair for about 5 minutes, and it was hard to believe that this man could withstand Tyson’s blows. The end of his career came in 1998 when he was knocked out in the first round by Louis Savarese, a decent but limited young boxer. Buster won a couple more victories over weak opponents and left the sport. This is one of the main mysteries in boxing history. How could an average boxer, Buster Douglas, show such a performance in a fight with Tyson - such strength, power and technique, endurance and will? If he could have maintained this form, his story would have been very different. Obviously, he had it all, but for some unknown reason, he showed it only once.
James "Buster" Douglas will forever be remembered by boxing fans for his spectacular upset when he was able to knock out the seemingly invulnerable Mike Tyson on February 11, 1990 in Tokyo.
Douglas' victory in the tenth round simply shocked the world, and this result was forever etched in boxing history. But Douglas, who retired in 1999 with a record of 38-6-1 (25), had many more interesting fights in his career, albeit not always victorious. James recalls his career in an interview with boxingnewsonline.net:
- If possible, I will touch on the fight with Tyson a little later. As such a talented and gifted guy, how could you lose to David Bay (TKO 2) and get a draw with Steffen Tangstead early in your career?
- Well, the fight with Bey was my first big fight. He was strong, well, this fight was a valuable experience for me. The fight with Tangstead was good. I hit him with what I thought was a good shot, but they said it came after the referee's command and took a point off me. This led to a draw. Either way, all these fights were a learning experience. They were, as I called them then, “childhood diseases.” I left amateur boxing at 15, went pro at 21, and had to learn a lot all over again.
— And in 1987 there was a fight with Tony Tucker for the IBF title. You won, but were stopped in the tenth round. What's happened? I know the critics gave you a hard time after this defeat.
— The fight with Tucker was quite difficult. While preparing for the fight at camp, I was not as mentally focused as I should have been. You know, before a big fight you have to do everything right, and I couldn’t. Again, as I said, these were “childhood diseases.” Tucker was a good fighter and again, I learned a lot from that. I could learn something from every failure along the way.
- Even despite Tony’s defeat, did you still believe that one day you could become a world champion?
- Oh yeah! These lessons that I talked about, they made me determined. I knew I could compete with the best, the losses told me I still had something to offer boxing.
— Another fight that is often forgotten was your confrontation with Randall Cobb, when you defeated him on points. Was it a tough fight?
- Yes, and Randall was a good boxer. In fact, he was a great fighter, he reminded me of my father, former middleweight Billy “Dynamite” Douglas, who I sparred with as a teenager. The tension was just crazy, as soon as you hit him, he immediately responded. My jab was often underestimated. When I landed my signature jab, many fighters didn’t even understand whether it was a right hand or a jab. However, Cobb continued to press, but this could not break me. So, yes, even before Tyson, I met some good boxers and established myself.
— So much has already been written about the fight with Tyson; you’ve probably already been asked about everything you could. Still, I'll try. How shocked were you in the eighth round when he knocked you down?
“I wasn’t shocked at all, but rather lost my balance.” He hit me, I tried to resist, but it didn’t work. However, I was focused on the fight and understood everything. I saw Tyson’s eyes - he shook himself up and was ready to win. Therefore, I knew that he would need to answer.
“As far as I remember, you rose to the count of nine.” Ever thought about what would have happened if the referee had counted a little faster and given the go-ahead?
“I could have gotten up faster.” I just gave myself these eight seconds to assess my condition. I could get up any time. If he had counted faster, I would have gotten up from the canvas earlier.
— During the fight, did you think that you would knock out Tyson, or simply, using your skills, defeat him on points?
“All I knew was that I fought as hard as I could.” I was in great shape.
- Well, it’s not like it was 25 years ago...
- Yes, the anniversary is coming, it’s wonderful.
- After you knocked out Tyson in a fight that no one will forget, was it difficult psychologically and physically to prepare for the next fight, with Holyfield?
“I’ve been through a lot, a lot of crap.” We had to go to court because Tyson's promoter, Don King, wanted to appeal the result of the fight, claiming that the countout in the eighth round was too long. It was all exhausting, like all I was doing was fighting after already winning the title. By the time I started camp, I was already exhausted. It's completely my fault, I shouldn't have allowed all this to happen. There was so much pressure. What was my childhood dream turned into a nightmare. Even today I am angry about all this. However, I know that I have had a great career. I achieved what I set out to achieve, I became a world champion.
— People are still discussing what would have happened if you had met Tyson in a rematch. Have you thought about this?
- Certainly. In a rematch I would beat him even harder.
— James, are you a promoter now?
— No, I work with amateur boxers. I have a wonderful group of children from eight years old to twenty-one and above. We had our debut show last weekend and it went great.
— Another fighter you could have faced in 1990 or 1991 as champion was George Foreman. If you had faced him instead of Holyfield, what do you think would have changed?
- Hmm, well, my plan was to beat Holyfield and then defend the title against Foreman, and then give Tyson a rematch. Unfortunately, this didn't work. But I am still happy and satisfied with what I managed to achieve and today I have no regrets.
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, Ohio, USA
early years
Son of professional boxer Billy Douglas. The eldest of four sons in the family. James attended Linden McKinley High School and graduated in 1977. During his high school years, James played football and basketball well, and during his senior year he even helped lead his school's team to victory in the Class AAA state basketball championship in 1977. After graduating from high school, James continued his education at Coffeyville Community College, where he soon began playing for the college's men's basketball team in 1977-1978. In the summer of 1979, he transferred to Sinclair Community College, where he immediately became a member of the main basketball team. performed successfully from 1979 to 1980. In 1980, James continued his studies at Mercyhurst University on a basketball scholarship, but left his studies after the first semester and returned to his native Columbus in order to take up boxing professionally. Douglas first put on boxing gloves at the age of 10; his first boxing lessons were taught to him by his father, who also became his children's trainer.
He began his professional career in 1981 and almost immediately after his first fights gained a reputation as an ordinary fighter, with outstanding data, but with a lack of strong-willed qualities and the necessary cruelty in his character. During training, James did not give his best and did not favor general physical training, which is why he did not have the stamina to perform at a decent level. In addition, he had problems with excess weight.
Professional career
Douglas's first professional fight took place on May 31, 1981, Buster's opponent was Dan Omolli, who already had 6 fights on his account, which he won all of, however, Douglas knocked him out in the 3rd round.
1981-1984
Having then won 2 more victories, Douglas entered the ring in October of the same year against the undefeated Abdul Mukhaimin. In this fight, James cut both eyes of his opponent and after the 5th round the doctor stopped the fight.
Fight with David Bay
A month later, Douglas fought with debutant David Bay. Bay unexpectedly knocked out Buster in the 2nd round. Douglas suffered the first defeat of his career.
Fight with Mel Daniels
On April 24, 1982, Douglas knocked out aspiring boxer Mel Daniels. 18 days later, on May 12, 1982, Douglas’s 17-year-old brother Arthur died. James took the death of his younger brother seriously and fell into depression. He will not enter the ring for 6 months.
Fight with Steffen Tangstad
In October 1982, Douglas faced the undefeated Steffen Tangstad. Douglas entered the fight with him with a clear advantage and with fat folds on his back. Douglas was penalized 2 points for the fight. In the 8 round fight, all three judges awarded a draw.
Fights with Jesse Clark
After this, Douglas’s managers considered it best to put him on the so-called “bag diet” for two whole years, that is, pitting frankly weak boxers against him. Among them stood out Jesse Clark, a boxer with a unique track record - having had 30 professional fights, he lost all 30 and 27 of them by knockout. Douglas fought against him three times in his career. In 1983, Douglas faced him twice in one month, knocking out his opponent in the first round both times.
Fight with Dave Johnson
In July 1983, Buster met with the unremarkable Dave Johnson, Johnson by that time already had 13 defeats to his name, and he had lost his last 10 fights in a row. Nevertheless, he forced a difficult oncoming battle on Douglas. The fight lasted all the allotted 10 rounds and Johnson was close to victory, but at the end of the fight, by decision of the majority of the judges, the victory was awarded to Douglas.
Fight with Mike White
In December 1983, Douglas met with the little-known Mike White. Douglas dominated the entire fight, but by the end of the fight he was noticeably tired, in the 9th, carried away by the attack, he ran into an oncoming hook and unexpectedly dropped his hands, which White took advantage of with lightning speed and knocked out Buster. After such an offensive defeat, Douglas fell into a slight depression; he did not enter the ring for more than six months.
1984-1987
In July 1984 against weak boxer David Starkey. The fight was a scandal. Already in the middle of the 1st round, Starkey went into deep defense and began to clinch; at the end of the 1st round, he grabbed Douglas and threw him to the canvas, not allowing him to get up, after which representatives of both boxers jumped into the ring and a brawl began between them . The fight was subsequently declared invalid.
Fight with Randall Cobb
In November 1984, Douglas met with Randall "Tex" Cobb, who was considered a pretty decent fighter and had a decent defeat against Larry Holmes, losing to him in 1982 on points. The Douglas-Cobb fight lasted all 10 rounds and ended in Douglas' victory. The victory over Cobb raised Buster quite high in the rankings.
ESPN Tournament
In 1985, Douglas took part in a tournament on the American sports television channel ESPN. On March 27, 1985, he entered the fight in the semifinals of the tournament against the unbeaten Dion Simpson. In the first round, Buster knocked out Simpson with one blow and a right cross. Simpson then “broke”; after losing to Buster, he would fight three more fights and retire from boxing in November 1985. On May 9, 1985, the final of the tournament took place, in the final of which Buster met with future title challenger Jesse Fergusson. The fight was equal, but after 10 rounds Ferguson won by a majority vote.
Fight with Greg Page
In January 1986, he met with former world champion Greg Page. Douglas won by unanimous decision.
Fight with David Jacko
In April 1986 he met with David Jacko. Douglas dominated the entire fight; in the 5th round, Jaco was knocked down twice, but in the end managed to survive. Douglas won by unanimous decision.
Championship fight with Tony Tucker
On May 30, 1987, he entered the fight against Tony Tucker for the vacant IBF title. Douglas constantly moved forward, throwing a large number of punches, Tucker acted as number 2, throwing straight lines from afar and uppercuts close. Douglas had a slight advantage early in the fight. Just before the end of the 2nd round, he knocked Tucker down, but the bell rang and he was not counted. Douglas also managed to shake Tucker in rounds 3, 5, 6, but Tucker remained on his feet. In the 7th round, Tucker increased the pressure on his opponent and the situation changed: Douglas began to miss a lot and lose stamina. Tucker continued to do this in subsequent rounds and it brought him success. In the middle of the 10th round, Tucker shook Douglas, after which he pressed him to the ropes and began methodically beating him. The referee, seeing that James was not responding, stopped the fight, after which James wandered confusedly to his corner. After his loss to Tucker, Douglas was firmly written off.
1988-1990
Fight with Trevor Berbick
On February 25, 1989, he met with former world champion Trevor Berbick. Douglas dominated the entire fight and won with a crushing score.
Fight with Oliver McCall
On July 21, 1989, he met with the future champion Oliver McCall; Douglas dominated the entire fight and won comfortably on points via unanimous decision.
Winning the title of absolute world champion
With a track record of 29 wins, 4 losses, 1 draw and a reputation as a boxer who could “break,” Buster entered the fight in 1990 for the title of absolute champion against Mike Tyson. The odds were 40 to 1 in favor of Tyson. Tyson did not see his opponent as a threat at all and subsequently claimed that he hardly prepared for the fight. Douglas, on the other hand, was in excellent shape and with the best mental attitude of his career. The champion in this fight was slow, did not move his head much and dodged (his usual effective strategy), and instead of short and numerous steps there were large failures with attempts to penetrate Douglas with single blows. At the end of the 8th round, Tyson delivered a right uppercut to the jaw, knocking Douglas down. He was on the floor for more than 10 seconds, the referee did not immediately start counting, and at the count of 7 he stopped counting, turned around and continued again. At the count of 10, Douglas was still on the floor, but the referee allowed him to continue the fight. A normal count would be 16 seconds. In the 9th round, Mike's extreme fatigue became noticeable. In the middle of the 10th round, Douglas landed a right uppercut to the jaw, and then a combination - a left cross, a right cross and again a left cross. Tyson fell. His mouthguard flew out. Tyson stood up almost immediately, but the referee counted to nine and stopped the fight, seeing that Tyson was unsteady on his feet. At the time the fight was stopped, the judges' score was tied: Larry Rosadilla (82-88 Douglas), Ken Morita (87-86 Tyson), Masakazu Uchida (86-86). After the fight, Tyson's promoter Don King said that the referee took too long to count the knockdown on Douglas, and in fact there was a knockout. The fight received the status of “Upset of the Year” according to The Ring magazine and became the greatest sensation in boxing history. After the fight, Tyson underwent treatment for alcoholism. Among the reasons for such an unexpected result of Tyson's defeat are the circumstances of the lives of both boxers at that time: Tyson's unsuccessful marriage, the death of Cus D'Amato, Tyson's departure from his coach Kevin Rooney and from his team, etc. Tyson was noticeably inferior to his own example 1986 and was simply in a disgusting mental state. Buster Douglas entered the fight with an unprecedented emotional mood and unprecedented psychological motivation - 23 days before the fight, his mother, whom he idolized, died; at the most crucial moment of his life, Buster was left without the support of a loved one, in addition, a few days before the fight with a serious his wife was hospitalized with kidney disease and the doctors did not hide from Buster that in her case everything could end in death, so as Douglas later recalled: “I felt that getting hit in the face by Tyson was not the worst thing that could happen in life , and entered the ring with absolute calm and composure, I had just received a blow that was stronger than anything that Iron Mike could give me, and then perhaps another blow, so in the ring I perceived him as an ordinary person, a guy from crowds." Before this fight, Tyson himself showed indiscipline in training, abused alcohol, and later he commented: “I didn’t train at all.”
Fight with Evander Holyfield
After the fight, for some time everything in Buster’s life fell into place. His wife recovered, he gained wild popularity and began to appear at various public events, he again had problems with excess weight, by the summer of 1990 his weight was already 130 kilograms.
He was supposed to fight his next fight against Evander Holyfield in the fall of 1990, and in early June one of his trainers, John Russell, sounded the alarm and forced James to lose weight, but as James would later recall, after the fight with Tyson “I felt like a deflated balloon.” “, so I had neither the strength nor any special motivation to keep myself in shape.
At the pre-match weigh-in, a swollen Douglas weighed as much as 111.5 kilograms; he was simply not ready for such a fight. On October 25, 1990, in the third round, Evander Holyfield knocked out Douglas with one blow, thereby taking away the title of absolute champion. After the fight, in an interview, Holyfield said that he broke it in the locker room and that Douglas was a coward who did not deserve to be a world champion. Douglas received $24 million for this fight, 18 times more than for his victory over Tyson. Following the loss, Buster retired from boxing for six years due to health problems.
1990-1996
After losing to Holyfield, Douglas began to lead an unhealthy lifestyle. Money and depression from the loss of title and fame forced the boxer to take the path of self-destruction. For 3 years, he abused alcohol and junk food, he developed problems with excess weight and with ill-wishers, and developed alcohol addiction. They mocked him about his weight and contemptuously called him a “one-time champion,” and repeatedly provoked him into a fight. In 1992, a similar confrontation almost ended in shooting when his bodyguard, William McCauley, began waving a pistol to protect the boxer. Eventually, his blood sugar levels became dangerously high, leading him into a diabetic coma from which he nearly died in 1994. After emerging from a coma, James, thanks to the support of his wife Bertha and friends, managed to end his unhealthy lifestyle, began to lose weight and in 1996 decided to return to boxing.
Return
In 1996, James Douglas returned to the ring, but it did not bring him any more fame or money.
Fight with Tony LaRosa
In June 1996, Douglas met with Tony LaRosa. This was the first since his return to the ring. After the 3rd round, La Rosa refused to continue the fight due to a cut.
Fight with Dickie Ryan
In February 1997 he met with Dickie Ryan. Douglas dominated the entire fight and won by unanimous decision.
Fight with Luis Monaco
In May 1997, Douglas met with Louis Monaco. In the first round, Monaco delivered a powerful cross after the bell, knocking Douglas out. Douglas was unable to recover even after five minutes of rest and was awarded the victory by disqualification from Monaco.
Possible fight with Roy Jones
In late 1998, Roy Jones decided to face former undisputed heavyweight champion James Douglas, but later pulled out of the fight after his father advised him not to fight heavyweights.
Fight with Lou Savarise
In June 1998 he met with Lou Savarise. Douglas entered the fight with a clear advantage. In the middle of the 1st round, Savariz sent his opponent to the canvas with a right hook to the head. Douglas stood at the count of 4. Savarise was unable to immediately build on his success. A minute later, with a right hook, he knocked down his opponent again. Douglas rose to the count of 5. Savarise rushed to finish him off, landing several blows to the head. He fell again. Rising, Douglas knelt, but fell on his back. He did not have time to stand at the count of 10. The referee recorded a knockout.
After the fight with Savariz, Douglas had another fight with a more or less decent boxer Warren Williams, but the “crown” of Douglas’ career was a meeting with the frankly weak boxer Andre Crowder, who had a unique track record - 8 wins, 48 losses, 4 draws. Buster Douglas knocked him out in the first round and left the ring without even waiting for the official announcement of the result of the fight. After which he left boxing completely.
It has already been twenty-eight years. October 25, 1990 Perhaps the biggest surprise in boxing history took place James "Buster" Douglas(30-4-1, 20 KO) - sensational winner Mike Tyson, in the first belt defense WBC/WBA/IBF in the royal category he met with the first number in the rating of each federation, the former absolute world champion in the first heavyweight division, Evander Holyfield (24-0, 20 KO).
Immediately after the sensation in Tokyo, there was considerable pressure for “The Beast” to rematch the new champion, but he chose a fight with the Olympic bronze medalist in Los Angeles. There was no need to give a rematch, since within a year Holyfield was the official challenger in each of the three federations. There was huge money on the table. Steve Wynn- the president Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, shelled out more than thirty million dollars ( $32.1 ) for organizing this fight. The company offered a little less in the tender Main Events, representing the interests of the challenger, offering $29,101,000 . This gave both boxers the biggest money. Douglas was guaranteed to $24,075,000 , while Holyfield $8,025,000 . But Evander and his people managed to provide for themselves and they signed a contract for the first defense of the belt in case of victory over George Foreman. Evander had to earn it $19 million, Foreman 13 million, but for such a fight to come to that, the challenger had to first deal with Douglas. Don King claimed that if “Buster” surprised again, in the second defense he would give Tyson revenge for a lot of money. However, he did not specify his plans. “This is kind of another victory for me.” Don King offered me ten million for a rematch with Tyson immediately after my victory. Now I’ll get more than twenty-four,” “Buster” Douglas rubbed his hands.
Having become the absolute champion, “Buster” gained a lot of kilograms. Then he quickly tried to throw them off. Wynn even offered the champion his own sauna at the hotel, to which only he had access. One day he got angry when James ordered room service for about a hundred dollars and withdrew his offer. During the weigh-in ceremony, the champion demonstrated 111.5 kilograms, that is, 6.6 kilograms more than when he defeated Mike Tyson. The applicant weighed only 94.3 kg. After this ceremony, bookmakers began to offer new bets. In more than ninety percent of the players, after what the champion showed at the weigh-ins, they bet on the challenger. The course initially fluctuated at 7:5 for the challenger to win, but after the weight became known in the end it was for Holyfield to win at the ratio 12:5 .
“I’m ready for this fight, just like I was ready for the fight against Tyson.” There is a lot of confusion around me, but I can deal with it. It's part of this business. It makes no difference to me that I fight Douglas or Tyson. My goal is the heavyweight title and I'm just trying to achieve that goal. At the moment the best is James and I will deal with him. Turned out to be good enough to beat Tyson. However, if I am in the best shape, there is no question that I could lose,” the challenger said.
“I worked very hard for this success and I’m not going to give up my spoils so easily.” I was almost always doomed to fail, so it doesn't bother me that some people don't believe in me. I'm not afraid of Evander or anyone else. “I will defeat him even faster than I defeated Tyson,” the unexpected champion reassured his fans.
— Evander trains with various specialists. We also try to mix up the styles of our sparring partners during preparation so that we can get something from everyone. Evander strives for the goal he has set for himself. He won't fight Douglas, he'll just fight for the title. Evander is just right for this,” interrupted Lou Duva, the challenger's charismatic coach.
— When this fight was first announced, I bet on “Buster” Douglas on points in an even fight. Next, I think that this will be a difficult fight, but now I’m betting on Holyfield. My type is Evander on points or by technical knockout in the very end. Initially, James will probably dominate with the power of the blow, but from about the fifth round, Holyfield should begin to reach the point of readiness to give his all, the famous journalist analyzed Al Bernstein.
The organizers did not lose any money at all, despite the highest tender in history. Revenues from ticket sales alone generated more than six and a half million in profit ( $6,546,441 ). Over a million sold connections PPV by price $34.95 returned huge investments. In addition, the TV channel Showtime paid $2.1 million for the possibility of rebroadcasting the fight.
Holyfield - unlike his opponent, he did everything he could to prepare as best as possible. A whole staff of people helped him. Not only the three head coaches, that is George Benton, Ronnie Shields and Lou Duva, but also: Tim Hellmark- physical training specialist, Lee Haney- one of the greatest bodybuilders in history, another muscle mass specialist Chase Jordan And Marya Kennett, with whom Evander coached... ballet and dance. All this in order to develop comprehensively and on every plane. Holyfield's sparring partners - by the way Philip Brown And Eddie Richardson, after knockouts in the training room were sent home. The challenger was in vital shape.
The fight was let down, but in principle it was not the fight itself, but the attitude of the former champion. Gave away the first two rounds. In the third, he wanted to hit him with a right to the chin, but the opponent, after deflecting, retreated and threw a short right, sending him to the platform. Douglas was defeated. After everything, a wave of criticism fell on him. From different sides.
“I don’t know, maybe I would have given him advice to get up, but I know for sure that I didn’t even try.” I looked him in the eye and didn't look hard knocked out - said Mills Lane, the main referee for this fight, who counted James to ten.
“I told you that in the end it’s not about the size of the muscles, only the size of the heart in a fight.” And that's why he won. Compared to them, I am a small fighter, but with a big heart. And for this I work very hard in training. I boxed in accordance with the tactics we had previously chosen. I started the action with a left jab and knew something would come of it sooner or later. Focused only on myself. However, during preparation we prepared a counterattack to his right to the chin. I counterattacked with my right, didn’t hit with my left yet, but the first blow was enough,” the new champion from Atlanta said after finishing work. Defeated, Douglas quickly went to the locker room without speaking to reporters. His career ended at that moment. Some were expecting a rematch between “Buster” and Tyson, but Don King, with whom Douglas fought in court, ruled out such a possibility.
- Out of the question. If James had lost after a good fight, I would have immediately started organizing such a rematch. Nevertheless, he showed his fatal side. Now who will pay money to watch it in action again? Tyson knew that Douglas did not have the heart to fight and simply did not prepare for him. He ignored him. I gave the worst fight of my life. Now Holyfield has to face Foreman and I will tell you that I see a good chance for Foreman to win. “He hits really hard and if he hits him in the jaw, he’ll send Holyfield into dreamland,” King said.
Douglas returned at an alarming rate and when he approached 190 kilograms, he was hospitalized. His life was under serious threat. Then he pulled himself together, returned to training and, after almost six years, returned to the ring. However, he was no longer the same fighter who knocked out "Iron" Mike in February 1990. He chalked up six wins in a row, but in June 1998, Lou Savarese knocked him out in the first round. “Buster” quickly won two more fights against weak opponents and hung up his gloves forever in 1999. Holyfield lost and gained championship belts, becoming the only four-time world champion in history. In the first defense, as was established earlier, I met with Foreman. We wrote about this fight in more detail.
