Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas, billed as "Tyson Is Back!", was a historic
boxing match that occurred at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on February
11, 1990, in which then undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion
Mike Tyson lost via knockout to the 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas.
The fight is widely considered one of the biggest upsets in sports
history.
Background
Going into the fight, Mike Tyson was the undefeated
and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, He held the WBC,
WBA, and IBF titles. Despite the several controversies that marked
Tyson's profile at the time, such as his abusive relationship
with Robin Givens; the contractual battles between longtime manager
Bill Cayton and promoter Don King; and Tyson's departure from longtime
trainer Kevin Rooney; Tyson was still dominant in the ring, scoring
a 93 second knockout against Carl "The Truth" Williams in his previous
fight. Most considered this fight to be a warm up bout for Tyson before
meeting up with then undefeated number 1 heavyweight contender Evander
Holyfield (who was ringside for the fight). Tyson was viewed as such
a dominant heavyweight that he was not only viewed as the world's
top heavyweight, but often as the number one fighter in the world
pound-for-pound (including by Ring Magazine), a rarity for heavyweights.
Buster
Douglas was ranked as the #7 heavyweight by Ring Magazine, and had
met with mixed success in his professional boxing career up to that
point. His previous title fight was against Tony Tucker in 1987, in
which he was TKO'd in the 10th round. However, a string of six consecutive
wins gave him the opportunity to fight Tyson. In the time leading
up to the fight, Douglas faced a number of setbacks, including the
death of his mother, Lula Pearl, 23 days before the fight. Additionally,
the mother of his son was facing a severe kidney ailment, and had
contracted the flu on the day before the fight.
From the beginning
of the fight it was apparent that Douglas was not afraid. He displayed
a lot of spring and life in his body movement and he wasn't cautious
in letting his punches fly whenever he saw the opportunity to attack
Tyson. He used his quick and accurate jab to prevent Tyson from getting
inside, where Tyson was most dangerous. When Tyson tried to get inside,
Douglas tied him up, moved away, or would immediately hit Tyson with
multiple punches as Tyson came within Douglas' range. Early on Douglas
was more agile than Tyson and outlanded Tyson in exchanges.
After
a lackluster and ineffectual third round, Tyson cornerman Jay Bright
screamed at his fighter "Don't just stand there and look at him, you've
gotta work!" Boxer "Sugar" Ray Leonard, at ringside doing commentary
for HBO, noted Douglas' dominance with the jab and right hand and
said Tyson was having one of those occasional days in the ring where
"you just don't have it, things just don't click in".
