It was a version of him that hadn’t been seen before. It almost mirrored reality.ĭouglas came out looking completely relaxed, switching up angles and working behind a thumping jab. With Douglas wearing all white and Tyson in his traditional all black, it brought to mind memories of the old western movies with the white hat cowboy going up against the feared black hat wearing outlaw. The difference in preparation though, would never become so apparent. However, the opinion of Douglas was so low that the press just figured that Tyson would walk in, hit him on the chin, and walk out again without a second glance, before heading towards the megafight with Holyfield. And then a video emerged of him sparring former WBA champion Greg Page in which he appeared rusty and sluggish before being knocked down with a right hand. But reports of Tyson’s lack of training and partying were becoming wide spread. It was Tyson’s second appearance in the country, having knocked out Tony Tubbs in two rounds whilst defending his title back in 1988. The fight was set for the Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan, on 9 February 1990. Originally having the mindset of just proving that he belonged at that level, Douglas was now intent on winning the title in memory of his mother. But a tragic turn of events before the fight completely changed that when his beloved mother Lula Pearl suffered a stroke and passed away just 23 days beforehand. But despite a 29-4-1 (1 NC), 19 KO’s record, Douglas had ability, he had just never been as motivated and focused before. He wasn’t particularly in love with the sport and trained accordingly. That fight had displayed the best and worse of Douglas, boxing well early before running out of steam. Douglas had been toiling away on Tyson’s undercards, steadily putting together a run of six wins, including points wins over former and future WBC champion’s Trevor Berbick and Oliver McCall, since his only other previous title shot, a tenth round stoppage loss to Tony Tucker for the vacant IBF belt. The choice of Douglas as challenger was viewed as merely a way of keeping active, and also as a warm up to a blockbuster June fight with number one contender Evander Holyfield. Those that had lasted the distance had done so by spending the majority of their fight holding Tyson so tight that you would have thought they were in love with him. His power and speed electrified audiences worldwide as he breathtakingly left opponent after opponent in a crumpled heap. Tyson, who was making the tenth defence of the title, was 37-0, 33 by KO, and was the biggest name the division had seen since Muhammad Ali, drawing attention like no other heavyweight could. It is incredible to think that it was 29 years ago that one of the most monumental upsets in all of sports history happened when 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas did the unthinkable, and to many the impossible, when he knocked out the seemingly invincible “Iron” Mike Tyson to become the Heavyweight champion of the world.

Mike tyson vs. buster douglas event