THERE are few very things in boxing on which everybody agrees.
But you will not hear many fans argue that the biggest upset in the sport’s history took place 35 years ago today.
February 11, 1990 was the day 42/1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas climbed off the canvas in the eighth to stop Mike Tyson two rounds later at the Tokyo Dome.
It was a victory that not only sent a shock wave through boxing but also rippled across the entire sporting and current affairs spheres of the time. Tyson, the unbeatable, had been beaten.
This fight was supposed to be little more than a tune-up for the WBA, IBF and WBC champion Tyson before he went on to face No.1 contender Evander Holyfield, who sat ringside in Tokyo.
At 37-0 with 35 KOs, Tyson was considered essentially invincible and was rated by many as the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, which is wildly unusual for any heavyweight. In his previous fight seven months earlier, Tyson had seen off Carl ‘The Truth’ Williams in just 93 seconds. Many expected 28-4-1 Douglas to go a similar way.
The man from Columbus, Ohio had been stopped in 10 rounds by Tony Tucker in his only previous world title attempt – and Tyson had then taken that IBF title from Tucker too.
However, circumstances in the build up to the fight would combine to create the perfect storm for Douglas to etch his name into sporting folklore forever.
Firstly, it turned out that Tyson had not been taking his preparation seriously and had been consumed by the celebrity high life. Singer Bobby Brown, for instance, wrote in his autobiography that he and Tyson had been partying the night before the fight and that the Baddest Man on the Planet had insisted that he would even beat Douglas if he didn’t sleep for five weeks.
Meanwhile, Douglas’ fight preparation had been rocked by the death of his mother Lula Pearl, who passed away following a stroke just 23 days before the fight. And while Tyson was partying, Douglas had made a vow to his mother that he would win the fight and become world heavyweight champion in her honour.
The challenger had made a fearless start against the wrecking ball Tyson but it looked like he might have missed his opportunity in the eighth round when he was floored by an uppercut. He rose just in time to beat the count and, in one of history’s most famous instances of being saved by the bell, the round ended as soon as Tyson moved in for the kill.
At that point it seemed like the writing was on the wall, but Douglas would not be denied. He regrouped in the ninth under heavy pressure from Tyson and by the time the 10th came, the champion looked tired. Douglas sensed it, and took his chance.
He measured Tyson up with six unanswered jabs before crashing home an uppercut which sent his opponent staggering backwards. The right hand, left hook which followed sealed the deal. Douglas was champion and the greatest upset in boxing history was secured.
Speaking nearly three decades later, Douglas said: “I knew what I was getting into heading into the fight because he’d been reigning champion for quite a while. I had been there and fought on five or six undercards so I knew what I was heading for.
“Surprisingly it was his speed moreso than his power that surprised me. He had power of course but it was his speed. He hits you and you don’t expect it. His reaction time is like a 10th of a second and then he’s on top of you.”
“But I won that fight through motivation and determination. Even though all the odds were against me it was about believing in myself.”
