re: What was it like when Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson?

Watched it live and was in complete and utter shock. I thought Mike was unbeatable, I had watched nearly all of his fights live from the days of ESPN and definitely all of his HBO fights to PPV. All my friends would come to my house since I had the box with the chip so I had free PPV I remember when he knocked down Douglas really hoping he'd stay down because Mike didn't look the same and I was actually worried the first time watching him fight. When Buster hit Mike with that uppercut, it was all over. Mike was never the same and lost that edge over fighters.

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He lost to the two best fighters in his pier group (Holyfield and Lewis) and I imagine he woulda struggled with the other (Riddick Bowe)

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I mean, he beat everyone and anyone for 37 fights, got beat in the biggest upset in boxing history, won 4 more fights and then went to prison for five years and came out at 30 years old.

I agree, he was overrated after the prison stint, but the dude missed almost five years in the prime of his career. He was 35-0 after beating Spinks, and the best fighter on the planet. And after doing all of that, he was still the age of a college senior. Holyfield was 34 years old when he beat Tyson in his 35th professional fight. I would love to have seen him fight Holyfield without the prison layoff.

One of those “no way!” moments. Was hard to believe

It was the Super Bowl III of heavyweight boxing of the modern era. No one gave Douglas a chance. I still can’t believe he did it.

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Was watching in my parents bedroom (only place we had HBO) waiting for my two buddies to come pick me up so we could out…when they got there, I made them come inside and finish watching the fight…it was surreal because both my mom and dad were watching it with us…all of us in their bedroom…we were almost out the door when buster got up in the eighth and just didn’t move when Tyson was counted out…complete shock.

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I didn't find out about the results until the next day.

The fight was in Tokyo on 2/11/1990, which is a Sunday. There is a 12 hour time difference. So for the fight to come on in the US at 10 pm Saturday night (CST), they would fought at 10 am locally. Does any remember what time it was on in the US?

Edit.. I found it, they fought at noon locally. So that was 12am in the CST. I was asleep when it happened..

Tyson was always mentally weak and it’s why D’Amato had to spend so much time with him trying to reverse it. I don’t think Tyson ever beats Holyfield no matter when they would have fought. I doubt he ever beats Lennox Lewis and he would have had to fight a perfect fight to beat Bowe. Tyson’s best wins are Spinks and Holmes. His era was really weak and his opponents post prison were very carefully picked sans Holyfield and Lewis and we saw what happened there. Tyson was exciting and he was a welcome addition after Holmes reign which let’s face it was pretty boring for the most part. People love exciting knockouts and Tyson delivered them. Tyson always struggled with taller fighter who knew how to use a Jab and distance. D’Amato or Rooney in his corner isn’t going to change that. Interesting interview with Gil Clancy who was always around in the New York boxing scene and his comments on the Douglas fight and Tyson in general:

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ZL: This is a non sequitur, but I wanted to hear some of your thoughts on Mike Tyson. He’s going to be fighting again soon. Had he stayed the course, do you think he could’ve become one of the very best heavyweights of all time?

GC: Oh, absolutely, he had the potential. But even in the amateurs, when Teddy Atlas was taking care of him, if a guy would stand up to him and hit him with a couple of punches, he didn’t want to come out for the next round. Teddy would have to beg him, and push him, and everything else.

ZL: I didn’t know that. I knew that he’d get real scared before fights, but once he was in the ring, he was fine.

GC: No, no. If things didn’t go well, he wasn’t too good. He’s a bully. If he doesn’t bully you…that’s the way Holyfield beat him. Holyfield was one of the first guys to punch right back when he got hit. Tyson wasn’t used to that, and that’s what happened to him in both fights with Holyfield.

ZL: Of course Holyfield was just following Buster Douglas’ example, as he was the first guy to knock Tyson off his pedestal—and on his arse.

GC: I don’t know if you remember, but in that fight when Buster Douglas was coming down from his dressing room to the ring…I was watching it on TV with my wife and I said, ‘Nancy, this guy’s coming down to the ring dancing, like he’s got a lot of confidence in himself.’ Now, most of the guys who fought Tyson—like Alex Stewart was a disgrace, you know, guys like that…But this guy (Douglas) seemed like he was going to go and fight. Sure enough, he did.

ZL: Would a mentally and physically prime Tyson have struggled with a Lennox Lewis or Riddick Bowe?

GC: Yeah, absolutely. Guys who would hit him back.

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LINK

The Tyson nuthuggers on here will ignore this. Holyfield completely bullied the bully which is why after the first fight Jose Torres came out with the “when you intimidate the intimidator they become the intimidated” quote and Jose had known Tyson since he was 13. And, why we got the result we got in the second fight. Tyson knew he couldn’t win so he ‘quit’ by biting Holyfield ear and got DQed. They could fight 100 times and Tyson wasn’t ever going to win a single one. That’s just reality. Tyson was always a mental midget.

One of the interesting things about this thread is how many people seem to rank Holyfield ahead of Bowe.

Bowe retired with only one career loss (a 12 round decision to Holyfield was the second fight of the trilogy) and beat Holyfield in two of three fights (8th round TKO to win the third fight)

He's oddly underappreciated especially compared to the fighter he defeated heads up.

Andrew Golota ended Bowe’s career. He gave him two brutal beatings and was DQed in both. Bowe was so undisciplined he built a kitchen in his master bedroom

Bowe was a great fighter when motivated. Money and Food changed that.