Question About James "Buster" Douglas?

Question

A man who given the opportunity made the most of it and was underrated or just another lucky stiff who won it all and wasn't really qualified to keep it? You make the call! Any answer is appreciated. I don't care what you say. All opinions are welcome. Thanks.

You gotta admit his knockout of "Iron" Mike Tyson was a special moment ... Right?

Answer 1

Buster Douglas fought the fight of his life & Mike wasn't prepared for the fight.  Simple as that.   Buster is a stiff & you can tell he didn't expect to win because he didn't give Mike a rematch.  If Mike was prepared then he would have KO'd Buster inside of 5 rounds.   Look how easily Holyfield beat Douglas.

Answer 2

Well lets see- Douglas fought Tyson, Holyfield, McCall, And Berbick- the only one of those he lost to was Holyfield.  He lose to a few other notable Heavies such as Sevarese.  He has a better resume than any current heavyweight in the mix for a title.

He was not afraid of Mike, and had it not been for a glass jaw he would have had a great career!  He still had a good career, but it was all downhill after he beat tyson.

He was given a golden opportunuity and made the most of it.

EDIT: With all due respect, Grant- Buster had 5 TKO losses in 45 fights- benefitted from a long count in the Tyson fight and one of his wins was by DQ when his opponent (journeyman Louis Manaco) rocked him after the bell at the end of the first round.  He was KOd but after the bell so Manaco got DQ'ed.  With that and the long count in the Tyson fight there were at least 7 of his 45 fights where he was on the deck far too long... that to me is a glass jaw.  Certainly he was not always focused and always showed up to training camp late and way out of shape- no doubt, but the frequency at which he hit the deck was too often.  He had a glass jaw- look at the tape of the Manaco fight and tell me otherwise.

To say that he was a journeyman is to seriously underestimate who he was as a fighter.  He faded into oblivion after the Tyson fight, sure, but he put together a an impressive resume before Tyson- and a prime Douglas would beat any of the the current heavies - glass jaw, no heart whatever- he would school the current sorry class at HW.

Answer 3

Douglas had the tools to be great. The Tyson fight was no fluke. Douglas was lazy and his heart wasn't into the game. He'd rather sit around eating doughnuts than train.

Answer 4

Buster benifitted at fighting a un-focused, unraveling Tyson, while he, after his mother died, gain a rare focus and fought the fight of his life.

Douglas did not have a weak chin. What he lacked was heart and dedication. Boxing was not even sport he originally wanted to play, was basketball. And when he did follow his dad footsteps, he went about it in a lazy manner. When fights didn't go his way or got tough, he usually quit.

That's what makes his fight with Tyson. That was Buster at his best. But he lack consistency, and went back to his normal ways after the win. He didn't train hard, and showed up for his fight against Holyfield out of shape.

Many people still think Douglas could have got up from Holyfield knock-down, which did against Tyson, but just quit. Douglas said he was just exhausted and wanted the fight to end.

Answer 5

Lets call it like it was  Buster Douglas Was the beneficiary of a long count Tyson should have been the winner

Answer 6

He was part of that stable of Don King-promoted boxers who were there to be journeymen, pure and simple. That match was literally exiled to the vast, modern Egg Dome because no venue in the U.S. wanted - what was on paper - such a mismatch that ultimately you could not find a line in Vegas.

Buster - for that evening - put together all elements of his game, and stood on top of the world for a brief time. It was that journey from obscurity that probably made it impossible for him to keep that lightning in a jar.

It is too bad, since he would have been a class champ - before the devastating loss to Holyfield, there were plans on bringing a title match to Columbus, OH, and using his celebrity status for community work in the area - and he proved all his critics right, perhaps the worst uppercut of all.

Answer 7

tyson lost all focus after getting rid of kevin rooney and bill cayton, his marriage was on the rocks, he had cornermen who hadn't a clue how to motivate him when the going got tough, and they even forgot to bring an enswell and tried to keep the swelling over tyson's eye down using a condom full of water!

buster, on the other hand,made the most of his golden opportunity, trained hard and was motivated.

he exposed tyson as someone who couldn't handle it when faced with someone who wasn't afraid of him.

the long count may or may not have been a factor, but douglas deserved his 6 months in the sun.

Answer 8

Mike Tyson is a two bit punk and a street thug. i have always hated the idiot....buster is my hero.

but as bad as i hate to say it, it was probably just his night.

did i mention the world would be a better place without people like Mike Tyson ?

Answer 9

hi Phillip this is not chat OK

i do not understand sport , but i like the game of rugby ,

Answer 10

Crappy fiter won cause MT was cranked out and did some j*p pros the nite afore the fite.