The Perfect Upset: Tyson-Douglas

“The Perfect Upset: Tyson-Douglas” by Ryan Songalia In 1990, Mike Tyson was the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. He was considered unbeatable, having disposed of Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes, and 35 other opponents with very little resistance. On February 11 of that year, Tyson signed to make his tenth defense of his title against 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas. What ensued was the greatest upset in sport’s history. Mike Tyson had developed a false sense of invincibility, as he was used to knocking everyone out in the first three rounds of the fight. Tyson was considered something special, a crowd pleasing knockout artist from Brownsville, New York. Cousins states that there is no detective work in figuring out what audiences want to see. The crowd wanted to see a destroyer, a beast that could capture your imagination with his demeanor as well as his fists. Tyson was that kind of animal. (Patterns, pg. 321)He was breaking every boxing golden rule, indulging in the Japanese underworld instead of training for his title. Tyson was gorging himself with women and drugs, eschewing his jogging and preparation for his fight. He referred to himself as “The Baddest Man on the Planet”, a direct reference tot the fact that he was overconfident in his abilities. When he showed up for showdown in Tokyo, Japan, he was not at all ready to meet his challenge. He had numerous issues in his camp, frequently walking out of the gym and becoming confrontational with trainer Aaron Snowell. Conversely, Douglas was not a larger than life entity. He was not given as much attention as Tyson was because of Tyson’s brutal demeanor. Cousins relates his thought on audience appeal, and I have to admit that he is right. Douglas simply did not have that magic that defined Tyson. He was not a rampaging monster that was hungry for blood, but an honest good-hearted fighter who was somewhat of a “Mama’s boy”. (Patterns, pg. 321) While sparring for this fight, he suffered the indignity of being knocked down by his stable mate Greg Page. His corner was also unprepared, as they did not have a qualified cut man in their corner. It was abundantly clear that they did not see Douglas as a serious threat. Prior to the Douglas fight, Tyson had parted ways with trainer Kevin Rooney, a trainer handpicked by his mentor Cus D’Amato. Kevin Rooney was instrumental to Mike Tyson’s success, having been the man who helped him perfect his peek-a-boo style. With Rooney in his corner, “Iron Mike’s” well-rounded style deteriorated into that of a reckless slugger, totally void of any scientific skill. Tyson’s first fight without Rooney was against Frank Bruno, a strong yet fragile fighter from England. Tyson was wide open for Bruno’s punches, and was even stunned in the opening stanza because of his lack of defense. Without Rooney’s instructions in the corner and gym, it took Tyson five rounds to accomplish what it should have taken thirty seconds. Jim Jacobs also was not present in Tyson’s camp, although his departure was because of his untimely death due to a heart attack. After Cus D’Amato died in 1985, Cayton was the only person that “Iron Mike’s” had a true rapport with. Without these positive influences in his life, Tyson’s life was becoming a mess and a disaster waiting to happen. Mike Tyson’s life had become daily tabloid fodder by the time he signed to fight Douglas. He had just ended his tumultuous marriage to actress Robin Givens, having lasted just five months in matrimony. The divorce was a mess, as Tyson accused Givens of being a gold digger and Givens accused Tyson of beating a wife-beating adulterer. They were locked in a brutal tug of war over assets and money, causing Tyson to lose focus on his career. Tyson had many other issues as well. Former heavyweight champion and Mike Tyson opponent Larry Holmes stated that within four years, Tyson would be incarcerated. He went on to say that “I’m going down in history, Tyson will go down as an S.O.B.” He was involved in an incident over money with another former opponent named Mitch Green. Tyson allegedly punched Green when he was confronted about not receiving his purse for their 1986 encounter. Tyson’s mind was not on the fight, and that would be a main factor for what would occur in Tokyo, Japan. The aforementioned factors made the perfect recipe for a Mike Tyson disaster. However, it is safe to say that nobody expected it to happen against a very lightly regarded fighter. Only one betting parlor in Las Vegas would put up odds on the fight, and the long shot odds were probably set up with tongue in cheek intentions. The factors contributed to the ultimate outcome, however their effects can be broken down multilaterally to be better understand exactly what happened. Tyson entered the ring wearing his traditional black trunks with black shoes and no socks, with his usual “business as usual” expression on his face. Douglas approached the ring wearing white trunks with a white robe, but with a confident look on his face. In round one, there was very little action. Douglas was feeling Tyson out, popping the jab repeatedly into the champion’s face. Tyson was unable to get his rhythm going, primarily because of his lack of an effective jab. The first three rounds of the fight were close, but Douglas had a slight advantage in punch statistic numbers. Douglas was mixing up his attack, hitting Tyson with uppercuts, right hands and left hooks. Tyson’s attack was one-dimensional, looking only to land one big shot and change the fight in a big way. The early rounds were an indicator of what was to happen, but the middle rounds would begin to define the fight more graphically. By round four, swelling was beginning to develop around the outside of his left eye, a product of Douglas’ stiff jab and hard right hand. The absense of a cut man was detrimental to Tyson by this point, and Snowell attempted to relieve the swelling by filling a rubber glove with ice water. By this time, Douglas was beginning to dominate Tyson, clearly separating himself on the scorecard’s. Douglas’ jab was like a telephone pole, busting Tyson up and inhibiting his trademark upper body movement. In round five, Douglas stunned Tyson with a hard right hand, forcing Tyson’s head upwards and giving him a clear view of the Tokyo Dome’s lighting. Tyson started to get desperate by the sixth round, winging wild haymakers in an attempt to get in one lucky shot and send the challenger back to Columbus, Ohio. In the seventh round, Tyson connected with his first telling blow of the fight, a hard jab that drove “Buster back into the ropes. In between rounds seven and eight, Douglas’ trainer implored his fighter to stop getting wild in the ring. In the eighth round, Douglas was brimming with confidence, fully ready to get rid of “Kid Dynamite”. Out of nowhere, Tyson blasted Douglas with a violent right uppercut, almost decapitating the challenger and placing him on his back. Referee Octavio Meyran reached the count of nine by the time that Douglas reached his feet, and the round was over before Tyson could capitalize on his advantage. As dramatic as the eighth round was, the next two rounds are stanzas that would go down in history as some of the greatest moments ever in boxing history. The ninth round begins where the eighth round begins in Tyson’s mind. Tyson felt he caught Douglas with a monstrous shot, and would now go in for the kill. Douglas had other thoughts in mind, as he resumed his fluid boxing style and popped the jab a few times in his face, mixing in right and left hands. Towards the end of the ninth round, Douglas stuns Tyson with a right hand and Tyson wobbled awkwardly into the ropes, close to going down. Tyson tried to fight off his attacker, but was in all kinds of trouble by the end of the ninth. At the beginning of the tenth, Douglas noticed that Tyson was being more stationary than he had been previously. He popped three jabs into his face, then landed a vicious uppercut and a right-left combination to send Tyson onto the canvas. With his eyes vacant, Tyson struggled manfully to regain his upright posture, but was counted out, and Douglas was the new undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In the post fight interview, HBO correspondent Larry Merchant asked Douglas “Why James? Why were you able to do what nobody thought you could do? What inspired you?” “My Mother, my Mother. God bless her heart!”, replied Douglas, brushing back tears while referring to his late mother who had died shortly before this contest. (Internet) Instead of interrupting Douglas, HBO decided to air the entire post-fight interview, following the new champion as he dealt with these extraordinarily human emotions. As they say, the rest was history. Retrospectively, Mike Tyson would face a puzzling downward spiral from there, culminating in his three year prison sentence for raping a beauty queen in 1992. He would regain the title in 1995, only to lose it in a couple of one-sided beatings at the hands of Evander Holyfield. Douglas was equally as disappointing, as he lost the title in his first title defense, also against Evander Holyfield. While Douglas’ career had peaked and crashed almost simultaneously, no one can take away that night in Tokyo when he tamed “The Baddest Man on the Planet.”