Was Tyson-Douglas a robbery?

[:Bobby:]

Tyson lost to Buster Douglas, period.

But can we actually consider it a robbery in a way due to that looong count?
Same goes for Brewster-Krasniqi for instance - Lamon won, but what if he had lost that fight, it would have been a robbery, wouldn't it?

[Abe Attell]

It was a robbery to the fans...you expect someone as good as Tyson to train hard all the time...to prepare as best as possible to put on the best show he can for the fans...Tyson failed, not the ref, since if Tyson was in shape, he wouldn't have needed the ref to count.

Imagine if you went to the theatre and were able to see *Laurence Olivier, but he showed up drunk, and slurred through his performance...well, it might be funny at first, but it would get annoying.




* Yes, I know he is dead

[:Bobby:]

Good point. But maybe that weak and underprepared version of Tyson still actually beat Douglas but was declared the loser due to the count.

[Abe Attell]

Douglas was fine, he pounded his fist on the mat because he was pissed he got caught...he waited for the refs count

[Xcel]

A lot of thins went wrong in that fight. Even still, they should not have happened. That fight is a result of fate.

[Franko]

Douglas was fine, he pounded his fist on the mat because he was pissed he got caught...he waited for the refs count

Douglas was smart enough to take advantage of the referee's long count. As Abe Attell states, he pounded his fist on the floor, therefore, he had his faculties in tact. Had the referee counted as he should have done then i'm sure Douglas would have got up anyhow. Tyson was ridiculously unprepared and he paid the ultimate price for underestimating Douglas. Tyson at his best would beat Douglas every time i'm sure of that, but i take nothing away from Douglas for the great performance. It's just a shame that he couldn't fight with the same determination against Holyfield.

[:Bobby:]

That version of Douglas was one of the greatest fighters ever.

[Abe Attell]

Like I said before, the "story" is well written:
Cus D'amato was Tyson's mentor, his guardian, his motivation...D'amato gave confidence in Mike by saying that the reason why he (Cus), continued to live on was because he wanted to see Tyson become the youngest Heavyweight Champion, to be a success...when D'amato died, he wasn't able to see his promise to the end, but Tyson, with the guidance from Rooney, fought on in his memory, to reach and fulfill Cus D'amato prophecy that Tyson would indeed become the younget Heavyweight Champion. After Tyson won the title(s), he had nothing else to prove, he had reached and fulfilled his promise to Cus, so his motivation was gone.

Douglas, started out as a fighter with little motivation for the fight game...he even gave fights away that he was winning...after losing fights he knew he should of won, and his baseketball future over, he devoted his time to boxing, geting in shape, and winning...the motivation in the background was his Mother...his Mother was everything to him, and he wanted to make her proud...when his Mother was worried about him fighting Tyson, Buster told his Mother not to worry, he was going to win...his Mother lit up with excitement and told her friends that Buster was going to win...Buster trained hard for the fight with Tyson, motivated to get into top shape, but something devastating happened, Buster's Mother would die and not get to see her son fulfill his promise...Buster was heart-broken, but his love for his Mother was so great, that the love would dull any Fear of fighting Tyson...he was as motivated as anybody could possibly be...

By the time fight time came, Tyson, having already fulfilled his promise, was nowhere to be found, while Buster, at one time had little motivation, showed up determined to please his departed Mother...One man was full, the other was hollow.

[OctoberRed]

It was a robbery. Tyson got robbed of his heart.

[Easy-E]

That version of Douglas was one of the greatest fighters ever.

Not even close.