James ‘Buster’ Douglas pulled off arguably the biggest upset in heavyweight boxing history in 1990 – and renowned broadcaster Adam Smith remembers exactly where he was for it.
Smith is one of the most revered voices in boxing having covered the sport for more than 30 years and has been running talkSPORT through his favourite Mike Tyson moments.
However, he was a fan long before he was a broadcaster, and like many at the time he was in awe at ‘Iron Mike’s’ meteoric rise to the summing of the boxing mountain.
Tyson tore through the heavyweight division in the 1980s and made history by becoming its youngest ever champion.
He was arguably the most vicious and ruthless fighter who ever lived, but his invincible aura received a devastating blow when he was knocked out in stunning fashion in the tenth round of his bout with Douglas.
The shock winner was a 42-1 underdog and, 24 years on, Smith believes Douglas’ KO win over Tyson remains the biggest upset the boxing world has ever seen.
“That will be talked about through boxing history as probably the biggest ever,” he told talkSPORT.
“Yes, we’ve had the likes of Andy Ruiz knocking out Anthony Joshua in the heavyweight division. There have been other monumental ones.
“But this was on the 11th of February 1990 in Tokyo when Buster Douglas [beat Tyson]. He’d been down on the floor and really had a long count that otherwise would have ended in a Tyson stoppage win. He’d lost his mum in the fight week or the week before, and Buster Douglas was fighting with motivation and intensity and emotion.
“He somehow overcame ‘Iron Mike’ through 10 torrid rounds. And the shot of Mike Tyson scrambling on the floor with his gumshield out and his fists trying to to get it back in, trying, trying desperately as the fighter he was to raise to his feet is something that’s long going to stick in my memory banks.
Smith remembers being at university in America at the time of the shocking upset.
He says big American footballers were in tears over the result as Tyson’s unbeaten aura was absolutely smashed to bits.
“I remember where I was – I was in America at university and there were grown men, big American footballers in tears as Tyson’s aura was absolutely smashed on that night in Tokyo,” Smith recalled.
“He was invincible. He was unbeatable. He was the man that just won everything and by knockout. And suddenly he was knocked out himself. He lost his titles in Tokyo.
“Buster Douglas – one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.”
When Tyson headed out to Tokyo, Japan, to take on Douglas, everyone who was anyone in boxing assumed it was a foregone conclusion that the champion would win.
Tyson was 37-0 at the time and a global icon after rendering so many of his opponents unconscious.
However, as Tyson recalled in his autobiography, all was not well behind the scenes, and he was seriously lacking in motivation to fight Douglas upon boarding the plane to Japan.
“On January 8, 1990, I got aboard a plane to fly to Tokyo,” he wrote. “Kicking and screaming. I didn’t want to fight; all I was interested in then was partying and f***ing women.
“I didn’t consider Buster Douglas much of a challenge. I didn’t even bother watching any of his fights on video.
“I had easily beaten everybody who had knocked him out.”
That was in stark contrast to the 6ft 4in Douglas, who channelled his personal trauma — including the death of his mother — to train like never before.
Douglas’ height advantage was evident from the start of the scrap as his thunderous jab repeatedly found a home on Tyson’s left eye.
Despite the swollen socket, the champ rallied in the eighth round, landing one of his signature uppercuts to put Douglas down.
But confusion between the Japanese timekeeper and the Mexican referee owing to the language barrier proved to be a massive issue and the count of 10 never managed to materialise.
The brave ‘Buster’ got back to his feet and continued to stay in the fight. And in round ten, he put down Tyson for the first time in his career following a flurry of punches and an almighty uppercut that snapped Tyson’s head back.
It was a blow the ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ couldn’t recover from. He attempted to get up but was clearly unstable and the referee counted him out.
Wild celebrations ensued for Douglas and his team, as he pulled off the upset of the century and took possession of the unified WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight world titles.
Later that year, Douglas went straight into a fight with Evander Holyfield, but he was unable to pull of another upset, getting knocked out in the third round and immediately relinquishing his belts, which he would never regain.
As for Tyson, he won his next four fights before spending four years out of the ring due to serving a prison sentence.
After making his comeback in 1995, Tyson once again became world champion, but he never quite looked the same devastating fighter that had risen through the ranks.
Every time he stepped up in class he lost, such as in his duo of fights with Holyfield or in his 2002 clash with Lennox Lewis.
And after losing back to back fights against Danny Williams and Kevin McBride, Tyson called time on his career in 2005.
Now, the brawler from Brownsville is a matter of days away from making his eagerly-awaited return to the ring against Jake Paul.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Tyson takes on the YouTuber-turned-boxer in a Netflix extravaganza at the $1 billion AT&T Stadium in Texas – home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
Tyson is 31 years Paul’s senior and had 47 professional fights under his belt by the time ‘The Problem Child’ was born.
Many believe Paul will have to pull off a Buster Douglas esque upset if he’s to do the thinkable and beat ‘Iron Mike’.
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