Buster Douglas

James "Buster" Douglas (born April 7, 1960) is a former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion who scored a stunning upset when he knocked out previously undefeated champion Mike Tyson on February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan. At the time, Tyson was considered to be the best boxer in the world and one of the most feared heavyweight champions in history due to his utter domination of the division. The Mirage Casino in Las Vegas, the only Las Vegas casino to make odds on the fight (all others declining to do so as they considered the fight such a foregone conclusion), had Douglas as a 42 to 1 underdog for the fight, making his victory, in commentator Reg Gutteridge's words, "the biggest upset in boxing history, bar none."

Douglas held the title for eight months and two weeks, losing on October 25, 1990, to 28-year-old, 6-foot-2-inch, 208-pound Evander Holyfield, via third-round KO, in his only title defense.

Growing up

The son of professional boxer William "Dynamite" Douglas, Douglas grew up in Columbus, Ohio, in the predominantly black Linden-area neighborhood, Windsor Terrace. He attended Linden McKinley High School where he played football and basketball, even leading Linden to a Class AAA state basketball championship in 1977. After high school, Douglas played basketball for the Coffeyville Community College Red Ravens in Coffeyville, Kansas from 1977 to 1978 where the seventeen-year-old was a 6 feet 0 inch Power forward. He is in the Coffeyville Red Ravens Men's Basketball Hall of Fame.^[1] He also played basketball at Sinclair Community College from 1979 to 1980 in Dayton, OH before attending Mercyhurst University on a basketball scholarship. He moved back to Columbus to focus on boxing.^[2] For a brief period of time during his early twenties, Douglas was known as the "Desert Fox" within the Columbus boxing community. This moniker was affixed to Douglas because of a misinterpreted encyclopedia entry regarding Douglas MacArthur and Erwin Rommel. Several friends of Buster Douglas mistakenly believed that Douglas MacArthur was known as the "Desert Fox" and subsequently addressed the future Heavyweight Champion as such. However, Buster Douglas distanced himself from the "Desert Fox" label no later than 1985 because of clarification from his promotional team and the concern that he might be confused with Syrian boxer, Ghiath Tayfour.^[3][4]

Boxing career

Douglas made his debut on May 31, 1981 and defeated Dan O'Malley in a four round bout. He won his first five fights before coming into a fight with David Bey twenty pounds heavier than he usually did in his early fights. Bey knocked Douglas out in the second round to hand him his first defeat.

After six more fights, all wins, Douglas fought Steffen Tangstad to a draw on October 16, 1982. He was penalized two points during the course of the fight which proved to be the difference.

After the draw Douglas went on to beat largely journeyman fighters over the next fourteen months. Two of his wins were against Jesse Clark, Douglas fought him a total of three times and knocked him out all three times. In his last fight of 1983 Douglas was dominating opponent Mike White, only to lose the fight when White knocked him out in the ninth round.

On November 9, Douglas was scheduled to fight heavyweight contender Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas. Berbick pulled out of the bout three days before it was scheduled and Randall "Tex" Cobb elected to take the fight in Berbick's place. Douglas defeated the former heavyweight contender by winning a majority decision. The next year he fought up and coming contender Jesse Ferguson, but was beaten by majority decision.

Douglas fought three times in 1986, defeating former champion Greg Page and fringe contender David Jaco in two of the fights. This earned him a shot at the International Boxing Federation championship that Michael Spinks was stripped of for refusing to defend it. Douglas did not perform well against Tony Tucker and was knocked out in ten rounds.

After the Tucker defeat Douglas won four consecutive fights and went on to fight Trevor Berbick in 1989, winning by a unanimous decision. He followed that up with a unanimous decision victory over future heavyweight champion Oliver McCall, and earned a shot at the undisputed heavyweight championship held by Mike Tyson, who became the universally recognized champion after knocking out Spinks in one round in 1988. (Douglas fought on the undercard of the event and defeated Mike Williams by TKO in seven rounds.)

Championship fight against Mike Tyson

The fight was scheduled for February 11, 1990 and took place in Tokyo at the Tokyo Dome. Almost everyone assumed that Douglas' fight versus Mike Tyson was going to be another quick knockout for the champion. Only one betting parlor in Las Vegas would hold odds for the bout, and many thought it was just an easy tune-up for Tyson before a future mega-fight with undefeated Evander Holyfield, who had recently moved up to heavyweight from cruiserweight where he became the first boxer to be the undisputed champion of the weight class.

Douglas' mother, Lula Pearl, died 23 days before the title bout.^[5] Douglas, who had trained hard, surprised the world by dominating the fight from the beginning, using his 12-inch reach advantage to perfection. He seemingly hit Tyson at will with powerful jabs and right hands and skillfully danced out of range of Tyson's own punches. The champion had not taken Douglas seriously, expecting another quick and easy knockout victory. He was slow, refusing to move his head and slip his way in (his usual effective strategy) but rather setting his feet and throwing big, lunging hooks, repeatedly trying to beat Douglas with single punches. By the fifth round, Tyson's left eye was swelling shut from Douglas' many right hands, and ringside HBO announcers proclaimed it was the most punishment they had ever seen the champion absorb. Larry Merchant memorably added "Well if Mike Tyson, who loves pigeons, was looking for a pigeon in this bout he hasn't found him".

Tyson's cornermen appeared to be unprepared for the suddenly dire situation. They had not brought an endswell to the fight, so they were forced to put tap water into a latex glove to hold over Tyson's swelling eye. By the end of the fight, Tyson's eye had swollen almost completely shut. In the eighth round, Tyson landed a right uppercut that knocked Douglas down. The referee's count engendered controversy as Douglas was on his feet when the referee reached nine, although the official knockdown timekeeper was two seconds ahead. In the ring the final arbiter of the knockdown seconds is the referee and a comparison with Douglas's winning knockdown count issued to Tyson two rounds later revealed that both fighters had received long counts.^[6]

Tyson came out aggressively in the dramatic ninth round and continued his attempts to end the fight with one big punch hoping that Douglas was still hurt from the 8th round knockdown. Both men traded punches before Douglas connected on a multi-punch combination that staggered Tyson back to the ropes. With Tyson hurt along the ropes Douglas unleashed a vicious attack to try to finish off a dazed Tyson but, amazingly, Tyson withstood the punishment and barely survived the 9th round. Douglas dominated the tenth round from the outset. While setting Tyson up with his jab Douglas scored a huge uppercut, followed by a rapid combination, and knocked Tyson down for the first time in his career, making boxing history. Tyson struggled to his knees and picked up his mouthpiece lying on the mat next to him. He awkwardly attempted to place it back into his mouth. The image of Tyson with the mouthpiece hanging crookedly from his lips would become an enduring image from the fight. He was unable to beat the referee's count, and Douglas was the new heavyweight champion of the world. As Buster Douglas said in an interview years later '“I thought Tyson was getting up until I had seen him looking for that mouth piece and then I knew that he was really hurt. So anytime you know you only got ten seconds to get up so you aren’t going to worry about anything but just getting up first. So when I had seen him looking around for that mouth piece I knew he was really hurt.”.^[7] By contrast, during Douglas's knockdown two rounds earlier, the fighter shows to be ready to continue early in the count (he bangs his fist against the canvas in frustration at having let Tyson land the crucial counterpunch, showing no signs of being seriously hurt). Douglas, however, clearly waits for the referee to count to 8 before getting up.

Douglas long dreamed of the moment when he would be awarded the Heavyweight Championship Belt and his joy at receiving it and putting it on in the ring following the bout is apparent. His joy soon turned to confusion and then anger as manager John Johnson informed him in the dressing room that Tyson and Don King were lodging an official protest about the referee's knockdown count in the eighth round. A week later, during an in studio interview with HBO's Larry Merchant, Douglas admitted that the protest and the post fight confusion ruined what should have been the best time of his life. During that interview with both fighters, Merchant asked the first 4 questions of Tyson infuriating Douglas' management crew who stopped just short of walking out of the HBO studios.

After the upset

While still Champion, Douglas appeared on the February 23, 1990 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's "WWF The Main Event", as special guest referee for a rematch between Hulk Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Originally, Mike Tyson was scheduled to be the guest referee, but following the upset, the WWF scrambled to sign on Douglas for the event. At the end of the match, Douglas was provoked into a 'storyline' punch and knockout of Savage, who was the 'heel' wrestler in the match.

The defeated Tyson clamored for a rematch and Douglas was offered more money than he had ever made before for a fight. Not wanting to deal with Tyson's camp or his promoter Don King, Douglas decided to make his first defense against #1 contender Evander Holyfield, who had watched the new champion dethrone Tyson from ringside in Tokyo. Douglas came into the October 25, 1990 fight at 246 pounds, 15 pounds heavier than he was for the Tyson match and also the heaviest he'd weighed in for a fight since a 1985 bout with Dion Simpson, in which he tipped the scale at just over 247 pounds.

In the third round of the fight, Douglas attempted to hit Holyfield with a hard uppercut that he telegraphed. Holyfield avoided the uppercut and hit an off-balance Douglas with a straight right to the chin to knock him down. Douglas did not get up from the punch and lost his championship, electing to retire after the fight.

Later career

Douglas vs Holyfield was a reported $24.6 million payday for Buster, though years later he said on the Howard Stern show he walked away with $1.5 million after taxes, managers, trainers, etc. In that same interview he said he received $1.3 million for the Tyson win, but for the same reasons netted $15,000. Doing little for the next several years, Buster gained weight, reaching nearly 400 pounds. It was only after Douglas nearly died during a diabetic coma that he decided to attempt a return to the sport. He went back into training and made a comeback. He was successful at first, winning 6 straight fights, but his comeback almost came to a halt in a 1997 disqualification win over journeyman Louis Monaco. In a bizarre ending, Monaco landed a right hand, just after the bell ending round one, that knocked Douglas to the canvas. Douglas was unable to continue after a five-minute rest period and was consequently awarded the win by disqualification (on account of Monaco's illegal punch).

A fight with light-heavyweight champion Roy Jones, Jr. was touted in the late 1990s, although ultimately fell through.^[8] In 1998 Douglas was knocked out in the first round of a fight with heavyweight contender Lou Savarese. Douglas subsequently had two more fights, winning both, and retired in 1999 with a final record of 38-6-1.

Film and game

Douglas made his feature film acting debut in the Artie Knapp science fiction comedy film Pluto's Plight.

Douglas was the star of the video game James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout Boxing for the Sega Master System and Sega Genesis. (In reality, Sega took a pre-existing game, Final Blow, changed the name, and changed one of the character's names to Douglas'). This game is considered as a response to Nintendo's Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, especially since Tyson lost to Douglas, which Sega took advantage in order to promote their early "Genesis does what Nintendon't" advertisements.

In 1995, HBO aired Tyson, a television movie based upon the life of Mike Tyson. Douglas was portrayed by actor Duane Davis.

Honors

Douglas is one of the few non-students to be honored by Ohio State University with the opportunity to dot the "i" during the performance of the Script Ohio by The Ohio State University Marching Band.^[9]

Professional boxing record

38 Wins (25 knockouts), 6 Losses, 1 Draw, 1 No Contest
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	38-6-1 1 NC	Andre Crowder	TKO	1 (10)	February 19, 1999	Memorial Auditorium, Burlington, Iowa United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	37-6-1 1 NC	Warren Williams	KO	1 (10)	December 12, 1998	Bank of America Center, Boise, Idaho, United States
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	36-6-1 1 NC	Lou Savarese	KO	1 (12)	June 25, 1998	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Connecticut, United States	The vacant IBA Heavyweight title was on the line.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	36-5-1 1 NC	Quinn Navarre	TKO	4 (10)	July 13, 1997	Grand Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	35-5-1 1 NC	Louis Monaco	DQ	1 (10)	May 13, 1997	Grand Casino, Biloxi, Mississippi, United States	Monaco was disqualified for knocking Douglas out after the bell to end round one.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	34-5-1 1 NC	Brian Scott	KO	6 (10)	March 30, 1997	Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	33-5-1 1 NC	Dicky Ryan	UD	10	February 12, 1997	MSG Theater, New York, New York, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	32-5-1 1 NC	Rocky Pepeli	UD	10	January 10, 1997	Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	31-5-1 1 NC	Tony LaRosa	TKO	4 (12)	June 22, 1996	Mark Etess Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	LaRosa stopped on cuts after the 3rd round.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	30-5-1 1 NC	Evander Holyfield	KO	3 (12)	October 25, 1990	Mirage Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Lost The Ring, WBC, WBA and IBF World Heavyweight titles. In the 3rd round Douglas was caught with a counter right hook from Holyfield that put him down.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	30-4-1 1 NC	Mike Tyson	KO	10 (12)	February 11, 1990	Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan	Won The Ring, WBC, WBA & IBF World Heavyweight titles. Douglas entered the contest as a 42-1 underdog. This fight was named upset of the year by The Ring.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	29-4-1 1 NC	Oliver McCall	UD	10	July 21, 1989	Convention Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	28-4-1 1 NC	Trevor Berbick	UD	10	February 25, 1989	Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	27-4-1 1 NC	Mike Williams	TKO	7 (10)	June 27, 1988	Convention Hall, Newark, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	26-4-1 1 NC	Jerry Halstead	TKO	9 (10)	April 16, 1988	Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	25-4-1 1 NC	Percell Davis	RTD	9 (10)	February 24, 1988	Pioneer Hall, Duluth, Minnesota, United States	Davis fails to answer the bell starting the 10th round.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	24-4-1 1 NC	Donnie Long	KO	2 (10)	November 19, 1987	Downtown Sheraton, Columbus, Ohio, United States	Long was a late sub for David Pearce.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	23-4-1 1 NC	Tony Tucker	TKO	10 (15)	May 30, 1987	Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	For vacant IBF Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	23-3-1 1 NC	Dee Collier	UD	10	September 6, 1986	Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	22-3-1 1 NC	David Jaco	UD	10	April 19, 1986	Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Jaco was knocked down in round 5.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	21-3-1 1 NC	Greg Page	UD	10	January 17, 1986	The Omni, Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), United States
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	20-3-1 1 NC	Jesse Ferguson	MD	10	May 9, 1985	Caesars Boardwalk Regency, Newark, New Jersey, United States	Final of the ESPN Eastern Heavyweight tourney.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	20-2-1 1 NC	Dion Simpson	KO	1 (10)	March 27, 1985	Resorts International, Newark, New Jersey, United States	Semi-final of the ESPN Eastern Heavyweight tourney.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	19-2-1 1 NC	Randall Cobb	MD	10	November 9, 1984	Riviera Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Douglas substituted on 3 days notice for Trevor Berbick.
NC	18-2-1 1 NC	David Starkey	NC	1 (10)	July 9, 1984	East Dallas Club, Columbus, Ohio, United States	Fight ruled a NC after the fighters wrestled each other to the canvas and both corners jumped into the ring.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	18-2-1	Mike White	TKO	9 (10)	December 17, 1983	Sands Casino Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Scoring in rounds at time of stoppage: 8-0, 7-1, 7-0-1 Douglas.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	18-1-1	Eugene Cato	TKO	1 (8)	September 28, 1983	Sands Casino Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	17-1-1	Dave Johnson	MD	10	July 5, 1983	Sands Casino Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	16-1-1	Henry Porter	TKO	2 (8)	April 28, 1983	Sands Casino Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	15-1-1	Jesse Clark	KO	2 (8)	April 16, 1983	Catholic Central Highschool, Muskegon, Michigan, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	14-1-1	Leroy Diggs	TKO	7 (10)	March 29, 1983	Tropicana Hotel & Casino, Muskegon, Michigan, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	13-1-1	Jesse Clark	KO	2 (8)	March 9, 1983	V.I.P. Club, Niles, Ohio, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	12-1-1	Tim Johnson	KO	1 (8)	November 20, 1982	Infinity Club, Columbus, Ohio, United States
Draw	11-1-1	Steffen Tangstad	PTS	8	October 16, 1982	Bismarck Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, United States	Douglas was penalized two points.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	11–1	Mel Daniels	TKO	1 (6)	April 24, 1982	War Memorial Arena, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	10–1	Rick Enis	UD	6	April 8, 1982	Sherwood Club, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	9–1	Marvin Earle	TKO	2 (6)	February 15, 1982	Stan & Ollie's Lounge, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	8–1	Donny Townsend	UD	6	February 13, 1982	Stan & Ollie's Lounge, Erie, Pennsylvania, United States	Townsend fought as Don Watkins.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	7–1	Hubert Adams	KO	1 (6)	January 23, 1982	Stan & Ollie's Lounge, McConnelsville, Ohio, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6–1	Don Johnson	TKO	3 (6)	December 23, 1981	Memorial Civic Center, Canton, Ohio, United States
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	5–1	David Bey	TKO	2 (4)	November 6, 1981	Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	5–0	Jesse Clark	KO	3 (4)	October 23, 1981	Swayne Hall, Toledo, Ohio, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4–0	Jesse Clark	TKO	5 (6)	October 14, 1981	Tyndall Armory, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States	Muhaymin was cut over both eyes.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3–0	Mike Rodgers	TKO	3 (4)	September 27, 1981	Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio, United States	Sometimes reported as Douglas' pro debut, his earlier fights being exhibitions. Rodgers fails to answer the bell starting the 3rd round.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	2–0	Mike Lear	UD	4	July 24, 1981	Mount Vernon Plaza, Columbus, Ohio, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	1–0	Dan O'Malley	TKO	3 (4)	May 31, 1981	Mount Vernon Plaza, Columbus, Ohio, United States	Fought with headgear. CBZ lists this as exhibition.

See also

Book: Buster Douglas

• List of heavyweight boxing champions

• List of WBC world champions
• List of undisputed boxing champions

References

External links

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Buster Douglas from BoxRec
• Buster's new book with co-author Tony Reynolds: Buster's Backyard Bar-B-Q, Knockout Diabetes Diet (Amazon.Com)
• Buster's Twitter ID: iambuster
• Buster Douglas' movie Pluto's Plight
• Video of the knockout of Mike Tyson