Instead of bulldozing Douglas into oblivion, Tyson was met by a series of combinations that had him reeling. Douglas beat the count, but many felt the end was near for him in round nine. Was Douglas going to melt down? Well, Tyson had his moment in the final six reconds of round eight when he landed an uppercut that dropped Buster on his back. Douglas was having his way due to the fact that he was landing 13 of 26 jabs per round (50 percent) - landing as many punches per round as Tyson was throwing per round. Through six rounds, Douglas was landing 23 of 45 (51 percent) punches per round to 9 of 22 (41 percent) for Tyson. Evander Holyfield, who was sitting next to me and was scheduled to challenge Tyson in June, was probably asking the same question. "Is this really happening?" I remember asking myself. So, Douglas was on his way to scoring one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, and there’s no crowd noise - just the sound of Douglas’ punches booming off Tyson’s swelling head. They wait until the round has concluded, then politely clap their hands. They do not react to the action in the ring while it’s happening. Japanese fight fans are a courteous bunch. The setting at The Tokyo Dome was surreal. Speaking of Douglas’ jab, we at ringside could hear that distinct sound ever so clear, even though we were wearing headsets that allowed us to relay stats to the HBO production truck. The beat(ing) went on in rounds two and three, as Douglas outlanded Tyson 51-20 and through three rounds was outlanding Tyson 73-28, averaging 51 punches per round to just 24 for Tyson, who could not get past Douglas’ thudding jab. To the world's shock, Douglas brought his A-game to The Land of The Rising Sun as he peppered Tyson from the opening bell, landing 22 punches in round one, including 12 of 31 jabs (the heavyweight average for jabs landed/thrown in a round is 6/19). He worked behind the jab, had a better than average right hand and moved effectively around the ring while jabbing. When hearing of Douglas’ promise, Tyson responded, “everyone has a game plan…until they get hit.”ĭouglas, when on his game, had the classic boxer/puncher style. He vowed to bring the heavyweight title home to Columbus, Ohio. That being said, Douglas was on a mission, having dedicated this fight to his recently deceased mother.
We had reason to think that fighting for a vacant title, in a fight that was dead even on the judges cards through nine rounds, Douglas quit on his feet after getting stung by Tucker along the ropes in round 10. We’re flying all the way to Japan for what, two or three rounds? The under-achieving Douglas is sure to wilt under Tyson’s pressure a lot sooner that he did against Tony Tucker three years earlier we thought to ourselves. James "Buster" Douglas was a 42-1 underdog - that’s according to the sportsbooks that were taking action on the fight.
ON THIS DAY: 2/11/90 Buster Douglas KO 10 Mike Tyson: The Silence Was Deafening
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