𝕏: SerhanOnX

Prior to the year of 1990, we had historic upsets in sports history that stood out on their own:  Classius Clay stoping Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight championship (1964), Joe Namath’s Guaranteed Win in Super Bowl 3 (1969), and the US Men’s Hockey Team winning the Olympic Gold in what is now known as the Miracle on Ice (1980).  For the longest time, those three were the gold standard of historic sports upsets and the feeling was no sports upsets would challenge them, let alone surpass them.

That was until the morning of February 11, 1990 in Tokyo, Japan, when an unknown challenger from Columbus, Ohio named James “Buster” Douglas introduced himself to the world.  Coming in with a nothing to lose attitude, he was supposed to be the next victim of the so-called “baddest man on the planet” when he faced Mike Tyson for the heavyweight championship of the world. 

Going into the fight, everyone knew who Mike Tyson was.  As the undisputed heavyweight champion who was 37-0 going into the fight, he was at the peak of his powers, and had the “invincible” label attached to him, perception wise.  After cleaning out the heavyweight division in the back end of the 1980s, Tyson was looking for a challenge.  The only name at the time was Evander Holyfleld.  That fight (at the time) had huge hype, but had sticking points in the fight being made.  So instead, he signed to fight Douglas in what was, on paper, supposed to be another victim on Tyson’s “hit list.”

Douglas was known as a fighter who showed flashes of a fighter with potential, but was known as an underachiever.  A 6′ 4″ heavyweight with an 81″ reach, Douglas was known for having a very good jab when he used it.  Despite his physical abilities and advantages going into fight, no one thought he would last a round against the ferocious fury of Tyson.  There were questions about Douglas’s qualifications going into the fight as a betting parlor would make Douglas an astronomical 42 to 1 underdog going into the fight, and those odds were more of a fabricated number, because the odds were realistically 100 to 1 at the very least. 

Tyson had the odds, but Doulgas had a boxing pedigree.  His father Billy “Dynamite” Douglas was a middleweight fighter who never got a shot at the title during his 14 year career (1967-1980).  He took James to the gym at a young age, and coached him to have the opportunities that Billy didn’t get during his professional fighting days.  Despite an inconsistent career since turning pro, Douglas went farther than his father did, and when he signed to fight Tyson, he would have a chance, despite the surreal longshot odds, to win the heavyweight championship of the world.

However, three weeks before the fight, Douglas’ world changed when his mother, Lula Pearl Douglas, died of a stroke at age 47.  After her passing, Douglas’s management team called him and offered to cancel the fight, but Douglas refused and wanted the fight to go on.   Before she passed, she told one of her friends that Douglas was beat Mike Tyson.  That gave him all the confidence he needed as he flew to Tokyo confident and focused, ready for the major challenge. 

After a long 23 days from his mother’s passing  to the trip to Japan, the fight was finally here.

As Douglas was beginning his walk into the ring, he was  walking with a bounce in his step as if he was ready to confront Tyson head on.  The world thought he was going to enter the ring to be another one of Tyson’s latest quick KO victims, he entered the ring confident.  It was as if he knew something the world didn’t.  At 6′ 4″ and 231 pounds, Douglas entered the ring in phenomenal condition, arguably the best in his life.  He appeared loose, condifent, and ready.  On top of all of that, he wasn’t intimidated, which was Tyson’s main strength going into any fight.

As the fight began, Douglas used his size and reach to keep Tyson on the end of his long jab and not allow Tyson to get inside to do what he likes to do when he gets inside, which was land body shots and uppercuts.  Douglas wouldn’t allow him to get inside, keeping him on the outside.  As he was landing with lefts and rights, Douglas would start to do real damage to Tyson as his left eye was swollen to about the size of a golf ball.  

While Douglas was delivering a shocking performance, another shocker in the fight was how ill-prepared the Tyson corner was for tough times when the eye swelled.  The team had no licensed cutman and didn’t bring an inswell, which is used to control the swelling of a fighter during the fight.  Instead, they used a latex glove filled with ice, thinkning it would solve their problems.  The problems were only beginning as Douglas started to delivered both a boxing lesson and a beating by landing 1-2s at will and simply targeting Tyson’s already swollen left eye, making it extra difficult for Tyson to get inside and do what Tyson does best.

Douglas was fighting the fight of a lietime through the 1st 7 1/2 rounds with a perfect performance against the “baddest man on the planet.”  People were wondering if Tyson would be able to land one punch of significance and turn the fight around.  He finally got his moment in round 8 when Douglas started to get real comfortable, and a perfectly-placed uppercut by Tyson sent Douglas to the canvas.  The same uppercut that Tyson was known to put fighters out for the count.  However, Douglas, watching the count of referee Octavio Meyran, beat the count when it reached 9 and the 8th round was over.  Despite the knockdown, Douglas was still well alert and aware of his surroundings.

As round 9 began, Tyson came out with a brief surge of energy, going after Douglas to see if Douglas was still hurt from the uppercut that floored him in the 8th.  It turns out that Douglas picked it up even more as he hurt Tyson half way through the round and had Tyson pinned on the ropes, and every punch Douglas hit Tyson with would hurt Tyson now as he really delivered a beating. 

And then, the unthinkable happened.

Round 10 begins with Douglas establishing his jab has he has throughout the fight, and with a minute left, as Tyson was standing still, Douglas landed two probing jabs, til the most unexpected moment happened.  A well-timed, perfectly placed uppercut by Douglas froze Tyson, followed by a left-right combination, and then a lethal left hook puts Mike Tyson down on the canvas with his mouthpiece on the canvas.  Tyson tries to get up, is on all fours looking for his mouthpiece, finds it and tries to beat the count.  By the time he got up, the count reached 10, and the referee waives is arms in the air signaling the fight is over as Tyson falls into Meyran’s arms as the fight is over!!!

And there it was.  The greatest upset in boxing history took place as James “Buster” Douglas, a 42 to 1 underdog, shocks the world on this day 35 years ago by systematically destroying Mike Tyson by KO in round 10 to win the heavyweight championship of the world.  Systematically destroying the fighter who was, perception wise, unbeatable and invincible.   As HBO Sports blow-by-blow commentator Jim Lampley perfectly said the words no on thought they’d hear:  “Say it now, gentlemen!  James “Buster” Douglas!  Undisputed Heavyweight champion of world!” 

In the post fight interview, an emotional Buster Douglas said he won this fight for his late mom (who died 23 days before the fight) as well as his dad (who guided him to this point).   After weeks of intense training and motivation to get to the top, he was finally able to exhale and enjoy the moment.  The win got him a rally in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio as well as appearances on talk shows and even a boxing video game named after him.  It was as if he hit celebrity status.

After the win, Douglas would lose his heavyweight championship 8 months later to Evander Holyfield in a fight where he weight 246 pounds, but collected a $24 million paycheck.  His life temporarily went out of control when his weight ballooned to nearly 400 pounds and mearly died in a diabetic coma, causing him to retire after the loss at the time.  Forced to stay in shape, he made a comeback by going 8-1 in 9 fights before retiring for good in 1999.

Despite what happened in his career before and after this fight, nothing could ever take what Douglas did on this night in Tokyo.  As the song from the late Whitney Houston once said:  “I want that one moment in time, when I’m more than I thought I could be.”  On February 11, 1990, one man had his moment in Tokyo, Japan.  The moment that sent shockwaves all over the world.

February 11, 1990 will forever belong to James “Buster” Douglas.

Photo Credits; Andscape, Associated Press, DarrenRovell on 𝕏, NYTimes, Michael Brennan, Reuters

Video Source; HBO 1990

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