Lampley suggested that if Tyson were asked the same question (assuming he had read Shakespeare), he would choose something more bloody and violent, such as Henry the Fifth or Macbeth. HBO boxing analysts Larry Merchant and Jim Lampley expected to see "another 90-second annihilation." (When asked by a Japanese customs official how long he expected to be working in Japan, Ed Schuyler of the Associated Press replied, "Oh, about ninety seconds.") Instead of discussing Douglas's chances against Tyson, Merchant and Lampley compared their pets: Tyson had a white pitbull named "Duran" (after his idol Roberto Durán) while Douglas had a beagle named "Shakespeare." Merchant, after saying that "this fight is over before it begins or soon thereafter" and describing Douglas as "just another frozen tuna" from the Tokyo fish market, opined that "any prizefighter with a dog named Shakespeare can't be all-bad." In an interview given to HBO prior to the fight, Douglas told reporters that his favorite Shakespeare play was the romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet. Additionally, the mother of his son had a severe kidney ailment, and he had contracted the flu on the day before the fight. In the time leading up to the fight, Douglas faced a number of personal setbacks, including the death of his mother, Lula Pearl, 23 days before the fight. However, six consecutive wins since the Tucker fight - including victories over former world champion Trevor Berbick and future world champion Oliver McCall - gave him the opportunity to fight Tyson. His previous title fight was against Tony Tucker in 1987, in which he was TKO'd in the 10th round. Tyson was viewed as such a dominant champion that he was often considered the number-one fighter in the world pound-for-pound (including by Ring Magazine), a rarity for heavyweights.īuster Douglas was ranked as the #7 heavyweight contender by Ring Magazine and had met with mixed success in his professional career up to that point. Most considered this fight to be a warm-up bout for Tyson before meeting up with then-undefeated number-one heavyweight contender Evander Holyfield (who was ringside for the fight). He scored a 93-second knockout against Carl "The Truth" Williams in his previous fight. Despite several controversies that marred Tyson's profile at the time, such as his allegedly abusive relationship with Robin Givens, contractual battles between longtime manager Bill Cayton and promoter Don King, and Tyson's departure from longtime trainer Kevin Rooney, Tyson was still dominant in the ring. Going into the fight, Mike Tyson was the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and was very popular at the time. The fight is widely regarded as the biggest upset in boxing history. The then-undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson lost by knockout to the 42:1 underdog Douglas. Buster Douglas, billed as Tyson is Back!, was a professional boxing match that occurred at the Tokyo Dome on February 11, 1990. WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring heavyweight champion WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring heavyweight titles
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |