![]() His long-term manager Bill Cayton was engaged in a legal battle with promoter Don King, while Trump - an admirer of Tyson long before his presidency came to pass - acted as an adviser to the young fighter and was posturing to ensure the biggest fights were held at his hotel and casino resorts. He had parted with trainer Kevin Rooney, while his marriage to actress Robin Givens had ended in an ugly mix of public scrutiny, restraining orders and ultimately divorce. His trainer, mentor and father-figure Cus D'Amato had died five years earlier. The turmoil in his life saw him describe his regime of three training sessions a day as "stress relief".Īt the time, Tyson's life was chaotic. If his mother's passing was not enough, Douglas had also split from his wife. "My manager called me and asked if I still wanted to fight," recalls Douglas. She had told friends her son was in a good place mentally to cause an upset. Lula Pearl was the first person to instruct her son to stand up to childhood bullies. In the build-up, punters in Las Vegas placed bets on Tyson of $93,000 to win $3,000 and $54,000 to win $2,000.ĭouglas' mother had died 23 days before the showdown. Tyson was good friends with Donald Trump at the timeĭouglas was 42-1 in a two-horse race. "Opponents would look like they were walking to the gallows," adds Costello. His previous world-title defence had lasted 96 seconds. Now he brought fear to others and, as the undisputed heavyweight champion, with 37 wins and no defeats, had most men beaten before the sound of the opening bell. Tyson, then 23, had shaken off the kind of fear that saw him cry before teenage bouts. Their back pages would soon be bursting with upset and scandal fed back from Japan's Tokyo Dome, where the fight took place at 9am local time. The front pages of newspapers on 11 February 1990 were occupied by Nelson Mandela's imminent release from prison in South Africa. Back then it was a case of how do you go away and prove it," recalls BBC Sport boxing correspondent Mike Costello. "I had a call the next day from someone who told me the result. As a result, the stunning upset was largely unseen. In the UK, Tyson's previous title fights had been shown on terrestrial television but the Douglas bout was only available via Sky, which had begun broadcasting a year earlier and then reached relatively small numbers. Listen: 5 Live Boxing with Costello & Bunce - Tyson v Douglas: the biggest upset ever?.Thirty years have passed since the unthinkable occurred. "When I saw him go down, it felt like somebody lied," the lyrics read. It was a day where millions of dollars disappeared for those with skin in the game.ĭecades later, The Killers wrote a song about the chaos. ![]() It was a day where desperate corner men made icepacks out of rubber gloves, or condoms, depending on who you believe. “I’d love to finish it in the ring, one way or another.It was a day shaped by turmoil. “I was sad to see him quit on the school,’’ McBride, 47, told USA TODAY Sports. More: A look back at Mike Tyson's last, inglorious pro fight The two fought June 11, 2005, when during the last professional fight of his career Tyson refused to come out for the seventh round. Kevin McBride is yet another boxer who said he’d like a rematch with Tyson. ![]() “A couple of guys that were past their prime but put a good effort in there. That’s about it.’’ĭouglas called Tyson’s fight against Jones at the Staples Center in Los Angeles "pretty impressive.’’ “It was just never presented really, as far as a rematch. “They always ask, ‘Why didn’t you guys have a rematch?’ ‘I’ve been asked about it in casual conversation,’’ Douglas said. More: 6 wild details from the Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas fight Stunning upset: Relive the night Buster Douglas shocked the world by knocking out Mike Tyson 11, 1990 in Tokyo, Douglas knocked him out in the 10th round. Thirty years ago, Douglas was a 42-to-1 underdog heading into his fight against Tyson, who at the time was 37-0 with 33 knockouts. But he said he works with amateur fighters in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, and could be ready to fight in six to eight weeks. Douglas, 60, has not fought professionally since 1999. ![]()
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