A rematch could have given Lewis’ career a far bleaker end than anyone wanted to see. He had beaten Vitali fair and square and, after defeating generational greats Tyson and Evander Holyfield, had very little left to prove. Given the torrid time the Brit had with Klitschko, this was probably the best move.
Lewis postured towards a rematch, but ultimately delayed it before announcing his retirement the following year. Vitali insisted he could fight on, but the severity of the gash gave him an air of the damaged T-800 from The Terminator. The fight was stopped after Lewis opened a gruesome cut on the Ukrainian’s eye. Klitschko gave Lewis the toughest test of his reign, rocking him in the second round in a classic shootout. After six brutal rounds in the company of ‘Dr Ironfist’, he probably wished Tyson had answered the phone. Lewis had tried to get Mike Tyson, who he had stopped in eight rounds the year before, to fill the date. Klitschko took a fight with WBC heavyweight champion Lewis on short notice after original opponent Kirk Johnson pulled out. This opens a splinter universe where Holyfield has to wait for his first title, and where Tyson’s 1992 jailing for rape possibly arrives when he is the reigning heavyweight champion of the world. Considering ‘Buster’ turned up for that fight overweight and displaying all the mobility of a potato, it seems a lock that Tyson would have steamrollered him in a rematch. Instead, Douglas fought Evander Holyfield and lost his newly-won heavyweight championship in three rounds. Tyson had been beaten for the first time, and a revenge mission seemed logical. Douglas was a fringe contender who had become an overnight sensation off the back of his win. Tyson-Douglas II, if it happens, would be held at the MGM Grand and be televised by Showtime.‘Buster’ shocked the world in 1990 when he stopped seemingly-invincible heavyweight freight train ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson in ten rounds at the Tokyo Dome.
The first Tyson-Douglas fight was held at the Tokyo Dome and televised by HBO. He’ll go in there to hurt Mike Tyson, because he doesn’t like him.” He kicked the crap out of Tyson and if they fight again, he’ll kick the crap out of him again. “After all these years, people still say it was a fluke. “It ain’t no money thing, Buster wants this fight bad,” Russell said. Douglas is being offered around $750,000 and is said to be asking for more than $1 million and possibly as much as $3 million. 25, when he was KOd by Evander Holyfield in three rounds – was under strong consideration for a Tyson bout.īut as always, money is the stumbling block. “Douglas is not the opponent, not at this time,” said Shelley Finkel, Tyson’s adviser.īut he refused to rule Douglas out, and boxing sources told the Post the former heavyweight champion – he held the title for nine months, from Feb.
#TYSON V BUSTER DOUGLAS SERIES#
They had considered a series of European heavyweights -Axel Schulz, Vitali Klitchko, Brien Nielsen – all of whom were too obscure to attract much attention, and George Foreman, widely considered too dangerous even though he is 50 years old.ĭouglas, 39 years old and coming off a one-round KO loss to Lou Savarese, appears to fit the profile. They needed an opponent with name recognition, since Tyson’s last fight, against little known Frans Botha, did poor business at the gate and on pay-per-view.īut they also needed a relatively safe opponent, since that same Botha was in the process of boxing Tyson silly when he was suddenly knocked cold in the sixth round. Tyson’s handlers have faced a dilemma trying to get him back into the ring following his latest layoff, the result of a six-month jail sentence for assaulting two motorists after a minor traffic accident in Maryland. “We’ve had some good conversations about it, and I think they’re serious,” said John Russell, Douglas’ manager-trainer. The hunt for a “safe” opponent for Mike Tyson’s latest comeback has led to some familiar, and dangerous, territory – James (Buster) Douglas.ĭouglas, who knocked out Tyson in 1990 to win the undisputed heavyweight title in one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports, is being considered to fight Tyson when the former champion attempts to restart his career Oct.
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