36 Years Ago Today: Buster Douglas KO Mike Tyson: Where Were You?

Ahead of his shot at heavyweight king Mike Tyson, the immense efforts James Douglas was making behind the scenes pretty much stayed there, with almost nobody having any inclination to believe “Buster” was capable of pushing himself to the limits of his talents, either in the gym or in the fight that was coming up in Tokyo, Japan.

It turned out that Buster did both. Known, or at least suspected as a lazy trainer, and a guy who would, if the going got tough, give in (this belief given some serious ammunition due to James’s quite perplexing capitulation in his fight with Tony Tucker), Douglas ramped things up one serious notch in the lead-up to his date with destiny.

It was, as all fight fans are aware, 36 long years ago today when Douglas ruined Tyson in a bout that some have written was “the last great heavyweight title fight.” And to this day, the stunning, shocking upset Buster pulled off ranks as THE biggest in the history of boxing. Maybe in all of sports.

Maybe YOU remember where you were when you watched this fight, this monumental moment in sports history?

It was, in truth, a fight nobody was excited about. For a few reasons. Firstly, Tyson, at 37-0, was universally expected to not only beat Douglas but to wipe him out without breaking a sweat. Secondly, fans were pumped up at the idea of Tyson getting in there with far more worthy challengers, like Evander Holyfield, and Razor Ruddock (both fighters would be accommodated later on by “Iron Mike,” with differing outcomes).

As a result, not too many folks were juiced up as they stayed up (here in the UK, the fight aired during the early morning hours) to watch Tyson do the expected destruction job on Buster, who was 29-4-1, and also 42-1 this at the bookies.

But, boy, those of us who did bother to watch the heavyweight champion of the world try to defend his crown sure got a life event. A fight/result/KO, an upset that would never, ever be forgotten.

Who can forget the way a fearless Douglas took the fight to Tyson, how the challenger out-jabbed and outboxed Tyson, soon to out-punch the so-called “Baddest Man on the Planet.”

Soon enough, Tyson’s eye was busted shut, he was tired, he had been wobbled, and Tyson was getting his ass handed to him! Then, in round eight, a half-blinded, fatigued Tyson, still full of danger, dropped Douglas with an uppercut to the chin. Buster beat the count, the count that was administered by referee Octavio Meyran, and to this say, so many people, mostly Tyson diehards, say the third man blew the count, that he should have awarded the KO win to Tyson. But Douglas did his job: he got up before the ref had tolled the count of 10. And then Buster proceeded to continue his ass-kicking job.

Douglas bossed the ninth round, and then he felled the giant, the “invincible” Tyson in round 10. Buster’s neat and tidy, not to mention painful, combo put Tyson down in a groggy state, the soon to be former champ let pitifully groping for his mouthpiece.

James Douglas was the new heavyweight champion, and the whole world rocked and rolled over the news. It was, in a word, stunning.

36 long years ago today: where were YOU?