A fight between former heavyweight champions, Michael Spinks and James “Buster” Douglas, would have been quite interesting back in the 1990s – both men having faced Mike Tyson quite recently, with Buster pulling off THE upset, and with Spinks being parked inside the most famous (or infamous) 91-seconds in boxing.
But today? Well, in a crazy world that keeps on getting ever crazier, a “fight” between the Spinks and Douglas was announced this week, this by Celebrity Boxing:
“Buster Douglas Vs. Michael Spinks it’s official!!!! This summer. Watch on America Nu Network. The first man to beat and knock out Mike Tyson, James ‘Buster’ Douglas, takes on former heavyweight champ Michael Spinks in the first-ever ‘AI’ Celebrity Boxing match this summer!!” reads the blurb hyping this “fight.”
Just what an ‘AI’ fight is, is…..well, who knows? The announcement of this fight has understandably caused a mass of confusion as far as fight fans go. The two former champions – Buster now aged 63, Spinks and his “Jinx” now aged 67 – went face-to-face at the official announcement, for whatever that’s worth. But as fans have commented on social media, both former champions looked utterly bemused as they took part in promoting what can only be described as the most surreal fight of the year. And that’s saying something when we know we’ll get a 58 year old Tyson fighting YouTuber Jake Paul in July of this year!
It seems though, that this one will be a computer simulated bout and nothing more, although full details are said to be coming over the next week or so (if you can wait that long, the suspense killing you!)
Fans today have every right to ask what the heck is happening to our beloved sport. With no freak show seemingly out of bounds, Spinks Vs Douglas will add to the outrage. Let’s hope both greats, Spinks especially deserving of the distinction, are getting decently paid for their participation in what can only be described as an indecency.
Again, Douglas against Spinks would have been a very interesting fight back in, say, 1989, 1990, or 1991. Today, it’s a joke and nothing more. What else is there to say???