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Pastimes : Boxing: The Sweet Science -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LPS5 who wrote (3136)	4/19/2001 12:13:55 AM
From: LPS5	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10489

To: Hasim Rahman From: LPS5 I thought this editorial, on the 10th anniversary of the greatest upset in sports history, was well written and worthy of dredging up from time to time. While it's no secret that (a) I'm a big Tyson fan, and (b) that I've got Lewis winning in the 6th, I'd love to pass this article on to the seemingly overlooked Baltimore fighter... *** Let's raise a glass to all the "invincible" champions who've fallen and to the hopelessly overmatched underdogs who've prevailed. Upsets are the reason athletes run races, compete in fights and play their timeless games. It didn't figure to be much of a fight; more like an execution than a competitive bout. In one corner, stood "Iron" Mike Tyson. The undisputed heavyweight champion of the world was undefeated in 37 bouts with 33 knockouts. At age 23, he was considered by some to be the greatest fighter of all time. Tyson was scary. There were suspicions that he needed to beat people up in order to sleep well at night, and sweet sayings like, "I tried to push the bone of his nose into his brain," reinforced these suspicions. Spectators came away from his fights with frightening images of Trevor Berbick reeling around the canvas, Larry Holmes going down like he was on rollerskates and Michael Spinks caving in. The man seemed invincible. And in the other corner; James "Buster" Douglas, a 29-year-old journeyman from Columbus, Ohio. Douglas had been knocked out by David Bey and Mike White. Stefan Tangstad held him to a draw. His record was 29-4-1. And in addition to the specter of fighting Tyson, 23 days before the bout, Douglas endured the death of his mother from a stroke. Most casinos wouldn't even give odds on the fight. The few that did listed it at 40-to-1. So Buster Douglas went out and knocked the crap out of Mike Tyson. He didn't just beat him; he beat him up. With the exception of 10 seconds at the end of round eight when Tyson landed a crushing uppercut, the challenger thoroughly dominated the fight. In round ten, he knocked Tyson out. That's when another battle began. For more than a decade, Don King had dominated boxing by controlling the heavyweight crown. First, Larry Holmes was his instrument of choice. Then it became a series of "alphabet soup" champions; and after that, Mike Tyson. In order to fight for the heavyweight title, a challenger had to sign a promotional agreement giving Don King Productions three or more options on his services if he won. Douglas had signed such a contract. But angered by King's post-fight maneuvering (the promoter urged the WBC and WBA to strip the new champion of his title because of a "long-count" controversy), Douglas and his manager, John Johnson, refused to fight for King again. In the litigation that followed, King received a settlement of roughly $4 million dollars. But more significantly, instead of fighting a rematch with Tyson, Douglas defended against Evander Holyfield, who was backed by elements independent of King. Then Holyfield beat Douglas, and King's stranglehold over boxing's heavyweight division was broken. It took him five years to gain control again. And what does Douglas think about his upset? "That's life," he says simply. "Sometimes the bully beats you, but sometimes you beat the bully."