- It's February 11th, 1990,
Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan.
It's the 10th title defense for the undefeated, undisputed
heavyweight champion of the world, Mike Tyson.
His opponent is 42-to-one underdog Buster Douglas,
and virtually no one in this building
outside of the men in Douglas' corner
believe he has any shot to win this bout.
Most never even expected him to get out of the first round,
but in defiance of all odds we're here in the 10th,
and neither fighter has a clear lead.
It is a monumental accomplishment
that Buster Douglas has lasted this long.
But to understand why we need to rewind.
(graceful music)
Buster Douglas has fought his heart out tonight.
He has not only survived in the ring
with Mike Tyson for 10 rounds,
but he has dominated enough of them
to have a legitimate chance of being crowned
the heavyweight champion if this fight goes the distance.
For an idea of just how unlikely this current situation is,
look no further than its location, Tokyo, Japan.
- To test the theory, the ticket buyers on foreign shores
will purchase what Americans
seem increasingly unwilling to shell out for,
apparent mismatches for Mike Tyson.
- This fight was so lopsided
that American audiences wouldn't pay to watch it.
Only one casino would even take bets on it,
raising the odds all the way to 42-to-one
before they managed to get wagers on Douglas.
To put those odds in perspective
when Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali
defeated Sonny Liston in 1964, it was a historic upset.
The odds on that fight, seven to one.
This fight is not meant to be competitive.
It's a tune up to get Mike Tyson ready for the real fight,
a matchup against the number one contender
Evander Holyfield, who's ringside tonight
to watch his next opponent.
Promoters are so sure a new champion
won't be crowned tonight
that Holyfield already has a $12 million guarantee
to fight Tyson later in the year.
The hope is that maybe, just maybe,
the undefeated Holyfield would have a chance to take down
the giant he has come to watch tonight.
Mike Tyson has been at the top of the boxing world
since 1986, when he became the youngest heavyweight champion
in the history of the sport.
Bulldozing his way through champion Trevor Berbick
and ending the fight in the second round.
Four years and nine title defenses later,
he has been so dominant that fans are left wondering
if anyone can beat him.
If you're wondering how Tyson has been lately,
well, two of his last three fights
have ended in a minute and a half.
In 1988, Tyson faced off against
Lineal Heavyweight Champion Michael Spinks.
Both fighters entered the ring undefeated
and the boxing world believed that
if Mike Tyson was ever to lose, this would be the fight.
Donald Trump spent a record $11 million
to host it at his Atlantic City Convention Hall,
and it became the highest grossing fight of all time.
With the world watching, the fight ended in 91 seconds.
The question is, how is it possible
that Douglas does any better?
The answer is no one expects him to.
- …Merchant, Larry what are we about to see?
Another 92nd annihilation?
- [Larry] This fight is over before it begins
or soon thereafter.
- [Narrator] Mike Tyson 31-and-O,
has never even been knocked down,
and his average number of rounds per title fight
is the lowest ever by a large margin.
But Buster Douglas didn't let any of that
shake his confidence.
- [Announcer] Douglas insists that he's going to
shock the world in this fight.
- [Commentator] He would shock most of the world
if he could make it into the middle rounds.
- [Narrator] Shocked is exactly how everyone
feels right now.
Many tried to guess how many minutes Douglas would last,
let alone How many rounds,
but here we are in the 10th Douglas 29, four-in-one
is ranked two, three and four
by the major boxing organizations.
The number one contender in all three
is the man ringside with a contract already in place
to be Tyson's next fight, assuming he wins.
So how did Douglas get this title shot in the first place.
James Buster Douglas is the son of former boxer
Bill Douglas, who trained him to start his career.
A string of three wins in 1986
gave him a shot at the vacated IBF Heavyweight Championship.
He lost to Tony Tucker in 10 rounds
and then made the decision to part ways
with his father as his trainer.
The pressure of fighting in his shadow
had finally taken its toll and it was time to move on.
It was a decision that rippled through his family life,
but one that ultimately paid dividends.
Douglas went on a six fight win streak
including one against former heavyweight champion
and Tyson victim, Trevor Berbick.
His win streak led to the opportunity
to be Tyson's punching bag on Route two Holyfield.
Douglas is at the top of his game,
but it has not been without some huge hurdles
in the lead up to this fight.
When his mother Lula found out how vicious of a man
her son was going to enter the ring with
she implored him to reconsider.
He convinced her he could win,
and she started to believe he would.
But 23 days before the fight,
Lula Douglas died of a stroke at the age of 47.
In the wake of this tragedy,
along with the mother of his child
suffering from a severe kidney problem,
some thought Douglas might pull out of the fight,
but he continued to train
and aimed to be in the best shape of his life.
To start the fight, it looks like he is.
- [Commentator] I'm surprised at Buster moving so well.
- [Narrator] His movement is quick and fluid
despite being on antibiotics for the flu
the week of the fight, he is aggressive, and it's working.
- [Commentator] That was a good round for Douglas
and I gave it to him.
Probably the best round I've ever seen him fight.
- [Narrator] Douglas' game plan revolves around
using his jab effectively.
It's no different in this fight,
and it's keeping Tyson at a distance.
Tyson is used to operating
with a shorter reach than his opponent,
but Douglas is making good use
of his 12 inch reach advantage
and stringing together combos that are surprising onlookers.
At the end of two rounds,
Douglas had landed 52 punches to Tyson's 16.
By the fifth round, things had only gotten worse for Tyson
who continued to struggle absorbing blow after blow
and returning none of the punishment.
- [Commentator] Another right hand
and now Tyson seems to be wobbled.
Mike is not throwing back.
Buster Douglas is completely dominating this round.
- Tyson's left I began to close
after an evening of making friends with Douglas' right hand
time for his cut man to get out the enswell,
but that is not an enswell, this is an enswell.
That is a latex glove, blown up and filled with ice.
Tyson's corner man, Aaron Snowell
was so confident Tyson wouldn't need it
that he didn't bring one.
Tyson's camp treated this fight
the same way I used to treat going to the beach.
Why would I bring sunscreen if I'm not gonna use it?
some lessons are learned the hard way.
So what is this corner man MacGyver even doing here?
Well, over the last couple of years
Tyson has made some changes in his camp.
Following his electrifying win over Spinks,
Tyson made the decision to move on
from his manager Bill Clayton,
and fire his longtime trainer Kevin Rooney.
It was a controversial move that many believe
was at the urging of promoter Don King,
who has been accused by some of misguiding Tyson's career.
Rooney had taken over as trainer
following the death of Tyson's adopted father
and original trainer Cus D'Amato
Rooney helped Tyson home D'Amato's peekaboo style of boxing,
which focused on movement.
Many fights have been ended by Tyson's signature uppercut,
but those uppercuts are made possible
by the proceeding movements.
- And anybody could see I'm almost a master
at invading the punches coming at me.
If anybody saw all of my fights I don't get hit.
It's hard because I'm a counter puncher myself,
but I just do it with a lot of aggression.
- [Narrator] Once Tyson parted ways with Rooney
many noted a drastic drop off
in Tyson's mobility in the ring,
leading to an increase absorption of hits,
and here in the 10th round, a stunned one-eyed Mike Tyson
has put that on display for everyone.
But when you fight Mike Tyson,
all he needs is one good shot to end it,
and that shots looked to have come in the eighth round.
Through seven Douglas was continuing to showcase his jab,
connecting on 89 compared to Tyson's 21
but with mere seconds left in the eighth round,
Tyson moved just enough to turn Douglas's jab
into a glancing blow and countered with an uppercut
that sent Douglas to the mat.
It was the shot everyone was waiting for.
The boxing world had been realigned.
Douglas put up a fight, but in the end,
Iron Mike cannot be beaten.
But as the count hit nine,
much to the amazement of everyone watching, Douglas was up.
This fight wasn't over.
He was then saved by the Bell
and lived to fight another round.
The ninth round began and Tyson had his eye
on picking up where he left off,
but Douglas was ready for it.
He landed some early shots to send the message to Tyson
that the fight was still on, and he didn't stop there.
With a little over a minute left in the round,
Douglas put a wobbling Tyson on the ropes.
- [Commentator] Without the ropes Mike would have gone down.
- [Narrator] Both fighters entered the 10th round
looking to end it.
Mike Tyson has never in his career
taken this much punishment in a fight.
A fight his team was so confident entering
that they didn't even bring the basic tools
to battle swelling.
Buster Douglas the 42-to-one underdog
in the only casino willing to take bets on the bout
has stepped out of the shadow of his father
and created a name for himself
by just surviving this long against Tyson.
He has had to fight respiratory illness
in the same week he had to push his body
to the ultimate limits.
He has shouldered the pain of losing his mother
only a short time after convincing her
he could hold his own in this ring, in this fight
against the greatest boxer on Earth.
The world only gave him 90 seconds,
and here he is in the 10th round.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [Commentator] To try to get in the shot
that will finish things--
- [Announcer] Oh, the uppercut!
- [Commentator] What an uppercut by Douglas
and down goes Tyson.
- Five,
six,
seven,
eight,
nine.
- [Announcer] It's over. - [Man] It's over.
- [Commentator] Mike Tyson has been knocked out.