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| name = Buster Douglas | nationality = American | realname = James Douglas | image =Buster-douglas.jpeg | caption = Douglas on the cover of Sports Illustrated | nickname = Buster | weight = Heavyweight | birth_date = April 7 , 1960 | birth_place = Columbus, Ohio , USA | home = Columbus, Ohio , USA | style = Orthodox | total = 46 | wins = 38 | KO = 25 | losses = 6 | draws = 1 | no contests = 1 }} James "Buster" Douglas (born April 7 , 1960 in Columbus, Ohio ) was a heavyweight Boxer who scored the biggest upset ever in the sport -- perhaps one of the greatest upsets in sports history -- by knocking out then-undefeated Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson in 10 rounds in 1990 . The upset was so great because Tyson was at that point considered the pound-for-pound best boxer on the planet and was seemingly invincible due to his utter domination of the division and having defeated Tony Tucker, who had previously defeated Douglas. Douglas had been fighting since the early 1980s , but there was nothing in his record that suggested that he was capable of handing Tyson his first loss. In fact, bookmakers made him a 42-1 underdog for the February 10 , 1990 , fight in Tokyo , Japan . Douglas surprised the world by dominating the fight from the beginning, seemingly hitting Tyson at will with Jab s and right hands and getting out of range when Tyson launched his own punches. Only in the 8th round did Tyson come close to victory. In the waning seconds of the round Tyson floored Douglas with an Uppercut to score the first knockdown of the fight. Douglas was up at the count of 9, however, and the bell rang before Tyson could follow up on his sudden success. After the fight Tyson and his team would protest that the Referee had started his count too late and that Douglas should have been counted out, but those protests were of no avail. In the 10th round, a devastating combination from Douglas floored Tyson for the first time in his boxing career. When Tyson failed to climb to his feet in time, the fight was over. The public reaction was encapsulated by the cover of '' Sports Illustrated '' Magazine, with the headline " Rocky Lives!", an allusion to the fictional boxing hero who, against all odds, went the distance against the champion. Douglas tearfully dedicated his dramatic victory to his mother, who had died of cancer shortly before the bout(Actually it was of a massive stroke three weeks before the fight). After the fight, he talked about his religion and said he was not scared of Tyson and God was the only man he feared. Douglas failed to follow up on his success. In the following months he did little training and his weight increased. When he defended the title later in the year against Evander Holyfield , he was nowhere near the fighter he was when he had beaten Tyson. Douglas decided to retire from boxing following his third round knockout defeat at the hands of Holyfield. He did little for the next several years, living off his wealth and gaining weight to over 300 pounds. It was only after Douglas nearly died during a diabetic coma that he decided to attempt a return to the sport. He went back into training and made a comback. He was successful at first, but when unheralded Lou Savarese knocked him out in the first round he hung up his gloves again. Six months later he came back and knocked out his next two opponents in the first round. He has not, however, fought professionally since 1999. In October 2005, ESPN Classic aired, as part of its regular series, '' The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... Mike Tyson for Losing to Buster Douglas''. The reasons they listed:
These claims are met with controversy, however, because Tyson was never the same man during and after his loss to Douglas as he was when he dominated the heavyweight division in 1986-1989. See also
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