Tyson had struggled in a few matches before Douglas, and it was apparent that he had difficulty with awkward fighters, and that a pure boxer of sufficient skill might beat him. It also seemed possible that a boxer-puncher of sufficient skill and size might beat him.
Tyson was short and also had short arms. This made him susceptible to a long-armed jab and also to a larger opponent overpowering him. His peak-a-boo style was also energy intensive and not so effective against awkward fighters who would clench frequently.
So, a big man like Foreman who was also a skilled boxer-puncher would have a very good chance against Tyson. So would a big, pure boxer with a long reach such as Douglas.
Tyson set himself up for the Douglas fight by firing his regular trainer (Rooney), not getting into shape, underestimating Douglas, and hiring corner-men who seemed to have no kind of ability.
Without his trademark conditioning, Tyson was unable to put his usually tools of rapid head-movement and a set-up jab into play. All he had was his powerful punches, and while he did knock Douglas down once, this was not enough.
Had Tyson retained Rooney in his camp, the outcome may have been different, or at least closer. As it was , Douglas completely outclassed Tyson the entire fight. Douglas had a jab, combinations, intensity, and proved to be a tougher opponent on that day. (Of course, Douglas was as consistent as the breeze, so on another day, he would have lost).
The public was shocked, but anyone who had carefully watched the James Smith fight could see the chinks in the armour. (You should watch this fight....Smith lacks the conviction to finish Tyson, but he really comes very close as he hurts Tyson once, and overcomes Tyson's game plan through the fight).
Tyson was a great heavyweight. He has to rank in the top 50 all time heavyweights. He was fast, had power in both hands, and was intimidating.
But against Ali, Foreman, Liston, Marciano, Dempsey, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson, Frazier, prime Larry Holmes......well there are a lot of athletes that would have simply been too much for him. So, no surprise that a good boxer did him in.
If he had continued to have the support of Cus D'amato and Kevin Rooney his whole career, he might never have lost (although I cannot imagine him ever beating Lennox Lewis, Holyfield or Foreman, had they met).
I think your premise is not that accurate. Douglas had Tyson beaten to the punch and hurt in the earlier rounds previous to rounds 9 and 10. I have just recently seen that fight on cable TV ( I think it's a tribute series on Muhammad Ali and other heavyweight greats over ESPN ) and I was even surprised re-viewing that fight decades later to see Tyson already struggling against an opponent that early in the bout. He was definitely still rusty from long inactivity.
Anyway, I have never seen him struggling early or even later in a fight before the Douglas bout in his prime as champion. He had some tough times against Mitch Green and even Jose Ribalta when he was still coming up but he ended up stopping those guys.
As far as other fights in recent boxing history where a highly favored champion surprisingly struggled mightily before dispatching or losing to a then relatively obscure foe, I m reminded of Salvador Sanchez vs Azumah Nelson and Brian McGuigan vs. Steve Cruz both at featherweights.
Psssh....Douglas was kicking Tyson's butt through out anyways. Tyson couldn't beat the 3-4 guys in front of him which was 1. Lewis 2. Holyfield 3. Douglas. So he picked the weakest out of the 3 monsters which was Douglas, but unfortunately the Douglas, weakest out of the 3, had the exact and perfect style to beat Tyson's style which was the Left jab and Right Uppercut. And that tapped Tyson all night. Lewis copied Douglas to beat Tyson. While Holyfield copied Riddick Bowe's counter R uppercut to the stomach to mol@st and beat Tyson 1.
Tyson is probably #5-#7 in his era.
Heavyweights in his era....1. Lewis 2. Bowe 3. Holyfield 4. Old-fat Foreman 5. Douglas 6. Tyson
PS. Douglas beated Tyson fair and square, no excuses. Tyson became depressed and lost his corner men cuz they knew he couldn't beat real boxers, like Douglas, and left before their name as the coach gets printed on paper and discredited with a losing record on their resume. It was a big important fight.
This was the biggest upset in boxing history but Chavez-Taylor round 12 and Pacquiao-Marquez round 6 were more shocking to me.
Tyson never behind in a fight that late, never hurt and never knocked down and it all happened within 2 rounds?
I think before that fight Tony Tucker punched him in 1987 and it was a big deal LOL
What do you think?
