Tyson's knockdown of Douglas meant nothing, it did not change the tide of the fight. In the very next round, Douglas went back to kicking his ass.
a knockdown always means something
It means he won the round 10-8 but that's about it. It was a good punch but Tyson did nothing to take advantage of the situation. Douglas dominated in that fight, completely.
lol, I agree that he dominated, but you can't "completely dominate" someone who knocks you on your ass for a 9 count
Yes Douglas was down for a nine count, but that is a technicality. Usually when you say someone is down for a nine count you are inferring that they just beat the count at nine and were in serious danger of suffering a knockout loss, that it was a close call. Douglas was not in such a condition at all. He was ready to get up at 4 or so, he just chose to stay down and clear his head. He was a little hurt by that punch and it was a legit knockdown, but he was not in any danger of getting knocked out.
If you could replay that moment in history fifty times, he would have gotten up each time. It wasn't at all like Dempsey-Tunney II, where Tunney was in serious trouble. The knockdown had about as much impact on the the remainder of the fight as if Douglas had slipped. In fact, it only frustrated him and inspired him to want to beat Tyson's ass even more badly.
"he just chose to stay down and clear his head."
but he wouldn't have needed to stay down and clear his head if it were a balance knockdown or some such. I'm not trying to say that Tyson could have won after that, I'm just saying anyone who says the fight was all Douglas is going a little overboard.
Tyson was winning the 8th by a mile even before the knockdown, just as a for instance
I agree with Jason. Comparing Ken Norton to Buster Douglas is a bit of a disservice to Norton.
Win or lose, Norton always gave a very good account of himself whenever he was matched up against world class opposition.
Norton was a very good but not great figher. He
seemed to freeze against the really big punchers
like Foreman, Shavers, and Cooney. He was a
good puncher, good boxer, and had an awkward
style. Good stamina and lots of guts. The Ali fight
and the Quarry fight were the highlights of his
career. Quarry was over the hill at the time and Ali
was slipping rapidly. I personally felt he won the
Holmes fight or should have gotten no worse than
a draw.
"He seemed to freeze against the really big punchers like Foreman, Shavers, and Cooney"
Frazier, who definately is a hall of famer, looked like complete dogshit against Foreman. So I'm not sure that should count against Norton. I also disagree that Ali was headed downhill at the time Norton fought him the first time
"Tyson was winning the 8th by a mile even before the knockdown, just as a for instance"
Tyson did okay in the begining of the round but halfway through it, Douglas really started to establish himself. Tyson gave very little offensively, and showed no other defense other than a clinch. Douglas on the other hand, easily pushed him around in the clinches and beat him up on the inside, even hitting him on the break at one point.
The whole reason Douglas got caught was that he became complacent because of how easily he was handling Tyson. I would have given the round to Douglas (excluding the knockdown)easy and don't know how it could be scored any other way. A quick burst of activity in the first minute (none of which did significant damage) of the round does not give it to you.
well, even if he only won the first minute of the round, imo its inaccurate to say that Douglas owned him from start to finish. Tyson had his moments in that fight, even without the knockdown
Jason, I have seen Tyson-Douglas at least twenty times
and Douglas dominated that fight from start to finish.
Other than the uppercut that Tyson caught him with,
how many power shots did Tyson land in the fight?
Douglas seemed to hit him almost at will.
Unbelievably lopsided win for Douglas. Like
Stockybrawler, without the knockdown, I would have
scored the eighth round for Douglas. That was the
only round that Tyson won on my scorecard, barely.
Norton not only beat better fighters than Douglas did,
he performed better than Douglas did against quality
opponents. The Norton-Holmes fight was very close and
the 15th round is one of my favorite rounds of all-
time.
well since I was just arguing that Norton beating Ali was more impressive than Douglas beating Tyson, we essentially agree. I think the judges gave Tyson more than one round though
Didn't one of the judges famously have Tyson ahead when it finished?
Top for answers.
In fact, Jason, Tyson was ahead on one judge's
scorecard and dead even on another's when the fight
was stopped, suggesting that judges may have been
influenced by King. Let's face it: some fights are so
one-sided that they cannot be possibly scored for one
of the fighters. Tyson landed very few punches the
entire fight. He just couldn't get inside and get
off.
I was 22, Gator, and also saw the fight live on HBO.
Tyson put very little pressure on Douglas after the
first round. He looked like he was asleep. Very
passive. And he ate shot after shot, round after
round.
so then, in all fairness, Tyson could have been awarded rd 1? And possibly 2 other rounds, right? Then it wasn't a total domination. That's all I was saying.
He COULD have won those rounds but Gator is a huge Tyson fan. I'll watch those rounds later today and see if I agree with him. Not that my opinion means any more than Gator's, but I'm just curious. I don't recall giving Tyson more than a round or two.