The Buster Douglas that beat Mike Tyson not only fought the perfect fight, he was inspired beyond fear of failure and disappointment by the recent death of his mother. His fight was simply astonishing to watch as he controlled the previously indestructible Tyson with a rock solid and accurately jab, a blistering uppercut, and a demons will to succeed. So, of the all time greater, which do you feel he could have defeated with that kind of performance, given his execution? I will chime in later with my picks...
To answer that question, we first must ask...who could Tyson have defeated? I honestly believe no one in the history of boxing could have beaten George Foreman in Zaire except Ali. I also believe no one in the history of boxing was going to beat Joe Frazier in Manilla except Ali. So there is three who I don't think Tyson could beat on his best day and theirs. I think I'd apply that to Buster Douglas as well.
Tyson lost to Buster Douglas because of two things: 1. Tyson was out of shape. Remember that it was Tyson's best friend that was training him at that point. Kevin Rooney was fired after the Tyson/Spinks fight, and it all went downhill for Tyson after that. 2. Douglas was in good shape, and was inspired due to the death of his mother. As far as all time greats vs. Tyson, here is how I see it. All of the greats in their prime, and Tyson in his prime, trained by the best trainer he ever had, Kevin Rooney: 1. Tyson would have beaten Joe Frazier, Rocky Marciano & Jack Dempsey. I have no doubts about this. 2. Tyson would have had hellacious fights with George Foreman and Joe Louis, and it would have been 50/50 as to who would have won them...but they would have been slugfests and a whole lot of fun to watch. 3. Tyson would have lost to Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay in his prime). Tyson never fought anyone with the speed and maneuverability of Ali nor did he ever fight anyone that had a jab like Ali. I believe Ali would have frustrated the hell out of Tyson had they ever fought each other in their primes.
Oh, there dey go... there dey go... every #*(&^$# time a black man wanna talk about Joe Louis, a white man gotta pull out Rocky Marciano out they a$$... Rocky Marciano... Rocky Marciano... that's they one... that's they one...
And of course there is never any love for the Klitschko brothers. Vitali can take out anybody mentioned in this thread and so can Wladimir!
Douglas would've lost to Ali, by virtue of simply being out boxed. Douglas had a superior jab and footwork that magical night in Tokyo, but that wouldn't have fazed Ali. Douglas fought a perfect fight (except for the flash knockdown Tyson scored) that night, but Ali's ability to mix up his style on the fly would been more than Douglas had ever seen. I do think Douglas would've beaten Lennox Lewis had he brought that fight plan. Lewis was prone to underestimating opponents (Rahman) and Douglas would've fit the bill. Douglas also would've beaten Michael Spinks by virtue of being physically more imposing and being unable to be hurt by Spinks. Larry Holmes v Douglas (on that Tokyo night) would've been a great fight to watch as Holmes had one of the best heavyweight jabs of all time, but was never taken into deep waters, imo, in his prime. Every prior title holder Tyson beat along his glorious path, imo, would've lost to Douglas...that night...as well.
