Quote Originally Posted by TitoFan
I must be in the 1% of the world's population that does NOT think that Tyson's defeat by Douglas was due purely to Tyson's "slide from his prime." Geez, give Douglas some credit for heaven's sake.

I've watched the fight several times on ESPN Classic. Besides being a great fight, my impression of it was that Douglas fought not only the fight of his life..... but on that night, he would've probably KO'd anybody out. I mean, he fought perfectly. He used his big body to push Tyson around.... he threw perfectly timed combinations..... he moved well on his feet..... he was unafraid of the Tyson mystique. In short, the guy was AWESOME.

And yet, all people can talk about is how Tyson was going downhill already..... how he was hung over...... blah, blah, blah. Why can't we just admit that Douglas was the better man that night, and that Tyson did all he could given the circumstances? Ok, maybe he didn't bob and weave like the 1986 Tyson. But he wasn't exactly a sitting duck out there.

If I find anything confounding, it's how crappy Douglas looked immediately after that fight in his defeat at the hands of Holyfield. He looked like a damn amateur! I mean, talk about a guy "shooting his wad" for one damn fight. He was mediocre BEFORE the Tyson fight, and totally sucked out loud AFTER the Tyson fight. But for that one night, he looked damn near invincible. Credit where credit is due, people.
tyson was on slide but i do agree with what you said even tyson in his prime would of had fits vs that douglas for that one night douglas was simply awesome