Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson in Tokyo, and survives the long count

James Douglas grew up in Columbus, Ohio, the son of a professional boxer, William "Dynamite" Douglas, who ran a gym in the city and brought him into the sport. He did not love it. "I stepped into the gym for the first time when I was 10," he said. "I never really liked boxing." He turned professional in 1981 for plainer reasons. "It was strictly a financial decision. It was either fight or get a job making $5 or $6 an hour."

His one world title fight had come on 30 May 1987, the night Mike Tyson beat Pinklon Thomas. Douglas met Tony Tucker for the vacant IBF title and was stopped in the tenth round. He called it the low point of his career, and afterwards he fired his father as his trainer. For Tyson he was trained by his uncle, J.D. McCauley, and managed by John Johnson.

Going into the fight Douglas was 29–4–1. Tyson was 37–0.

Twenty-three days

Twenty-three days before the fight, Douglas's mother, Lula Pearl, died of a stroke. She was 46, and he had promised her he would beat Tyson. The mother of his 11-year-old son was also seriously ill.

Before he left for Japan he stood on the steps of Columbus City Hall and, as the mayor, Dana Rinehart, remembered it, said: "I'm going to Japan and I'm bringing back the belt." Larry Holmes, who knew what it was like to face Tyson, gave him advice about jabbing and moving.

Kevin Rooney had gone, and Aaron Snowell and Jay Bright were in Tyson's corner. In sparring before the fight Greg Page knocked him down.

The fight was at the Tokyo Dome on Sunday 11 February 1990, with the WBA, WBC and IBF titles at stake. Tyson weighed 220½lb, Douglas 231½lb. Tyson's purse was just over $6 million and Douglas's $1.3 million. The bookmakers made Douglas a 42–1 underdog. The referee was Octavio Meyran.

Easy to hit

Douglas used his jab from the start and kept Tyson on the end of it. "I was surprised that he was so easy to hit," he said later, "especially from the third round on." Tyson's left eye began to swell, and his corner did not have the usual equipment to treat it.

Rooney, no longer in the corner, gave his own verdict. "Mike looked flabby," he said. "He had no fire. He fought like he was an accident waiting to happen."

The eighth round

Douglas had most of the eighth round his own way. Then, in its last seconds, Tyson caught him with a right uppercut and he went down.

Then came the count. The ringside timekeeper began counting as soon as Douglas hit the canvas, but Meyran missed the timekeeper's signal and started his own count seconds behind. Douglas got up as Meyran reached nine, about 13 seconds after he had gone down. Seconds later the bell ended the round.

"I got a little relaxed," Douglas said afterwards. "I was in control of the fight ... When I fell I was very coherent."

After nine rounds one judge, Larry Rozadilla, had Tyson ahead 87–86. Masakazu Uchida had it level at 86–86. Ken Morita had Douglas in front, 88–83.

The tenth round

In the tenth Douglas measured Tyson with his jab and then threw a right uppercut that stopped him where he stood. A combination to the head followed, and Tyson went down for the first time in his professional career. Meyran counted him out at 1:23 of the round.

It was Tyson's first defeat as a professional, and Douglas had won the WBA, WBC and IBF titles.

The protest

Don King did not accept it. He argued that Douglas had been knocked out in the eighth round before he had knocked out Tyson in the tenth. The president of the WBC, José Sulaimán, announced that he was "withholding recognition of today's decision" and said a rematch was "absolutely mandatory". The WBA's president, Gilberto Mendoza, said the two bodies would decide together. Meyran admitted he had made "a hundred percent human mistake".

The IBF refused to go along with it. "We can't penalize a fighter for following the directions of a referee," said its president, Robert W. Lee, and it recognised Douglas at once.

Douglas flew home to Columbus by way of Chicago, with his 11-year-old son, Lamar, and was given a hometown welcome. "I don't exactly know what their beef is," he said. "If they decide not to honor me as the heavyweight champion, it's ludicrous." His manager had a simpler answer. "James Douglas did get knocked down," said Johnson, "but Mike Tyson did get knocked out."

Within days the protest collapsed and the WBC and WBA recognised Douglas as champion. "I felt embarrassed to Buster Douglas," Sulaimán said. "I felt it was not fair to the kid that I had withheld my opinion." King now said: "I never asked anybody to change the decision. We just want a first shot at a rematch." Tyson said: "I never considered myself a poor loser. I just gave my opinion of the incident." He added: "I still believe I am the best fighter in the world. Just give me another chance."

Afterwards

Douglas talked about his mother. "Nobody else thought I could win," he said. "But I knew my mother did. I knew that, somewhere, she was saying, 'That's my boy. He's gonna do it.'" And: "If I didn't do my best, if I didn't do what I was capable of, I thought my mama's ride to heaven would be a little harder."

He did not give Tyson his rematch. His first defence, he said, would be against the No. 1 contender, Evander Holyfield. They met at the Mirage in Las Vegas on 25 October 1990, and Holyfield knocked him out in the third round.