James ‘Buster’ Douglas, is known worldwide for his legendary upset victory over Mike Tyson back in 1990, but other than his own famous win, the now 63-year-old named what he believes to have been the second biggest upset of all-time.
Following on from wins over Trevor Berbick and Oliver McCall, ‘Buster’ Douglas entered the ring in Tokyo as one of, if not the, biggest title fight underdog of all-time, up against the seemingly unbeatable, 1/42 favourite, Mike Tyson.
However, Douglas did what no sane man thought he could, knocking out ‘Iron Mike’ in the tenth-round and ending Tyson’s thirty-seven fight win streak since his debut.
Unfortunately, Buster Douglas’ reign as champion didn’t last long, losing the unified WBC, WBA & IBF titles to Evander Holyfield just eight months later. Douglas’ legacy as the sport’s biggest upset will seemingly live on forever, acting as a prime example for the age-old adage that ‘anything can happen in heavyweight boxing’.
In an interview with ES News, Douglas picked out a more recent heavyweight title bout, as the second biggest upset of all-time.
“I would say [Andy] Ruiz and Anthony Joshua.”
Similarly to Tyson, Joshua was unbeaten as he prepared to face Ruiz, with many fans discounting the Mexican-American, in what was deemed a ‘mismatch’ by the general public. That was until ‘The Destroyer’ landed a punch to the temple that floored Joshua in the third round, before finally getting the stoppage in the seventh.
Yet, in contrast to Tyson, ‘AJ’ was able to avenge this defeat, winning back his WBO, WBA & IBF titles just six months later, outboxing Ruiz to a comfortable points win in Saudi Arabia.
