“When I found out that night that the fight was canceled, I went out and had a couple of drinks,” Douglas said. Tyson got sick, and the card was postponed. 18 at Edmonton, Alberta, and hoped to use his appearance to further his chances for a title shot. He was supposed to fight underneath Tyson’s defense against Donovan “Razor” Ruddock Nov. I wasn’t applying myself, so I went back to boxing as a pro at 21.”ĭouglas says his religious experience enabled him to focus his life, but one night in early November at Columbus it got briefly, and dangerously, out of focus. “In my third year in college things weren’t going well. “My life was at a crossroads,” remembered Douglas, who attended two colleges on basketball scholarships, but who did not get a degree. It took me years to look at it as a sport.” They acted like ‘Man, don’t hit me.’ Man, like I couldn’t control myself. “The main reason I walked away from boxing when I was 15 was because I didn’t like the way people perceived me as a fighter - a brute, non-caring. Pat Day, a top jockey who is a born-again Christian, has said he considered giving up race riding, but then decided he must have been blessed with his talent for a purpose.ĭouglas, however, can understand being asked how he reconciles his beliefs with boxing, which he took up at age 10. “It (boxing) is a vehicle it’s a drive,” Douglas said in reconciling his profession with his faith. When I lie back down, it was a 180-degree turnaround.”ĭouglas won an easy 10-round decision over McCall in an uninteresting bout. We joined hands and prayed and read scriptures. Some friends from Columbus were in town for the fight, Douglas recalled, and “they came to the room and we talked. “I was lying in bed in a hotel room in a pool of sorrow. I told John (manager John Johnson), ‘I’d like to pull out of this one.’ John said it would jeopardize my chances for a title shot. “My training wasn’t going well,” said Douglas, who on July 21 fought Oliver McCall in a preliminary to Tyson’s first-round knockout of Carl Williams at Atlantic City, N.J. “On July 20, 1989, I accepted the Lord into my life,” he said. The personal relationship also became strained, but the father who was not in Tokyo for his son’s finest hour is in Las Vegas for his first title defense.ĭouglas began what has become a seven-fight winning streak after losing to Tucker and he maintained a high ranking by the IBF, WBA and WBC, but, he said, “the problems were building up.” The professional relationship between father and son ended with the Tucker fight. “I wanted to be my own man, I wasn’t little Buster any more.”ĭouglas also said his father “wasn’t able to jell with other people in camp.” “There were things with my dad and I,” Douglas said of his relationship with his father-trainer, Billy “Dynamite” Douglas, a rugged middleweight- light heavyweight of the 1970s. It seemed to some observers that Douglas just quit fighting.ĭouglas admits to lacking mental toughness in that fight. Tucker won in the 10th when Douglas was stopped. Douglas also boxed on the undercards of three other Tyson title fights and as a prelim fighter on four other heavyweight championship shows.Īfter after six rounds, Douglas was leading on all three official cards and the scheduled 12-round match was even after nine. The star of that show was Tyson, who stopped Pinklon Thomas to retain the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council titles. Even with a piece of the title at stake, Douglas found himself in a preliminary role. And, typical of his career, Douglas goes into the fight as an underdog champion.ĭouglas was soggy toast of any town when he fought Tony Tucker for the vacated International Boxing Federation title May 30, 1987, at Las Vegas. The toast of Columbus could become the toast of Las Vegas Thursday night when he defends the title against unbeaten Evander Holyfield, the No.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |