I knew nobody gave me this opportunity I had earned it. Everyone was expecting a quick, 90-second knockout, but I’m well-educated in this game.

I went into the fight with a lot of confidence, and I wanted to express that. I knew he was a warrior in the ring, but I looked beyond that. I looked beyond that figure in the ring, and I had to compare myself to the individual, so I wasn’t really impressed with all the success he was having.

He said the fight would be like any other fight - something like, ‘I’m going to knock him out,’ or whatever. I remember a reporter asking him how he thought the fight would go. The thing about Mike is he’s not a trash-talker. My biggest worry was something happening that would postpone or delay it - like Mike getting hurt in training. I had no doubt at any time during training. Make no mistake, I knew that if you weren’t bending steel or eating mercury, you had no chance against that man. In my mind, I was getting ready to be a nightmare to him. I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got so much s- pent up in me, this is your a–.’ I mean, really, I was just at that point to where I could give a hoot about the naysayers. It would have just been devastating, knowing that I was unable to continue because of her passing, but it just built my strength even more, in a sense.įighting Mike was a relief. She was really ill at that time - I didn’t know how ill, but she mustered enough strength to get in her car and drive over to my house and ask me a few questions to see where my head was at. 18, 1990, to check on me as I was preparing for the fight. She visited me the week before she died on Jan. 11, 1990.īut the person who motivated me was my mother. If you had to say, ‘This is how I want to be remembered, how I want people to know me, to look at me,’ it’s as a gentleman, a kind man who believes in himself, a humble guy who had an opportunity and took advantage of it.ĭouglas fought with a heavy heart on Feb. I was blessed with the opportunity and I conquered. 11, 1990, a day that marked my sporting life. She died three weeks before my fight against Mike Tyson on Feb. That’s how she was with me and my brothers. Ever since then, he never said anything else to me. The bully was like, ‘What?’ And I turned around and said, ‘Foul!’ And I was looking at him, fists all balled up, and he just gave me the ball. It was, like, the next day I went outside, and we were shooting basketball. At 10 or 11 years old, she made me go out there and face that bully, and when I came into the house crying, she jumped on me bad. My mother, Lula Pearl Douglas, was my motivator. Other partners include Franklin University and MCS-T.O.U.C.H., a program that helps formerly incarcerated men and women gain life skills and find jobs.My mother slammed me on the ground, put her knee in my chest, and said, ‘If you don’t get out there and fight that boy, you’re going to have to fight me.’ Officials said Wednesday they hope to serve an additional 400 students with life skills coaching and mentoring services. Hottinger said they give long-overdue recognition to Douglas, as well as serving to inspire all Ohioans who face tough odds.Īmong the effort’s goals is to raise enough money for the Brightway Center, a Steubenville-based nonprofit serving at-risk youth, to expand its operations to central Ohio. It’s among several official actions that governments are taking to mark the anniversary. Jay Hottinger, a Newark Republican, said a bill establishing a “James ‘Buster’ Douglas 42-to-1 Odds Day” is moving through the statehouse.

ESPN plans to air the documentary and send some of its personalities to participate in a celebratory gala in February. The Tyson-Douglas contest gained new attention with the release of an ESPN documentary, also titled “42 to 1,” in December. “I went into the fight only to win,” Douglas said Wednesday, “never knowing it would come out to be something as spectacular as it has been over the years.” He lost the title to Evander Holyfield that October. Douglas prevailed in a stunning upset over a man feared for his prowess in the ring and considered the best boxer in the world at the time. James “Buster” Douglas, a Columbus native, met Tyson, the reigning undisputed world heavyweight champion, in the ring in Tokyo on Feb.

James buster douglas vs mike tyson