![]() He had a new trainer, was embroiled in personal problems and barely trained for what was expected to be yet another easy night’s work.ĭouglas, on the other hand, was on a mission to win for his late mother. What bettors putting their money on Tyson at the Mirage didn’t know was that the heavyweight champion was a mess. It was the first loss for Tyson, the savage punching heavyweight who was so feared that other fighters often seemed petrified to even get in the ring with him. ![]() Thirty years ago: It was 30 years ago Tuesday that Douglas, a journeyman heavyweight who never seemed to fight to his potential, came off the canvas to stop Tyson in the 10th round at the Tokyo Dome. A half hour later we got the official news and I just said, ‘Wow’ and went home.” “I told the kids who put the final scores not to put it in the system because I thought it had to be wrong and I didn’t want to end up paying both sides. “I was in my office and the word came in that Douglas won,” Vaccaro said. Not even the guys behind the counter at the Mirage sportsbook. The line seemed fair enough at the time, mostly because nobody thought Tyson could possibly lose. The line at the Mirage became so iconic that an ESPN documentary on the fight was named after it, and bookies still talk about it anytime the most storied odds come up in conversation. That would be 42-1, a number that still lives in sports betting lore. “The number went to 37-1 and then finally to where it ended up.” ![]() “To this day I’ve never seen so many people who would lay such a big price on anything,” Vaccaro said. If anything seemed like a sure thing in 1990 it was that Tyson would knock out Douglas to retain his heavyweight titles. Others soon followed, handing over fistfuls of $100 bills across the counter at the Mirage hotel sportsbook. The next day a customer came in and bet $54,000 to win $2,000 on the expected Tyson beatdown. There was no way Buster Douglas was going to go to Japan and beat the baddest man on the planet, so 27-1 seemed like a reasonable line for what everyone figured would be a short fight with Mike Tyson.Įxcept it wasn’t. “I’d love to finish it in the ring, one way or another.That was the number that popped into oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro’s head in early February 1990, though at the time it didn’t seem to matter. “I was sad to see him quit on the school,’’ McBride, 47, told USA TODAY Sports. More: A look back at Mike Tyson's last, inglorious pro fight The two fought June 11, 2005, when during the last professional fight of his career Tyson refused to come out for the seventh round. Kevin McBride is yet another boxer who said he’d like a rematch with Tyson. ![]() “A couple of guys that were past their prime but put a good effort in there. That’s about it.’’ĭouglas called Tyson’s fight against Jones at the Staples Center in Los Angeles "pretty impressive.’’ “It was just never presented really, as far as a rematch. ![]() “They always ask, ‘Why didn’t you guys have a rematch?’ ‘I’ve been asked about it in casual conversation,’’ Douglas said. More: 6 wild details from the Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas fight Stunning upset: Relive the night Buster Douglas shocked the world by knocking out Mike Tyson 11, 1990 in Tokyo, Douglas knocked him out in the 10th round. Thirty years ago, Douglas was a 42-to-1 underdog heading into his fight against Tyson, who at the time was 37-0 with 33 knockouts. But he said he works with amateur fighters in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, and could be ready to fight in six to eight weeks. Douglas, 60, has not fought professionally since 1999. ![]()
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