Richard Hoffer / Sports Illustrated

It was halfway between performance art and barnstorming. A fighter who wears a torn towel for a robe and who cuts down opponents with a terrifying swiftness was embarking on a strange world tour, starting in Tokyo, that was likely to take him to Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Brunei—coming soon to a country near you. His primary appeal was no longer as a fighter, since it had become clear that nobody in this world was capable of defeating him, but rather as an expensive novelty act. “It ain’t about if he knocks a guy out,” promoter Don King insisted. “It’s about how he knocks a guy out. It’s the style, the improvisation.” Even a minute-and-a-half’s glimpse—the length of two of the fighter’s recent shows—of his savagery was considered good enough value for promoters around the world to bid his price beyond $6 million per appearance. China was said to be interested. Representatives from Zaire and Indonesia were exchanging faxes with King.

The arrogance was absolute and, of course, an invitation to disaster. So it was that on Sunday, at Tokyo’s Korakuen Stadium, Mike Tyson, the undisputed, undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, provided real theater. Against a fighter whose principal qualification as a contender was his availability and pay scale, Tyson quickly found himself in trouble, was struck at will with right hands and had his left eye closed after nine rounds. Even with that, it was impossible to conceive what would happen at 1:23 of the 10th round. James (Buster) Douglas, so secure in boxing anonymity that he could not draw the attention of a single photographer as he waited for the weigh-in the day before, lifted Tyson upright with a right uppercut, hit the suddenly defenseless champion with two more punches and then floored the reeling Tyson, already more horizontal than perpendicular, with a chopping left hook.

Tyson, who had never before been knocked down in his professional career, skidded on his backside. As referee Octavio Meyran Sánchez began the 10 count, Tyson flipped himself over and began sweeping the canvas with his right arm. A boxer’s reflex is a strange and revealing thing. Finally, Tyson found his mouthpiece, started to insert it backward into his mouth and then desperately climbed to his feet and into Meyran’s protective embrace, his good eye fogged in a way you cannot imagine.

Read More …