The date is February 10th, 1990.
Mike Tyson is the undisputed heavyweight champion of boxing. He knocked out his last victim, heavyweight Carl “The Truth” Williams, in NINETY-THREE seconds. Tyson is undefeated and on a warpath, and no one is stopping him.
But this story isn’t about Tyson; it’s about Tyson’s opponent tomorrow night in Japan, Buster Douglas.
Feburary 11th, 1990
Buster’s labeled as having “no chance” against Tyson. The possibility of lasting more than a couple of rounds in the ring is so low that Las Vegas hasn’t even declared odds for bets on the fight. How bad are those odds? 42-to-1. That’s how little anyone believes in Buster. Sportscasters call him a “bum,” a “warm-up bout” for Tyson’s real fights.
On top of the odds, Buster Douglas is grieving.
Less than a month ago, he lost one of the most influential people in his world, the source of his motivation and inspiration and the one who encouraged him to follow his dreams, even if she didn’t like them, his mom.
Last week, the mother of his child entered the hospital with a life-threatening development in her battle with terminal cancer, making training and balancing his duties as a parent almost impossible.
And as of last night, Buster has now contracted a severe case of the Flu.
A lot of us struggle with our excuses.
Buster Douglas has legit reasons to be depressed, to feel unable to work, unable to get up, unable to fight the nightmare of a boxer, Tyson, with 42-to-1 odds.
And yet, Buster shows up to the arena.
9:00 pm – Round One
The “Bum” Buster is 4″ taller and 13 lbs heavier than the lightning-fast Tyson. Tyson works his way inside for shots, but Buster holds back and wraps Tyson up in defensive clinches to protect himself from big shots. It’s a lot more “staying alive” than it is boxing, and the world expects it. You’d be crazy to try to knock Tyson down.
Round Two
Tyson starts predicting Buster’s moves and plays them against him, landing multiple shots that could probably kill an average person. The impact of Tyson’s punches is so loud that the ring-side mics pick it up. Tyson isn’t here for points; he’s here for the knockout, and he’ll take Buster for everything he has left. Buster surprises everyone again and makes it to the end of the round.
Round Three
Tyson’s done playing. He’s launching “career-enders,” “widowmakers,” whatever you want to call the punches that no one wants to line up in front of. One after the other
But Douglas is still on defense, still countering, and still standing.
The world watching has its jaw on the floor. The nobody from Columbus, OH, the bum who just lost his mom, who has to be a dad first and try to train later, is making history by simply not going down.
Buster sits in the corner.
In a moment of clarity, he realizes that He’s taken some of the worst punishment that Tyson can dish out and is still alive.
One thought hits his mind, “It’s possible.”
He can last longer; he can fight well, and he can win this. He’s not scared anymore.
“It’s possible,” he says to himself.
“It’s possible!” he chants to himself.
He didn’t come this far in his dreams to let a cold and a man stop him. He didn’t make it three rounds with the undefeated animal that no man wants to fight to let down his mom, son, and himself.
He says it again.
It doesn’t matter what the odds are; “it’s possible.”
Round Four
Buster Douglas comes out with thunder in his gloves. History starts changing even more abruptly.
For Six. More. Rounds.
And in round ten, Buster does what no man in history could and knocks Tyson to the canvas so hard that the ref ends the fight for the safety of a delirious Tyson.
9:49 pm
The biggest upset in sports history is made by a struggling dad who just lost his mom.
I’ve watched the 1990 Douglas v. Tyson Fight a few times.
As someone who’s put on the gloves and headgear a few times, I’d say Douglas just had to last till the end.
But as someone who coaches humans, I think Buster won against all odds because he chose to line his gloves with reasons to keep going instead of excuses to stop.
We could learn a lot from the footage, but the most important thing I took was to focus on the possibilities and not the odds.
If you want something, you’ve got to coach yourself towards it; you’ve got to say:
“It’s possible. It’s possible. It’s possible.”
And when you get hit and a win looks unlikely, get back up because it doesn’t have to be likely.
It just has to be possible.
