James Buster Douglas vs. Maria Bartiromo

January 3, 2008 by RickBryan 

Over the Christmas holiday one of the cable stations was replaying some of the greatest boxing matches of all time, which included, for example, the three Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield bouts. At one point during a break I was surfing around and found CNBC financial correspondent Maria Bartiromo and a guest discussing various financial topics; definitely relevant to my practice as a tax lawyer. Probably a segment I should be watching. Nevertheless the next bout scheduled was the 1990 fight where James Buster Douglas beat Iron Mike Tyson. If you recall, these were the years where Iron Mike was unquestionably the most devastating boxer who ever lived, usually ending his fights with one, two, or three punch combinations which looked like they could knock another fighter’s head right off his shoulders.   I had never seen a replay, but I remember that night well because my brother came in from Long Island to watch the fight at a pub around the corner; a packed house to drink and cheer another unreal performance by Tyson. But instead, Buster Douglas didn’t cower before Tyson; he didn’t collapse after Mike hit him with devastating hooks and uppercuts. Buster kept coming, pounding away at Mike; pushing him back with forearms and jabs and hard right hands to the head. And then it happened; what everyone was waiting for: Tyson finally unloads in the eighth round with a devastating uppercut, and Buster Douglas hits the canvas. Nice try; he earns a lot of respect and admiration for taking Mike so far into the fight, and generally beating him up pretty good. But there was never any doubt about the outcome. Wait. Buster gets up off the canvas and just misses being counted out! Then the bell sounds, and the round is over. Fight goes on! Crowd is screaming waiting for the ninth round, when Mike will now surely come out and pound this guy into oblivion. Both fighters continue to pound away at each other in the ninth, and Mike can’t bury Buster. Douglas pounds away at Mike in the tenth and takes command. The round continues, and Buster lands crushing blows to Tyson’s head, finally, as you well know, ending with the now infamous picture of Iron Mike crumpled to the canvas and pawing at his mouthpiece while struggling to regain his feet. Mike gets up just before the 10 count, but the ref counts him out anyway. Iron Mike is finished, and James Buster Douglas has done the unimaginable. His determination and bravery and fearlessness while standing toe to toe and exchanging blows with Iron Mike Tyson carries an enormity of conviction which now eighteen years later is still fresh in my mind.

So with that the question was whether my career and legal practice and quality of advice to clients would be better served by watching Maria Bartiromo and various analysts discuss trends and market theory, or by watching a 1990 replay of James Buster Douglas voluntarily stepping into the jaws of hell and by sheer resolve prevail in one of the all time greatest upsets in sports history. By now I’m sure you’ll not be surprised to learn that I opted to watch the fight, and I believe as legal advisor I’m all the wiser for it.

Filed under: Uncategorized
Tagged: