By Jermill Pennington: This past week the boxing world celebrated what some call to this day the biggest upset in sports history. It was February 11th 1990, Tokyo Japan at the Tokyo Dome. The fight featured the then undisputed #1 p4p heavy weight champion of the world Mike Tyson vs. an underachieving journeymen Buster Douglas. What eventually happened that night is well documented history, however there is an aspect of the fight itself that I found to be very interesting. Mike Tyson at 37-0 was obliterating every fighter that was put in front of him.
Not just beating guys up for several rounds, rather having guys stumbling across the ring as if it were their first time walking attempting to make it to their feet to beat the count. Mike was a sensation; the combination of being explosive with power was something that the heavyweight division hadn’t seen in some time. To add to that was the demeanor Tyson came in to the ring with.
The closet analogy I could draw to the stare Tyson would give as the ref gives instructions before the fight would be a pit bull on a chain about to be released. All these things are what made Mike an icon, by the time he was 37-0 facing Douglas the perception in boxing was Mike was unbeatable.
This is where the interesting part comes in for me. Fans say they want knock outs, and knock outs is what Mike did best. So then I ask, has anyone ever wondered why the fight took place in Tokyo Japan? You would think maybe the Japanese paid some large fee to host the event wanting to see the sensation from America up close. Though that would seem to make sense, however that isn’t the reason the fight was held in Japan. The reason the fight was held in Japan is because the fight didn’t gain enough interest among the American public and had to be held somewhere else in order to sell tickets. I wondered why a guy who had seemed to captivate the minds of even casual fans years before now had to fight in Japan for lack of interest. Still knocking guys out in the same fashion he had in years prior, but it seemed the interest of fans dwindled even with the knock outs. Fans wanted more, what had shined so bright a few years earlier was now something that fans hardly would bat an eye to.
Joe Calzaghe would be another fighter that comes to mind that would fall under this umbrella. When it comes to Joe his greatness is always up for debate, but off the top of my head I don’t think there’s another fighter that has both Bernard Hopkins and Roy jones on their resume as W’s. Joe was never given the credit he deserved; seeming to sweep through all his opponents I could say being so great wasn’t so good.
Roy Jones is another prime example of when being so good backfires. I’m 33 years old, that said I didn’t catch on to Roy until he was on the back half of his fighting career. I was part of the generation that got to see Glenn Johnson and the Antonio Tarver’s of the world lay Jones out cold. It would be reckon to the guys in the early 80’s that were catching on to boxing and seen Ali lose to the Trevor Berbick’s and Leon Spinks of the world. If you missed their primes you may forget just how great they were. Watching a Roy Jones highlight video left me shaking my head in amazement. The things that guy was doing in the ring against professionals was simply amazing. Nothing like it ever seen before and I doubt we will see a fighter like Jones in the future. Jones being so much better than his contemporaries in some way lessened the level of interest. Jones never got the attention needed to become a ppv attraction, another example of when being so good isn’t so good.
Today we have Floyd Mayweather who has become a victim of greatness if you ask me. Floyd unlike those mentioned before isn’t an offensive wizard rather a defensive one. Defense understandably harder for the untrained eye to see won’t be as recognized as a fighter who knocks guys out but nonetheless shouldn’t be brushed aside as if it isn’t one of if not the most important factors in any line of sports. Mayweather rarely hit, never hurt, never fighting in a back and forth in a Pacquiao vs. Morales fashion now finds himself in position where if fans don’t get what they want they are threatening to stop supporting him. Even if Mayweather does go on to face Pacquiao I assume they would still be fans who question the timing of the fight. Mayweather has been so good so long and being untouchable for the most part that it has become boring to some degree.
In conclusion fans and myself included remind me of a kid on Christmas. They run to the tree Christmas morning so excited unwrapping toys. A week later you can’t get the kid to even acknowledge that the toy they were so excited about a week ago even exist. For fighters it can be said the mountain gets higher the more they climb. What I draw from this thought shared overall is that we like competition, not dominance. Psychological this could resonate with people more because most see themselves as flawed and not perfect. Rooting for a fighter that has to scrap to victory at times and even lose is something that we can all pull for when he gets back up. Seeming to be unbeatable if you ask me isn’t always good.
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