Buster Douglas Surprised Roy Jones Jr. Accepted Mike Tyson Fight

James ‘Buster’ Douglas, the man who famously knocked out Mike Tyson in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history thirty years ago is surprised to hear his former foe is taking on Roy Jones Jr. on November 28.

Tyson excited fight fans by announcing his return to the squared circle at 54 years old earlier this year. After much speculation, it was revealed he would take on fellow boxing great Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round exhibition bout on September 12. The fight was then moved to November 28 to allow everyone involved to make more money from the eagerly anticipated match-up, although Jones suspects the moved was actually made to allow Tyson more time to prepare.

In the 1990s Jones was considering a move up to heavyweight and Douglas was supposed to be his first opponent at the weight. A deal for the bout seemed to have been agreed before Jones withdrew from talks and decided against facing Douglas.

In an interview with DJ Vlad, Douglas explained that his would-be opponents father intervened and advised Jones against taking the fight, he said.

“He pulled out, his dad told him not to do it. It probably wasn’t in his best interests to fight me as he was biting off too much.

Jones eventually moved up to heavyweight in 2003. He fought and beat John Ruiz to claim the WBA world title but never defended his crown, instead opting to drop back down to light-heavyweight where he defeated Antonio Tarver.

Due to his failed negotiations with Jones, Douglas was surprised to hear a fight between ‘Captain Hook’ and ‘Iron Mike’ had been agreed.

“I was surprised that it was even announced (at all) because I was like, wait a minute what does [Jones] see that I don’t see or, you know, because you’ve got to actually feel like you can beat somebody to expect the fight with them,” Douglas said.

“That was really confusing because I know what he and I went through but then he turns around and he’s going to fight Mike, so I was like ‘wow’. He must see something or know something.

Do you agree with Buster Douglas? Is it surprising that Roy Jones Jr. has agreed to fight Mike Tyson on November 28?