The Power of Why

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up” — Babe Ruth

James “Buster” Douglas fought Mike Tyson in Tokyo on 11th February 1990. At the time Tyson had a record of 37–0 and was the undisputed heavyweight champion, holding the IBF, WBA and WBC World heavyweight titles. Douglas was the number seven ranked heavyweight at that time and the underdog. Tyson was quoted as saying “I didn’t consider Buster Douglas much of a challenge, I didn’t even bother watching any of his fights on video. I had easily beaten everybody who had knocked him out.”

The fight was more competitive than anyone had expected with both fighters landing blows through the early rounds. It wasn’t until the end of the eighth round that Tyson sent Douglas to the canvas. It took Douglas nearly all of the ten count to recover.

Douglas fought back in the ninth and tenth rounds and in the tenth round he knocked Tyson down for the first time in his career.

Tyson was counted out and Douglas was crowned the heavyweight champion.

This fight is considered one of the most famous upsets in sporting history. The odds were so great in Tyson’s favour that most bookmakers weren’t taking bets for the fight and one of the few that did had Douglas at odds of 42 to 1.

How is it possible that Douglas was able to recover from near defeat and ultimately triumph?

Douglas’ mother had passed way just three weeks before the fight. During the post-fight interview Douglas broke down when he was asked how he was able to win this fight when no one thought he could — “Because of my mother…God bless her heart”.

There is perhaps no better example in sporting history of Friedrich Nietzsche’s maxim that “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”[i].

[i] Twilight of the idols, or How to philosophize with a hammer (Götzen-Dämmerung, oder, Wie man mit dem Hammer philosophiert) (1889), Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)