Riddick Bowe vs Bert Cooper - Mirage Pay Per View 10-25-90

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00:30If you think you can find the passion
00:33And you're ready to take a chance
00:36If you really believe you can make it
00:40Then the power is in your own hands
00:43It's the moment of truth
00:45It's on the line
00:47This is the place
00:49This is the time
00:51Waited forever
00:52It's now or it's never
00:54Nothing can stop you now
01:01The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada
01:04proudly presents World Heavyweight Championship Boxing.
01:11James Buster Douglas, the champion,
01:13defending his title against Evander Holyfield.
01:23Tonight's Heavyweight Championship bout
01:25is being brought to you by Budweiser,
01:27the undisputed king of beers,
01:29Nothing Beats a Bud.
01:32An absolutely gorgeous evening here in the desert,
01:35temperatures in the mid-70s,
01:37as a sellout crowd of some 16,000
01:39is on hand at the outdoor arena
01:41at the beautiful Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
01:47And hello again, everybody.
01:48I'm Jim Hill, and it's my pleasure to serve as your host
01:50for this evening's Heavyweight Championship bout.
01:53As a champion, James Buster Douglas
01:55tries to defend his title for the very first time
01:57since knocking out Mike Tyson some eight months ago
02:00in Tokyo, Japan,
02:01against the number one challenger in Evander Holyfield.
02:04Now, the big story of this fight
02:06didn't happen until yesterday
02:07at the weigh-in in one of the ballrooms
02:09here at the Mirage Hotel.
02:11At that weigh-in yesterday afternoon,
02:12about 4.30, Holyfield, the favorite,
02:14looked lean and mean,
02:15but he came in lighter than anticipated,
02:17weighing 208 pounds,
02:18which was some 5 or 6 pounds less than anticipated.
02:22However, he did not win.
02:24However, he did look very confident.
02:26Now, time for the real shock.
02:27For the last several months,
02:28the weight of the champion had been in question
02:30because at one time before his training started,
02:32he reportedly was up to 260 pounds.
02:35Yesterday, he weighed 246,
02:3631 pounds more than when he won the championship,
02:39and that surprised everyone
02:40except members of his own camp.
02:42Now, courtesy of Boxing Illustrated,
02:44here are six of the biggest weight disparities
02:46in heavyweight history.
02:47In 1934, Primo Canera had an 86-pound advantage
02:50over Tommy Loughran,
02:51and he won.
02:52Jess Willett outweighed Jack Dempsey by 58 pounds.
02:54Abe Simon outweighed Joe Lewis by 52 pounds,
02:57and they both lost.
02:58In 1980, Leroy Jones held a 43-pound advantage
03:01over Larry Holmes,
03:02and Buster Mathis outweighed Joe Frazier by 39 pounds,
03:05and those two heavier gentlemen lost.
03:07And tonight, it's Buster Douglas
03:08with a 38-pound advantage over Evander Holyfield.
03:12And just moments ago,
03:13this was the scene as the challenger,
03:15Evander Holyfield,
03:16arrived here at the arena at the Mirage Hotel.
03:18He came to Las Vegas about two weeks ago
03:20after working out in the upper portion of the state
03:23in northern Nevada,
03:24where there is higher altitude
03:25because he wanted to make sure
03:26that he was in the best physical condition
03:28that he possibly could be.
03:31Meanwhile, the champion, James Buster Douglas,
03:34who weighed in yesterday at 246 pounds.
03:37A lot of people wonder why he came in so heavy.
03:40Buster Douglas' people said
03:41they weren't worried about his weight condition,
03:45that they never put him on the scales.
03:46However, a lot of people are wondering,
03:48will that be a factor in tonight's fight?
03:50But Buster Douglas is just a very big man,
03:52and maybe, just maybe,
03:53that weight will not bother him at all.
03:55But as you can see,
03:56there are a lot of questions
03:57that have to be answered tonight.
03:59Time now to go to ringside
04:00to the two gentlemen who will answer those questions
04:03and a lot more for us.
04:04The fight, Dr. Ferdy Pacheco
04:05and the man to call all the blow-by-blow action tonight,
04:08Mr. Bob Popper.
04:09Gentlemen, it's all yours.
04:10Well, thank you very much, Jim Hill.
04:11And we are here at ringside,
04:12and there is a buzz as we inch forward
04:14towards the moment of truth.
04:16And Ferdy, yesterday at the weigh-in,
04:18we may have had the moment of truth at the weigh-in.
04:20There was a buzz there
04:21when Buster Douglas tipped the scales at 246 pounds.
04:24Well, I think it was more of a gasp.
04:26I don't think I've ever been in an audience
04:28of hardened newspaper guys that gasped at that
04:31because it was unusual.
04:3215 pounds, what does this mean?
04:34Does this mean he's not focused?
04:35Does this mean that Douglas is not taking it seriously?
04:38How come his trainers didn't know that?
04:40How come no one knew he was 15 pounds overweight?
04:42Why has he put this huge obstacle in front of him?
04:45Does it mean that he's going to resume
04:47being the Buster Douglas that we knew before the Tyson fight?
04:50Or are we going to see the destructor
04:52that we had in the Tyson fight?
04:54Well, carrying those extra 15 pounds,
04:56and with Evander Holyfield in his face,
04:58he's going to have a tough night tonight.
05:00And curiously enough,
05:01the thing that is a disadvantage for him,
05:04which is that Holyfield's a busy action fighter,
05:06is also an advantage in that
05:07he's not going to have to go looking for him.
05:09He's got a heavy punch,
05:10and there's going to be Evander trying to wear him out early.
05:13So I look for a very interesting first 4 or 5 rounds.
05:16And you know, in boxing,
05:18almost anything can happen with one punch.
05:20And here we had a nice, quiet, evenly matched
05:23heavyweight championship fight,
05:24and all of a sudden, the circus has come to town,
05:27complete with an elephant.
05:28Well, we may have a dry run now
05:30with Riddick Bowe taking on Bert Cooper.
05:32Bowe at 230 pounds.
05:34He's about 10 pounds overweight.
05:36We've got the same thing.
05:37Bowe is too heavy, and Cooper is too light.
05:40Now, Cooper is a cruiserweight that tried to blow up
05:42and Foreman blew him out of the water.
05:44And then Mercer, a couple of months ago,
05:46had a destructive fight with him
05:48that went the full 10 rounds.
05:49How much did he leave in that fight?
05:51We won't know. He's a hard puncher.
05:52Riddick Bowe, as we have seen,
05:54depends on which one shows up.
05:55He is a man of varying moods.
05:57The man who kept him in place,
05:59Eddie Futch, has been felted with an operation.
06:03He'll be here today, but with crutches.
06:05And what happened? He's 10 pounds overweight.
06:06Therefore, we got another one of those shootouts in store.
06:09Okay, let's take a look at the tail of the tape
06:11for tonight's first bout of the evening
06:13between Riddick Bowe and Bert Cooper.
06:16And you take a look, and there is Cooper
06:18at 24 years of age, Bowe at 22.
06:20Bowe with a distinct height advantage
06:22at 6'5 to 5'11 and 30.
06:24You get a look at the weight and reach,
06:26and that goes in the way of Riddick Bowe.
06:29Well, you can see the judges are Art Lurie,
06:31Cindy Barton, and Bill Graham.
06:33As far as size is concerned,
06:35Riddick Bowe is a complete heavyweight.
06:37I mean, he was even mentioned in the glowing terms
06:40of Joe Lewis when we were in the Olympics.
06:42He has, um, here's some Nevada State rules.
06:45That's right, 10-point muzzle system,
06:47no scanning aid count, 3-knockdown rule is in effect.
06:50Only the referee can stop the fight,
06:52and the fighter can only be saved by the bell
06:54in the last round.
06:55So we are set for our first bout of the evening,
06:57Riddick Bowe against Bert Cooper.
06:59And we are getting set for boxing action,
07:02and we are gonna send you right up now
07:04to our ring announcer, Robert Folk,
07:06with the introduction.
07:08Ladies and gentlemen,
07:10our next bout is in the heavyweight division.
07:13The judges are Art Lurie,
07:16Cindy Barton, and Bill Graham.
07:19The referee for this bout is Richard Steele.
07:22In the red corner, weighing in at 208 pounds,
07:26with a professional record of 22-6,
07:2919 by knockout,
07:31fighting out of Sharon Hills, Pennsylvania,
07:34Smokin' Bert Cooper!
07:37All right!
07:40And in the blue corner,
07:42weighing in at 230 pounds,
07:45he was a silver medalist in the 1988 Olympics.
07:48He is undefeated,
07:50with a record of 19-0,
07:5217 by KO.
07:54Fighting out of Brooklyn, New York,
07:57Riddick Lamont Bowe!
08:05Okay, I spoke to both fighters in the dressing room.
08:08I'm cautioning again, obey my commands at all times.
08:11Any questions?
08:13Shake hands and good luck.
08:17So we get set.
08:18Ten rounds of the heavyweight division.
08:20And now Richard Steele says, wait a minute.
08:22They said shake hands, and Bert punched him.
08:25And then when they came back, Bowe punched him.
08:27No shaking hands here.
08:28They want to get this thing started.
08:30Now the thing to watch out for,
08:31Riddick Bowe has 17 knockouts in his 19 pro wins.
08:34Seven of those knockouts have come in the first round.
08:37But once again, he is about 10 pounds heavier, Ferdy.
08:40He certainly doesn't look it.
08:41He still looks tall.
08:42I mean, he's a very tall man.
08:43He can certainly carry that 230.
08:45Now what we got here is a very heavy punching Bert Cooper,
08:47who if you stand in front of him,
08:49will give you a terrific bout.
08:51If you box him, he doesn't know what to quite do with you.
08:53You see the disparity in size.
08:56And you see Cooper taking the fight right to Bowe.
09:00Bowe's fight is to box.
09:02He's a superior boxer to use his size and get away with it.
09:05Sometimes Bowe just doesn't pay attention.
09:07He's not focused.
09:08As I said, Eddie Futch has kept him right on track.
09:10But Eddie Futch had a hip operation,
09:12which fortunately turned out very well.
09:14He is at ringside, but not in the corner.
09:16He is not able to go up and down ring stairs yet.
09:18And of course, that's what resulted in Riddick Bowe
09:21adding 10 bouts with his trainer in the hospital.
09:23He just did what he wanted to.
09:26You see Cooper trying the swarming attack,
09:28trying to get inside the reach of Riddick Bowe here in round one.
09:32Cooper is a warrior.
09:33If you stand in front of him, he will fight you all night long.
09:36You have to box, you have to give mangles.
09:38And right now, Riddick Bowe is doing nothing but catching.
09:41Now we mentioned that Bowe has seven first round knockouts.
09:43Cooper has 19 knockouts.
09:45Eight of them have been first round knockouts.
09:47So both of these guys like to get it done in a hurry.
09:51Well, Riddick better get on track somewhere along the line here,
09:54because he hasn't done anything as yet.
10:09Now Bowe trying to back away a little bit.
10:11Once again, Cooper just stays right in his face.
10:14Well, that's because Riddick is not using his superior height nor motion.
10:18He's not using his legs.
10:19I mean, here he is this huge guy.
10:20All he has to do is move away from him and box him and jab him.
10:23He stands right inside, just within range of the little short arms of Cooper.
10:28Now, Cooper can punch.
10:29It's dangerous to be that close.
10:32Cooper, with a lot of personal problems in the past,
10:35says that has all been cleared up over the past 11 months.
10:40You see him just trying to get inside.
10:41And Riddick Bowe, one of the keys for him is his jabbing.
10:44We don't see it here.
10:45He has no space to jab.
10:47He's got to have distance.
10:48And there is no distance.
10:50There's no daylight between these two guys.
10:59So far, Cooper has done exactly what he wanted to do.
11:01And I would imagine that Bowe is in for a tongue lashing
11:05when he gets back to his corner,
11:06because he has not fought the way he's supposed to.
11:10Although Cooper will get hit with some shots in there,
11:12when he's that close, there's no leverage from Bowe.
11:15Bowe is, as you can see, a very tall and long-armed guy.
11:19He needs some distance to punch, and he's not getting any.
11:21Cooper's just not letting him have any,
11:23nor is he trying to get any.
11:24And that's what he's going to hear about when he gets to the corner.
11:26Step back, get some room on the jab.
11:28Now, right there, jab.
11:30Let that jab come in there hard.
11:35Cooper has taken the fight to Bowe
11:36as we hit the end of round number one,
11:38and he scores with an uppercut inside.
11:40Break!
11:42So, he's smoking.
11:43Bert Cooper heads back to his corner, as does Riddick Bowe.
11:46And the guys that put down 10 to 1 on Cooper
11:49are already counting the money.
11:51They're looking at it.
11:52They said, well, that first round is in the kip,
11:54but it's going to be different.
11:55Let's listen in the corner.
11:56Here's Eddie Futch outside telling you what's happening.
12:10I'd like to get up to the right part.
12:12I think we've got the knee,
12:13especially on the waist.
12:16Take the knee, Jim.
12:17Okay.
12:18And a free shot.
12:19Go get it.
12:20Let's go, baby.
12:21Take the step off.
12:22Take the step off.
12:23Keep that jab.
12:24Keep that jab.
12:25That right uppercut that you worked on,
12:26you know you had to work it.
12:27Go on, get it off, okay?
12:28Get it off.
12:31Edgman Lewis, who was a fine welterweight in his day,
12:33telling him, keep that jab popping.
12:35Of course, he leaned out and heard Eddie Futch say,
12:37you're not jabbing.
12:39You're using your uppercut.
12:40Get some distance away from this guy
12:42and keep him off at the end of your jab.
12:45Now, let's see how long he tries to keep that distance.
12:48There he is.
12:49That's the jab and that's the distance he needs.
12:51This is what Eddie Futch wants.
12:54Move away when he moves in.
12:56Make him pay for it when he comes in.
12:58Right now, early on, we're seeing that Cooper's coming up short
13:01because he can't get inside.
13:02He had his way in round one.
13:05He just walked right in.
13:07You've got to almost slap him in the legs
13:09and get him awake, really, Bo, and get him focused.
13:12I mean, when he's focused, he's an excellent fighter.
13:15He's a great prospect.
13:18But it's just difficult to get him to think every round
13:21and carry out the game plan.
13:22Right now, he's doing exactly what he should be doing
13:25and what Eddie Futch wants him to do.
13:27This is Bo's 7th fight of 1996 with 5 knockouts.
13:31Cooper is 1-1 with 1 knockout here in 1990.
13:38Cooper last lost to Wayne Mercer back in August.
13:42That's a 12-round decision.
13:44And outside of the Tyson fight with Douglas,
13:46that might have been the finest heavyweight fight
13:48in the last year or two.
13:50They just went at it.
13:52But that's because Mercer's not a boxer.
13:53He's a puncher, and they like to stand in front of each other
13:55and let it fly.
13:57Here, you have a possibility of a great boxer to be
14:02showing his technique right there.
14:04That's the kind of thing that Bo wants to do.
14:11The action heating up now as Bo is landing some blows
14:15with heavy intention.
14:16That uppercut is exactly what Futch said.
14:18Once you get used to the jab, go with the uppercut.
14:22Come on, man.
14:25Time to get out.
14:31Nice right hand by Riddick Bo.
14:40Richard Steele separating the fighters.
14:46Much better round number 2 for Riddick Bo.
14:52Come around, come around.
15:00When Cooper gets inside, he can do a little damage.
15:03Come on, get that body back.
15:07Get that body back.
15:14Come on, get it back, get it back.
15:19Good right hand by Bo.
15:21Cooper is down.
15:243, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
15:31He's going to make it to the end of round 2.
15:38Yeah, he's going to beat the bell.
15:41Cannot be saved by the bell.
15:441, 2, 3.
15:47And that is it.
15:49Steele stops and he is definitely out.
15:51He just came within one second of beating that bell.
15:54One second more and that would have been all.
15:56That's a huge man.
15:58A guy who is 6'4 and at 230 pounds when he lands a right hand,
16:03believe me, that's electricity.
16:05That's power in the hands.
16:07Of course, I always thought Cooper was just too little
16:11against a big heavyweight you can't match.
16:15With a second round knockout
16:17as he puts down Bert Cooper for the second time at the end of the round,
16:20Cooper could not get back up.
16:23Is that a preview of what we'll see later on in the Moment of Truth?
16:26The bigger man against the smaller man?
16:28You have a different quality opponent than Bert Cooper
16:30and Evander Holyfield who is not a small man.
16:34No matter what anybody says, he is going to be 210 today.
16:37He's 6'1".
16:38This little guy is a little guy.
16:40And it's a completely different kind of fight.
16:44It's apples and oranges.
16:45We're not going to see the same thing.
16:47Riddick Bowe with his 16th knockout in the first three rounds.
16:51He now has 18 career knockouts.
16:53He has 20-0.
16:55And really, he followed his corner's advice.
16:57That's what we saw in round one.
16:58We see it here in round two.
16:59Now, watch how well he lands that right hand.
17:02Now, when a big man like that lands a right hand of that nature
17:06and then follows it up with another,
17:08but the first one was already enough right there.
17:11You see how well he positions himself to throw the right hand?
17:14The classical fighter.
17:15He has the makings of a great fighter.
17:17If they can get him to concentrate, if he listens to Eddie Fudge,
17:20if he comes along, he can be a powerhouse in boxing.
17:24That's Riddick Bowe.
17:25Let's look at it from a different angle.
17:27You see how it's just perfectly thrown and perfectly connected.
17:32Now, the second one, just icing on the cake.
17:35So, Riddick Bowe with a second-round knockout over Bert Cooper
17:39with a 23-year-old from Brooklyn, New York.
17:43And let's take a look at the second knockdown,
17:45which came with a second to go in the round.
17:47Yeah, and that's really a race to the finish.
17:49He got up with, like, 13 seconds to go.
17:51I really thought he was going to beat the time,
17:53but that's the difference.
17:54It would have just meant that it would have gone a little bit longer.
17:56He would have taken a little bit more punishment.
17:58This is probably more merciful.
17:59He was not going to get up.
18:00There was no way to do it.
18:01Riddick, again, displays good technique as a pro in finishing.
18:04He knew he had his guy in trouble.
18:06That little uppercut in there was devastating.
18:08Right hand followed by the left.
18:10It's just a series, a rain of punches that are landing on poor Cooper,
18:14and he is out on his feet.
18:16He's out on the way down, and he was not going to get up.
18:19It was a short and sweet night for Cooper.
18:22I really don't think they should match Cooper against large heavyweights anymore.
18:27So Riddick Bowe comes up with the victory,
18:29and here with the official announcement of this one,
18:31our ring announcer, Robert Folt.
18:36Referee Richard Steele stops the bout at 3 minutes and 9 seconds of the second round,
18:42and winner by TKO, Riddick Lamont Bowe.
18:49So Riddick Bowe with the knockout of Bert Cooper,
18:52a very impressive effort as he turns the table in round number two,
18:56and Bowe is now 7-0 with six knockouts,
18:59and Jack Nicholson is here for tonight's festivities at the Mirage,
19:03along with Nicholas Cage on the left part of your screen,
19:06two of the movie stars in this grand scheme of things,
19:10all here at the Mirage to watch the moment of truth
19:13as James Buster Douglas puts his undisputed heavyweight championship on the line
19:16this evening against Evander Holyfield.
19:21And a good start, Riddick Bowe, turning the tables on Bert Cooper
19:26and knocking him out in round number two.
19:28Two knockdowns and one at the closing seconds did in Bert Cooper.
19:35Well, the Fight Docker has made his way up into the ring,
19:38and Dr. Ferdie Pacheco is standing by with Riddick Bowe.
19:41Ferdie?
19:42Riddick, congratulations.
19:43That first round, it looked like you were standing really close to him,
19:46and it was to his advantage.
19:48When you came back, I heard Eddie Fudge say,
19:50get the distance, get the jab going, come with the uppercut.
19:52You did exactly what the professor said.
19:54Well, Ferdie, again, that was part of the game plan,
19:56and I just followed instructions.
19:59And as I told Mikey Schuster, who worked with me,
20:01that I was hitting these guys, and once I get them in trouble, they're through.
20:03Well, your size was great, your aim was great,
20:06and you were landing just right where you wanted to.
20:08The first round, I was a little worried because you were in so close,
20:10it seemed like it was nullifying your punches.
20:12I wasn't worried. It's a small thing to a giant.
20:15Eddie, congratulations first on a successful operation.
20:18I am glad to see you back in the ring.
20:20Even though you didn't jump up the ring stairs, we heard your brain.
20:23What do you think is the future of this young giant
20:26that looks like he's got such prospects?
20:28I think within a year from this day,
20:31that he'll be the heavyweight champion of the world.
20:33A year?
20:34A year.
20:35Well, that's from yesterday, he said.
20:37I also want to thank my co-trainer, Hedgman Lewis.
20:40He's done a great job.
20:41Hedgman was a pretty good fighter himself.
20:43Hedgman was a pretty good fighter in his day himself.
20:45He was pretty slick on his feet. Almost as good as me.
20:47It's a long way from Seoul, Korea.
20:49And congratulations.
20:50Back to ringside and Bob Papa.
20:52All right, thank you very much, Fight Doctor.
20:54Riddick Ball with an impressive effort.
20:56We are at the Mirage in this beautiful setting
20:58for tonight's exciting matchup between Evander Holyfield
21:02and the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world,
21:04James Buster Douglas.
21:06And right now, the man that made it all possible is Steve Wynn,
21:09and he's standing by with our own Jim Hill.
21:11Jim?
21:12Okay, Bob, thank you very much.
21:14And as you mentioned, Steve Wynn is with me,
21:15and I know there are a lot of people here
21:17who are excited about seeing it
21:18and appreciative of you putting on this fight.
21:20But I would imagine that the troops overseas
21:22are most appreciative because you literally gave them
21:25the opportunity to see this fight for free.
21:27I think that's probably one of the most delightful parts
21:29of this evening,
21:30is that we're friendly with some of the folks
21:33because of Nellis Air Force Base here
21:35and, of course, General Powell and I know one another.
21:38And those relationships reminded us
21:40that there were an awful lot of fellas, men and women,
21:43in 121 different countries,
21:45in 137 or 38 bases around the world
21:48that weren't home with their families
21:50and weren't even in a position to buy it on pay-per-view.
21:53And we said, well, hell, let's fix it up
21:55so everybody can watch the fight.
21:56So we gave it to them,
21:57and using the Armed Forces Television Network
22:00and our own satellite uplink out here behind the truck,
22:03everybody is going to get to see it all around the world.
22:05And all we can say is all of us at the Mirage
22:07wish you were home now,
22:08especially to all of you who are there in the Mideast.
22:12And there are all...
22:13Can't wait for you to come home.
22:14That's right.
22:15We can't wait for the guys to come home,
22:16and the ladies,
22:17and we're sure they're going to enjoy tonight's boxing match.
22:19However, there on the other side of the coin,
22:22there are a lot of people
22:23who are talking about what pay-per-view has done tonight,
22:25and I understand there have been all kinds of records set.
22:27We've broke every record that ever existed.
22:29I think that the Tyson-Spinks fight
22:30and Hagler-Leonard did 3 quarters of a million homes.
22:32Here in the United States of America,
22:34over a million homes
22:35with 5 or 6 or 8 people in each home
22:37have bought this fight tonight,
22:39not to mention every continent from Asia and the Mideast,
22:42the Far East, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Mexico.
22:47Everywhere in the world tonight,
22:48this fight is being beamed up via satellite,
22:51and everybody is on the beam
22:54and taking a look at what Evander Holyfield can do
22:57or James Douglas can do
22:58to defend his heavyweight championship tonight.
23:01And the wonderful thing is
23:02that nobody knows for sure what's going to happen
23:04except that it's going to be a very violent
23:06and a very physical fight.
23:07Do you think that the weight problem
23:10or the situation that we've talked about
23:12with Buster Douglas being 31 pounds heavier now
23:15than he was when he first won the championship,
23:17do you think that's being blown out of proportion?
23:1816 pounds.
23:1916 pounds?
23:2015, rather. He was 231. He's 246.
23:22He doesn't think it's a problem.
23:23I saw him yesterday when he got through running.
23:25He says he's never felt better in his life.
23:27He's never felt looser.
23:28You know, he said,
23:29I was 231 in Tokyo, he said,
23:31but I had been sick with the flu for 9 days.
23:33He said, and I didn't train and I lost weight.
23:36I was thrown up.
23:37He said, this time, he says,
23:38I'm surprised actually to tell you the truth
23:41that I weigh 246.
23:42He said, I thought I'd weigh less,
23:44but I've never felt better in my life.
23:46Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns were around last night
23:48and the three of us got to talking
23:49and I asked them what they thought.
23:51And Tommy said, I wouldn't be so concerned
23:54about him weighing 246 as long as he's not fat
23:57as I was that Holyfield might be a little light at 208.
24:00When I look at Evander Holyfield,
24:02I see this magnificent athlete
24:04and I'm asking myself the question,
24:06can you fight a man in this kind of condition
24:10and go 12 rounds
24:12if you're not in superb physical condition?
24:14Now, I'm not sure whether James,
24:16the weight means that he's not in condition.
24:18I'm just not expert enough to know these things.
24:20But sooner or later, we will find out
24:21and it will be sooner or later this evening.
24:23Thank you so much and good luck.
24:24Thanks, Jim.
24:25Okay, that's Steve Wynn,
24:26the owner, chairman of the board
24:27of the Mirage and the Golden Nugget.
24:28Let's go back to ringside right now.
24:29Once again, here's Bob Popper.
24:30Well, that is the setting
24:31and we have Michael Ward getting set
24:34against Floyd Weaver
24:36in our next bout of the evening.
24:38These junior middleweights are getting set to square off
24:41as they make their way into the ring
24:43on this very comfortable evening
24:44here in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Mirage.
24:47Bob Popper along with the fight,
24:48Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, Riddick Bowe,
24:50disposing of Burt Cooper in round number two.
24:54Of course, coming up, the moment of truth,
24:55Evander Holyfield,
24:57the undisputed number one contender
25:00going against the undisputed heavyweight champion
25:02of the world, James Buster Douglas.
25:04Now we send you back to Jim Hill.
25:05Jim?
25:07Okay, Bob, thank you very much.
25:08I think anyone that knows anything
25:10about professional sports or sports on any level,
25:12you realize that boxers have to be
25:14in the best physical condition of any athlete.
25:17Now, after James Buster Douglas
25:19knocked out Mike Tyson some eight months ago in Tokyo,
25:22a lot of post-fight talk was about the fact
25:24that Mike Tyson did not train properly.
25:26He did not train properly for his bout
25:29against James Buster Douglas.
25:31Well, amazingly in sports,
25:32those same questions right now
25:33are being asked about the champion tonight,
25:35James Buster Douglas.
25:36Is he ready physically and mentally?
25:39James Buster Douglas gains weight,
25:41and because he's such a large man,
25:43he can gain 20 pounds or 25 pounds
25:46and still basically be kind of comfortable.
25:50And he loses it the same way.
25:53I mean, when he disciplines himself
25:56and eats the right food
25:58and works out hard,
26:00he drops weight very quickly.
26:02And when he doesn't do that,
26:04then he gains weight very quickly.
26:06So it's just his body, you know.
26:09He asked for a red in the holler field.
26:12We could have went someplace else.
26:13He asked for this man.
26:15And that's what everybody seems to be losing concentration on.
26:19We could have been ducking and dodging.
26:20We could have went anyplace.
26:21We had one free fight coming.
26:22But Buster asked for a red in the holler field.
26:25This is the first time in holler field
26:26he's fought a big heavyweight.
26:28And, you know, he's usually fought cruiserweights
26:31or small heavyweights
26:33or guys going down the other side of the mountain, you know.
26:35And this time he's going to fight a true heavyweight
26:37that's on top of the mountain.
26:38So we're going to see what he's made of.
26:40His mental outlook going into this fight
26:44has always been great, prepared.
26:46And, you know, as far as what we had to do
26:49was to get the physical part of him
26:52up to the level of the mental part, you know.
26:55And I think that we're close to that.
26:57And I'm not going into this fight,
27:00or neither is Evander,
27:01thinking that Douglas is going to be anything easy.
27:04We're not going in thinking
27:05that Douglas is going to run out of gas
27:07around six or seven or eight rounds.
27:09This is why we're gearing up
27:11so we can go 12 hard rounds.
27:15So I'm not playing Douglas cheap
27:17because he is a good fighter
27:18and he is champion.
27:19And you only win championships
27:21because you can fight.
27:23First of all, we've got to get this guy
27:25in a real dogfight.
27:26I'm going to send Evander out there from bell one
27:30to put pressure on him and to punch.
27:33And we've got to go punch for punch.
27:34We'll go punch for punch.
27:35He may have a potent right hand,
27:38but he's got a pretty good left hook to the body
27:41and left hook on the chin, Evander.
27:43And we're going to press him.
27:46I'm giving him orders to drop down
27:48and rip that belly apart on this guy here.
27:50I want to see how much punishment he can take.
27:52Some good punishment.
27:53He got hit one time in the Tyson fight.
27:56Only one time.
27:57He got dropped with an uppercut.
27:59Let's see what happens
28:00when he gets an accumulation of punches
28:01from Evander Holyfield
28:02when he puts the pressure on him
28:04and don't make him fight his fight.
28:05That's the way Evander's got to win
28:07and that's how he's got to perform.
28:09He's got to make him fight Evander's fight.
28:11We don't have to fight Douglas's fight.
28:13Then we've got a hard, tough night ahead of us.