Mike Tyson Believes ‘Don King Set Me Up’ For Historic Loss To Buster Douglas: Tyson Says The Infamous Boxing Promoter Had Referees In His Pocket And Rigged Fights For and Against Tyson

There has always been suspicion in boxing that fights have been set up or otherwise manipulated for a predetermined outcome. Recently, a clip from a podcast filmed in Saudi Arabia with Mike Tyson and John Fury, father to current WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, went viral for the inflammatory comments Tyson made.

Mike Tyson believes his former promoter, Don King, rigged fights for him and against him. The most egregious fix being Tyson’s first pro loss to Buster Douglas in 1990. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Triller)

When John Fury talked about what many believe was a long 10-count given to Buster Douglas in his 1990 fight against Tyson in Tokyo; an uppercut floored Douglas in the eighth round. By the tenth round, Tyson was KO’d for his first loss in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

The Don King Factor

“I remember when he fought Buster Douglas the first time,” John Fury said on the Boxing Arabia podcast. “In one count, he was out. I went mad and smashed a whole bottle,” Fury said about his disgust at Tyson losing.

That’s when Tyson kept it too real on the underground politics of the boxing business.

“Don King did that bulls**t; Don King set me up,” Tyson said. “I never said that before, but it made sense. The 42-1 (odds), I could win this, him and the referee talk that bullsh-t, because I don’t want to tell you what we did before. I’m not going to mention no promoters; there were fights I had where the opponent didn’t know they’re fighting me and the referee.”

“That’s just how it went: people are betting, the odds, they got ahold of the referee; they’re fighting me and the referee,” Tyson added. “I don’t know, the guy don’t even know then I found out later what’s going on … and then they did it to me.”

Throughout his meteoric rise, promoter Don King and Mike Tyson were inseparable in the public’s mind until Tyson accused King of defrauding him out of millions of dollars. Tyson eventually filed a $100 million lawsuit against King in 1998 and received $14 million when they settled out of court.