The Last Great Fight

“Layden restores the [Mike Tyson-Buster Douglas] fight to its rightful place in sports legend . . . This is the best boxing book in the last 25 years.” —Allen Barra, sports columnist, The Wall Street Journal, and author of Mickey and Willie

It is considered by many to be the biggest upset in the history of boxing: James “Buster” Douglas knocked out then-undefeated Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson in the 10th round in 1990 when the dominating and intimidating Tyson was considered invincible.

The Last Great Fight takes readers not only behind the scenes of this epic battle, but inside the lives of two men, their ambitions, their dreams, the downfall of one and the rise of another.

Using his exclusive interviews with both boxers Tyson and Douglas, family members, the referee, the cutmen, trainers and managers to the commentators and HBO staff covering the fight in Tokyo, Joe Layden has crafted a human drama played out on a large stage. This is a compelling tale of shattered dreams and, ultimately, redemption.

“Boxing fans will want to add The Last Great Fight to the vast collection of great books on the Sweet Science, from Hemingway to A. J. Liebling to Norman Mailer.” —Los Angeles Times

“With rich detail and robust prose, Joe Layden’s account of Tyson-Douglas doesn’t merely re-create the most unthinkable upset in boxing annals. It takes you into the corners, the locker rooms, the minds of the two protagonists, producing revelations that arrive in combinations and a story that packs a heavyweight punch.” —Wayne Coffey, New York Times-bestselling author of The Boys of Winter

“Prose as crisp as a Sugar Ray Robinson jab.” —The Denver Post