Ex-champ Douglas knows opponents well

      The weigh-in for the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson bout for the World Boxing Association heavyweight championship was about to begin Thursday, and commotion ruled the hour in Studio B at the MGM Grand.
      Media were scurrying everywhere, fans were carrying on, and a phalanx of television cameras larger than the armies of some countries lined the back of the huge ballroom. One was a crew from ESPN, which was broadcasting the weigh-in live.
      A middle-aged woman stared at one of the reporters, who was trim and athletic looking.
      "Didn't he used to be a fighter?" she asked a bystander hesitatingly.
      How soon they forget. Buster Douglas was the first conqueror of Mike Tyson, accomplishing the feat 6 1/2 years before Holyfield did it last Nov. 9.
      Douglas has a unique perspective for Saturday's highly anticipated rematch since he is one of only six men who has fought both fighers.
      Douglas attended the first Holyfield-Tyson fight and said Holyfield's performance didn't convince his skeptics that he was Tyson's equal. Most dismissed it as a fluke, Douglas said.
      "We were walking through the parking lot, and all of the people were saying, `I know what's going to happen. Mike's going to come back and knock him out and get the title back,'" Douglas said. "It was almost as if the fight never even happened. It was like people thought it was just a workout session."
      Holyfield did exactly what he had to do in the first fight to win, Douglas said. Douglas said he did the same thing in Tokyo when he knocked Tyson out on Feb. 11, 1990 in the 10th round.
      Douglas said Holyfield showed no fear or intimidation, which took away a large part of Tyson's edge.
      "With Mike, you have to stand up to him," Douglas said. "We both matched him tit for tat as far as talent, athletic ability and aggressiveness are concerned. We didn't let Mike do all the punching. We initiated some offense of our own."
      But Douglas expects a vastly different fight Saturday. The one thing that will be the same, in Douglas' opinion, is that each fighter will come out hard and set a quick pace.
      The perception of many is that Tyson's power will be the difference this time, which accounts for him being a 2-1 favorite. Douglas, who has been dropped by both fighters, couldn't say Tyson punched significantly harder than Holyfield.
      "They both punch very hard," said Douglas, who was in the best condition of his life when he defeated Tyson but ballooned well over his fighting weight when he was knocked out in the third round by Holyfield on Oct. 25, 1990. "The circumstances of the fights were different, so it's kind of tough to compare, but you can say this: If they hit you, they can hurt you."
      After the brisk early pace, though, Douglas thinks the fight will settle in and become more of a chess game. And that, he said, figures to lead to a long fight, which is why he said he doesn't expect a knockout.
      "Evander's not going to stray too far from the winning formula that got him the victory in the first fight, but he's going to add just a little something," Douglas said. "Instead of coming with the left jab, he might come with the right hand lead. But I don't think he's going to want to take away from the things that got him the championship.
      "Having said that, I think Mike has watched the films and knows the mistakes he's made. I think it's going to be a technical type of fight, particularly in the second half. I think you'll see it probably go to the scorecards."
      Despite prodding several times, Douglas declines to pick a winner. Finally, however, he relents and says Holyfield will pull out a slim victory.
      When it is suggested to him a Holyfield victory might put him in position for another title shot, he flashed his trademark big white smile.
      "If a (Holyfield victory) is what it's going to take for me to get another kick at it, then that's what I'm rooting for," Douglas said. "And you know how it is anyway when you fight the champion: Sometimes those two or three phantom rounds seem to go to the champion. So, if I have to root for that, I will, 'cause I'd just like to get to that level one more time."