Douglas’ Weight Is Over : Boxing: Underdog champion is 246 pounds for tonight’s defense against Evander Holyfield.

Buster Douglas will defend both his heavyweight championship and his honor here tonight.

You wouldn’t think the man who beat up Mike Tyson for 10 rounds and then knocked him out would have to answer questions about his heart, his courage and his dedication, but that’s the baggage this unlikely champion carries into the ring tonight against Evander Holyfield.

And that’s not the only excess baggage he’ll be toting. He weighed in at 246 pounds Wednesday, far more than the 232-236 most had expected.

Although Douglas will forever be known as the 42-1 shot who dethroned Tyson in Japan last February, he still is having to answer for the night of May 30, 1987, when he suddenly surrendered in a fight he was winning against Tony Tucker.

Lingering questions about Douglas’ drive--confirmed again by his weight Wednesday--and his spotty pre-Tyson record had caused oddsmakers to make the smaller Holyfield as a narrow favorite. It’s one of the few times in this century that the challenger has been favored against a heavyweight champion.

Several other aspects of this matchup merit close inspection:

--Can a small heavyweight stand up to a big one?

--Did Holyfield take too much punishment getting to this, his first championship opportunity?

--Can this fight, with so much money at stake--$24,075,000 for Douglas, $8,025,000 for Holyfield--live up to expectations?

Those favoring Douglas lean on the boxing cliche that big men beat up little men, other factors being roughly equal. Douglas, at 6-feet-4 and 230 1/2 when he won the championship, is the third-biggest heavyweight champion. Only Primo Carnera, 6-5 3/4 and 270, and Jess Willard, 6-6 and 245, were both taller and heavier when they won or defended heavyweight titles.

Douglas’ trainer, J. D. McCauley, has said: “Holyfield is going to find out Thursday night what the difference is between a big heavyweight and a little one, and he won’t like it.”

McCauley, in Douglas’ corner the day he beat Tyson, dismisses the criticism of those who say Douglas gained too much weight in the eight months he has been champion. “Buster’s the kind of guy who gains weight just walking by a restaurant,” he said. “But he took it off. He weighed 260 when he went into training for the Tyson fight. He’s in great shape, believe me.”

Holyfield, a bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics at 178 pounds, is a superbly conditioned athlete who has methodically added muscle to his 6-2 frame through one of the most sophisticated weight and exercise training programs ever seen in boxing. Holyfield had bulked up to cruiserweight, 195 pounds, by 1986 and had, by mid-1988, leveled off to about a 210-pound heavyweight with a statuesque, sculptured upper body rising over skinny legs. He weighed in at 208 Wednesday.

So is he a manufactured heavyweight or a big cruiserweight? The jury is hung here. At times, he has seemed to possess the power in his busy punching style to stop anyone. When he knocked out Brazilian Adilson Rodrigues, a 220-pounder, with one punch, Rodrigues’ unconscious form vibrated on the canvas.

But Holyfield also landed torrid shots in every round against Michael Dokes and Alex Stewart. Dokes finally fell in the 10th round. Stewart never did go down, losing on a cut.

Moreover, in both fights, Holyfield took more punishment than some fighters do in a career. He hasn’t been knocked down since he was a 16-year-old amateur welterweight, though, and unlike Douglas, Holyfield’s bravery in combat has never been questioned. For Holyfield to lose, they take him out of the ring feet first, many have said.

When hurt by either Dokes or Stewart, in by far his two toughest fights, Holyfield simply raised his intensity, rather than back down.

By contrast, critics have never forgiven Douglas for his performance against Tucker in 1987. In a fight for the vacant International Boxing Federation heavyweight title, Douglas was ahead on all cards when he seemed to tire. Tucker drove him to the ropes with a flurry of punches. Douglas covered up, failing to punch back, and the fight was stopped.

After that, even relatives asked him when he was going to forget about boxing.

It was largely because of that performance that he went off at 42-1 against Tyson. When he won the championship that afternoon in Tokyo, Douglas said he understood the criticism after the Tucker debacle.

“I can’t blame any of you (reporters) for anything you said about me after that fight because you could only go by what you saw, and what you saw that night was not the real Buster Douglas,” he said.

Douglas blamed personal problems for hindering his preparation in his four losses: against Tucker, David Bey, Mike White and Jesse Ferguson. His record is 30-4-1, but 7-0 since Tucker. This matchup appears to be a good one for style, one that should result in an exciting, free-swinging punch-out, given Holyfield’s aggressiveness and Douglas’ unquestioned hitting power.

But this is also one of the richest prize fights. With so much money at stake, some free-swingers have been known to veer into the slow lane and pursue a safety-first fight. Roberto Duran made nearly everyone unhappy by spending an evening here last year against Ray Leonard basically keeping his chin hidden.

Against Tyson, with nothing to lose, Douglas fought with abandon and aggressiveness. But he’s really fighting for two more bouts tonight. His two-fight deal with Mirage owner Steve Wynn is worth $60 million, contingent upon beating Holyfield.

If he does, he gets Tyson in early 1991 for $36 million. And if Holyfield wins tonight, he’s looking at either $19 million for a bout with George Foreman or a mandatory defense against Tyson for roughly the same purse.

In 1984, John Johnson, a former Ohio State graduate assistant football coach under Woody Hayes, took over as Douglas’ manager. Douglas was 21-2 and had just been stopped by Mike White. Further, Douglas was an emotional wreck, having just fired his father, Bill Douglas, as his trainer.

Johnson and Douglas had their first manager-fighter meeting in Johnson’s living room, and Johnson recalls it this way:

“I put a paper plate in front of Buster that had nothing on it, and I said to him: ‘Right now, that’s what we got, partner. But if you work very hard, that plate will contain millions some day.’ ”

TALE OF THE TAPE Heavyweight fight between Buster Douglas and Evander Holyfield to be held tonight in Las Vegas.

DOUGLAS HOLYFIELD 30 years Age 28 years 246 lbs. Weight 208 lbs. 6 ft., 4” Height 6ft., 2” 83” Reach 77” 45” Chest (normal) 43” 47” Chest (expanded) 45” 17” Biceps 16” 14” Forearm 12” 35” Waist 32” 26” Thigh 22” 17” Calf 13” 18” Neck 19” 8” Wrist 7” 13” Fist 12” 11” Ankle 10”

Los Angeles Times