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Stephanie Snipes is a senior content producer at Oprah.com who's trading in butter and cream for broccoli and carrots. Follow along as she eats and exercises her way to better health - and a weight loss goal of 100 pounds!
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James "Buster" Douglas
August 27, 2009 7:46 AM
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Something few people know about me is that I used to work in sports television. Not because I necessarily knew anything about sports, but because I had an amazing opportunity to work for a boss I loved. I mean, I'm not ignorant on the topic but I'm also not a girl who's going to sit around talking batting averages either.
So, when I got a call from heavyweight champ Buster Douglas I was pretty impressed. Apparently, he read in my blog that I was doing some boxing with Aaron. What I didn't know about Buster is that after he beat Mike Tyson in 1990 he went into years of overindulgence and depression only to come out victorious in the end. Read his story after the jump…
They said it was impossible. James "Buster" Douglas wasn't supposed to beat Mike Tyson. Douglas was the 42-1 underdog, Tyson the undefeated Heavyweight champ. Add to that the untimely death of Douglas' beloved mother just 23 days prior to the fight and it certainly seemed impossible. He won anyway. On February 10, 1990 Buster Douglas claimed the Heavyweight belt in what is considered one of the most shocking upsets in boxing history. Douglas became an instant celebrity, but it didn't last long. "It was like, just as fast as you go up it's as fast to come down," Douglas says. Eight months after defeating Tyson, Douglas lost the belt to Evander Holyfield. That's when the true fight of his life began. Though the outside world saw a happy successful athlete, inside Douglas was mourning the loss of his mother. "I had my kids around me and my family, but I was still depressed," he says. That's when he turned to food and alcohol. "I was drinking in the mornings, and all throughout the day," he says. "It helped ease the pain." Over the next few years Douglas gained 200 pounds. He started experiencing bouts of dizziness and blurry vision. While driving he often couldn't make out street signs. "I'd be like, 'God, I really need to get my eyes checked," he says. In 1994, after years of unhealthy behavior, things took a turn. "I remember one day my wife was hollering at me, telling me to get up, to go into the car," Douglas says. "I remember riding down the street a little bit and I guess I blacked out. When I woke up I was in the emergency room." Douglas fell into a coma that lasted three days. When he woke he learned he was a diabetic. "For those four or five years my life was just spiraling out of control," he says. "Basically, I was like, 'Okay, I know what I've got to do to get back in the game of life." When he left the hospital, Douglas called his old trainer. They started to walk, go to the gym and lift weights. Slowly his strength returned and the weight started to fall off. He also changed his diet. In his book, Buster's Backyard Bar-B-Q he shares his recipes for diabetes friendly barbecue sauce and pork chops. "I fire up the grill," he says. "It's my favorite." Douglas now lives a healthy lifestyle – keeping his weight and diabetes in check. Though he retired from boxing in 1998 he still has something to fight for. "Every step you achieve, every goal that you reach you just feel better," he says. "My advice [for others] would be to exercise instead of wallowing in sorrow and grief." |
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