was seeing this young Japanese girl who I had had sex with the last time I was in Japan. Robin [his wife] would go out shopping and I would go downstairs to the back of the hotel where this young girl had a room... So that was my training for Douglas.”

Tyson was nonchalant about the fight but he was determined to make the weight. Having arrived in Japan 30 pounds too heavy, he had bet King that he could slim down on time. On the eve of the fight, he weighed in at a respectable 220 pounds, pocketed his bonus and looked to make merry: “The day before the fight I also had two maids at the same time. And then two more girls, one at a time,of me.”

While Tyson asked himself if he had become bigger than Jesus, Douglas set about making some money. He eschewed the rematch with Tyson and instead picked up $24m for fighting Evander Holyfield. Tyson has always maintained that, while Douglas boxed manfully in Tokyo, his victory was essentially a fluke. Douglas seemed intent on proving him right when he faced Holyfield.

The fight was over within three rounds. Douglas sucked up punches for the first two rounds without throwing anything of note. Then he hit Holyfield with a decent shot at the start of the third, became a little too giddy and started going after shots. Midway through the round he threw a sluggish uppercut that only succeeded in throwing himself off balance and giving Holyfield a shot. The