James 'Buster' Douglas

Former world heavyweight boxing champion James "Buster" Douglas is best known for his shocking defeat of Mike Tyson in 1990. Buster recently spoke with TheCelebrityCafe's Alyssa DellaCamera about his role in one of sports biggest upsets in history, the struggles of being a diabetic, and the release of his new cookbook, Buster's Backyard Bar-B-Q: Knockout Diabetes Diet. Co-writer Tony Reynolds also joined in on the conversation.

Alyssa DellaCamera: Many people consider your defeat of Mike Tyson in 1990 one of the biggest, if not the biggest upset in sports history. How does it feel when you think about it now, nearly 20 years later?

Buster Douglas: It's an awesome accomplishment. I really feel good about it because I put a lot of work into being a contender and working my way to the title shot and once succeeding, it was a great feeling of achievement.

AD: Does it really feel like almost 20 years have passed?

BD: No, it doesn't, but it has. I remember starting my career when I lived back home. I look back to where I started with the support of my mother and father, and my dad introducing me to the sport because he was a professional fighter—he was an accomplished professional. He was a contender in the middleweight and the light heavyweight division. The trials that I went through—I look back and say well, you know, it was a day that my dad did it really. When he left off to go professional he was trying to get me to hook up with his manager. He would hook up with his manager on connecting flights and then they would fly to the cities or wherever they fought at together. That was emotional. When we would fight people would come in and you know, support. To me it was like a little bit of moral support on my end because he did it solo. My dad's real important to me. He was always fighting in the enemy's territory so he had a lot to deal with. I admired him for that.

AD: The US soccer team's recent upset over Spain in the Confederation Cup seems to have brought your fight against Tyson back to memory. Many sports writers have been comparing the two events. What are your thoughts on this comparison?

BD: Like I said it's a great accomplishment being a big underdog and coming through with a victory. They always come back and say well, that's like the Buster Douglas-Mike Tyson fight and that's great. I mean, you can't feel any better about that. It's pretty nice being compared to a lot of big upsets.

Tony Reynolds: Just this last weekend Buster tossed out the coin for the Major League Soccer for the champs when they won their MLS rings—the Columbus Crew. Buster's name was used in the 2007 or 2008 ESPY awards as well in the 2008 Super Bowl, the last Super Bowl, and the NBA Playoffs. Every time it's the same thing, it's: "This is gonna be like with Buster Douglas." So he's become synonymous with underdog.

AD: Although your fight against Tyson might be your most famous one, I understand that you've also been engaged in a longer-term battle against diabetes, one that nearly took your life 15 years ago. Can you tell me about your experiences dealing with this condition?

BD: Before I came back I can remember after losing the title I really went into a real deep depression and started being abusive to alcohol and food and just really being down in the dumps because so much was happening so fast during that time. There was the passing of my mom and I was just going through a lot and I really wasn't sure what was going on with me internally. I was just keeping it all within. Then going into that diabetic coma and coming out of it and then realizing I had to deal with the diabetes—that really was an eye-opener because I definitely hit a wall. I feel blessed to be able to come back and do things now, continue to enjoy my life, and my family, and do the things that I'm doing. Coming out with the Buster's Backyard Bar-B-Q cookbook came into effect and it's really been good for me.

AD: How did you overcome all of those problems? Was there a significant moment in which you decided to focus on getting healthy again?

BD: I came to a point in my life when I realized there was no point to my life and I wasn't ready to expire. That's when the fighter in me came out. I was going to turn my life around because coming out of the coma I was looking up into the ceiling and looking at all these doctors looking down at me scratching their heads, like "Wow, this is amazing. This can't be the same guy." It was like well, okay, I've gotten a second chance. Since then I've started to eat right, just being more positive, and refuse to allow myself to go back to that low point again. I feel blessed that I was able to come out of that and now I'm just continuing to fight to survive and do the right things.

AD: Since going into the diabetic coma and being diagnosed in 1994, can you describe how the disease has affected your day-to-day life?

BD: It was a drastic change, an ultimate, immediate change where I could eat and do whatever I wanted to do and it was a big adjustment because at one time it was like it didn't matter—I wasn't allergic to anything and I could do whatever I wanted and do as I pleased. Then to have to monitor everything as far as your eating habits and your blood-sugar levels—I mean I went in the doctor's office and could hardly even see. It was amazing that I had even made it—I drove to the doctor's office and I'll tell you it was like a lot of the time it was like instinctive. That's when I had to start wearing glasses and that was a big change.

It was totally flipped. My life had flipped over again—from being a contender to world champion, everybody knowing who you are and what you're doing, then going to the bottom, almost leaving the earth, and coming back and then having to deal with diabetes, having to change your entire lifestyle. So it's been a whirlwind, but now I've got a great hold on it and that's why I share my experiences.

AD: Can you tell me a little bit about the cookbook you recently co-wrote?

BD: What I can tell you about it is there are some great recipes in there. Since I became what is now a full-fledged diabetic, a lot of the recipes that I was turned toward to weren't very tasty, and that brought this on. Some of my favorite recipes and some of Tony's dad's favorite recipes—we just combined them and put them in a cookbook, and that's what we came up with: Buster's Backyard Bar-B-Q Knockout Diabetes Diet.

AD: What was the specific inspiration behind the book and what did you hope to accomplish through writing it?

BD: I was just helping people deal with diabetes because my personal experience with it was that a lot of the foods I was being turned on to weren't as tasty as regular foods because of the sugars. It's just something that we've created that has inspired better tasting meals. It makes it easier to deal with it.

AD: What kind of feedback have you received on the book thus far?

BD: Very positive—a lot of positive feedback about it and a lot of excitement. It's just a campaign for living right with diabetes and just being very passionate about it. I'm very passionate about it now, I mean being a diabetic is something that I'm growing to learn to deal with and I'm dealing with it the best I can and trying to inspire others to deal with it because it can be a very depressing disease—a lot of dos and don'ts and you've got to always monitor your blood-sugar level. I was always one to grow up not really liking to be poked by a needle—it's a big change and it's amazing that now I do it with no hesitation, you know, sticking myself and testing myself. I'm dealing with it and living a healthier life—dealing with the diabetes in a healthy way and being excited about it. It's just something we have to deal with—face it and deal with it and move on.

AD: Based on this feedback, would you say that the book is living up to your expectations?

BD: Yes, yes it has. It has been exceeding them. I feel better and better every day. I really have a different outlook about life. I really enjoy life and appreciate life even more, every day that I have.

Tony Reynolds: The director of the Memorial Tournament that Tiger Woods won in such dramatic fashion last month tasted our barbeque sauce. He was on a show with us and tasted it and said "Oh my god!" He said, "I'm gonna have to serve this at the Memorial from now on," and he was serious. Also, there's a company that is interested in releasing the brand [of our barbeque sauce] nation-wide in its stores.

BR: Life has really changed and it's a beautiful thing. It's awesome and I'm really excited about the future.

AD: Speaking of the future, after conquering the sport of boxing, diabetes, and most recently, the culinary arts, what can we expect to see from you next?

BD: Just to continue to do positive things no matter what they may be but just to live positively and enjoy life to the fullest. It's just a thing of you never know. You've just got to live it—full of gusto and day-to-day. Be positive. Be positive. That's my philosophy.