The end of a champion's era

This weekend ESPN Classic was dedicated to covering the careers of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. So, all weekend, they showed the professional heavyweight bouts of either boxer. I happened to catch the legendary fight between Mike Tyson and James "Buster" Douglas. Until this bout, Tyson had pretty much had his own way in rising to the top and earning the world heavyweight championship. Knocking out opponents was routine for him and several of them were in fact disposed off in the first round! In this instance however, Buster Douglas was clearly not frightened of Tyson. Tyson never got the chance to deliver one of his infamous uppercuts and Buster Douglas was dominating the proceedings until the 5th round. All along, Tyson had the quiet confidence of a champion. He seemed to believe that all that he needed was to connect an uppercut and he would have added another KO to his record. Tyson finally became a bit desperate in the 7th round and began attacking furiously and even managed to get Buster Douglas to fall to the floor. However, Buster Douglas managed to beat out the count. The commentator was predicting this all along and he was overjoyed that it had finally come true. He now predicted that the bout would be over in the next round. What happened instead was that Buster Douglas came out fighting once again (I mean in spirit; of course they had been fighting all along :-)), connected a left-hand jab and Tyson was down .... and Mike "Iron" Tyson failed to beat the count .... James "Buster" Douglas was the new heavyweight champion of the world that no one expected to be.

Doesn't this whole story draw an eerie resemblance to the ongoing Ashes? When the series began last month, no one gave a chance for the Poms to win (though several, including me, hoped they would). After the Lords Test, Australia had their usual swagger of a champion and though England had put up a decent fight on the first day, everyone thought this is the same old Ashes story. But, England have continued with their aggression over the next 3 Tests and Australia's quiet confidence has been shown to be what it's worth. The Aussies have come out fighting whenever they are thought to be completely down and out, but apart from Ponting's brilliant century at Old Trafford, it has usually come too late. In the first Test, the Aussies were under some pressure after being bowled out cheaply in the first innings and so came out firing to skittle out the English for even less. Since then, England has batted first in the next 3 matches and the Australian bowlers have generously allowed them to post more than 400 on all three occasions. The Aussies have shown zero resolve unless defeat is staring them in the face.

So, even if Australia wins the last Test, the popular opinion would be that it is England who gave it away and the Aussies managed to escape ignominy. Given their performance so far, I don't think they can return home with their invincible image intact. The only question that remains now is whether the remaining teams can capitalize on the psychological battering that the Aussies have suffered? Or, is it just going to be the case now that both England and Australia are way above the rest of the heap? Either way, it is the end of the Aussie era of dominance.

Cheers,
Harsha