TOKYO: When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated around the world.

Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990.

Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery.

The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just the second man to become undisputed world champion at two different weights since the four-belt era began in 2004. American Terence Crawford was the first.

But Inoue faces a stern test against the 29-year-old Nery, a former two-division world champion.

Inoue will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson, who arrived in Tokyo more than three decades ago with an aura of invincibility.

“Tyson’s status at that time was of being this godlike, completely unbeatable heavyweight,” James Sterngold, who reported on the fight for the New York Times, told AFP.

“He was really one of a kind — he was up on a pedestal that only a small number of athletes can occupy.”

Tyson was expected to win so easily that Sterngold, a news reporter based in Tokyo, was asked to cover the fight because the New York Times did not want to send a specialist boxing writer “halfway around the world for 90 seconds.”

Veteran Japanese boxing writer Shoji Tsue, who has covered the sport for 50 years, was also expecting a quick win for Tyson, even after seeing the American knocked down by sparring partner Greg Page in training.

“Everyone thought that because Tyson was Tyson, there was no way he would lose, no matter what happened,” said Tsue.

Tyson’s autobiography said he had been too busy partying to prepare properly for Douglas, who had an unspectacular win-loss-draw record of 29-4-1 (19 KOs).

Sterngold interviewed Tyson in his hotel room days before the fight and found him wrapped in a bedsheet watching martial arts movies.

“He seemed like he didn’t really care,” said Sterngold. “He clearly wasn’t in a revved-up frame of mind.”

The fight began at lunchtime and Tsue said the Tokyo Dome was “surprisingly quiet,” with fans anticipating another Tyson demolition job.

But Douglas began to control the fight, and although he was knocked down in the eighth, he got up and sent Tyson sprawling to the canvas two rounds later.

The world heavyweight champion failed to beat the count, with those watching trying to make sense of what they had just seen.

“I was sitting in the press seats closest to the ring, and Tyson went down right in front of me,” said Tsue.

“My heart was thumping. I wondered if it was possible that something like this could even happen?“

The drama was not over as promoter Don King rushed to reporters and tried to convince them that Tyson had not lost.

“He told us that we shouldn’t file stories because it was not a knockout, that the ref had miscounted and that King had already affirmed that it was going to be overturned,” said Sterngold.

“This story was very fishy, but it added to the drama.”

King failed to have the result thrown out and Tyson never regained his superhuman status.

Monday’s crowd at the Tokyo Dome will expect Inoue to maintain his perfect record against Nery, but he will be wary of suffering the same fate as Tyson.

Nery said the choice of venue could be an omen.

“If Mike Tyson can lose his unbeaten record there, then so can Naoya Inoue,” Nery said recently at his training camp.

Tsue predicted a Inoue victory but warned that the Mexican, who has a 35-1 record with 27 KOs, was capable of an upset.

Inoue was, he said, the right man to bring boxing back to the historic stadium.

“There hadn’t been any boxers who would have been a good fit for a match at the Tokyo Dome before,” said Tsue.

“And if Inoue wasn’t around, there wouldn’t be any world title fights at the Tokyo Dome for a while yet.”

DHAHRAN: The 10th Saudi Film Festival will begin May 2 at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran.  

This year’s eight-day event — organized by the Cinema Society in partnership with Ithra and with support from the Ministry of Culture — will feature 76 film screenings and 53 titles vying for 36 awards. The red carpet will be rolled out on both opening and closing nights, with filmmakers, actors and film buffs in attendance. There will be workshops and book signings and, of course, the opportunity for filmmakers from the Kingdom and the wider region to come together. 

The festival will open with “Underground,” a feature-length documentary by Saudi director Abdulrahman Sandokji about the Kingdom’s music industry. 

Festival director Ahmed Al-Mulla said at a press conference: “This event is fast developing into a must-attend festival across the GCC film community. This year’s 10th edition is shaping up to be the biggest and best yet.” 

“We have come a long way over the past decade and are pleased to see Saudi Film Festival’s importance and popularity across the region’s film community growing each passing year,” added SFF vice president, Mansour Al-Badran. “(It) has become a portal for cultural exchange and exploration, providing an avenue for cultural openness for the Kingdom and building bridges beyond borders for new programs and experiences.” 

The festival’s colorful history — back to its debut in 2008 — will be on display at the Cinema Society’s “Saudi Encyclopedia of Cinema,” which includes 20 books covering all aspects of film.  

This year’s edition has two main themes: Indian cinema and sci-fi films. The Spotlight on Indian Cinema program will explore India’s rich film industry beyond Bollywood and showcase Indian indie movies, which rarely get the chance to run in the Gulf region. Practical workshops and cultural seminars will be included for both the main themes, as well as programming designed especially for children.  

The Plaza at Ithra will bring the future to the present by providing a Virtual Production Experience (NeoCyb) experience. Combining live-action film with digital environments or elements in real-time, virtual production uses advanced technologies such as real-time rendering engines and motion-capture to create immersive virtual environments that performers can interact with, enabling filmmakers to visualize and capture scenes with complex visual effects more efficiently and cost-effectively, by reducing the need for extensive post-production work. 

And speaking of production, the festival also includes a production market where people can meet up to work towards a common goal: making more movies. Filmmakers, producers, funders — and those seeking funding — will be present. The market is designed, the organizers say “to enhance the film industry in Saudi Arabia by encouraging collaboration between artists, producers, and investors in the cinema industry.” 

A total of 53 features, shorts and documentaries, nominated by the festival’s technical committee, will compete for 36 prizes at this year’s SFF. They will be displayed at the festival in three categories: the Film Competition, the Unexecuted Screenplay Competition, and the Production Market Projects Competition.  

There will also be a new category of prizes up for grabs: The Golden Palm, which will be presented to the best Saudi documentary about the environment as well as a second-place award for the best animated short film on the topic. 

On the sidelines of all the high-profile screenings, the festival also includes a myriad of activities for film professionals, including 10 training workshops, two of which will focus on production market participants and short- and long-scenario development. There will also be a symposium and a total of 13 masterclasses covering a wide range of topics. More details are available on Ithra’s website. 

SFF will also continue to celebrate the achievements of film pioneers in the Kingdom and the Gulf region. This year, the festival will honor Saudi actor Abdulmohsen Al-Nemer, who hails from nearby Al-Ahsa.  

Al-Nemer has starred in numerous films over his decades-long career, including “The Sun” (1990), “Shadows of Silence” (2006), “Thobe: The Wedding” (2016) and “Long Road” (2022). 

He also starred in last year’s award-winning “Hajjan,” an Ithra Film Production that premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and recently took home three awards at the Gulf Film Festival including Best Feature, Best Actor and Best Cinematography. 

The festival will also honor Syrian director, Mohammad Malas, whose work has often been banned in his homeland but is recognized as one of his country’s leading auteurs. His documentary about Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, shot in the Eighties, “Al-Manam” was awarded first prize at the first International Documentary Festival in France in 1987.