BoxRec

speaking of tommy... i was the one who started this thread... and i met him today at the airport in knoxville tennessee i work at.. was pretty cordial with me...not bad guy, but looked rough... kinda sad in a way

Crease wrote:Tommy Morrison is one of my favourite fighters to watch.

Yes, Morrison was entertaining, good value.

IMO, the manner he lost to Ray Mercer left him mentally broken. He not only got KO'd, but he got a Knocked out brutally! He took punishment there was no need for him to take from Mercer.

Back in 1995/1996, I remember Morrison wanted to fight Tyson. He would have taken out in One!

Chin, lack of defense, stamina. Those things will hurt you.

Rocky Balboa wrote:IMO, the manner he lost to Ray Mercer left him mentally broken. He not only got KO'd, but he got a Knocked out brutally! He took punishment there was no need for him to take from Mercer.

While I agree he took WAY more than he should have from Mercer, I just don't buy it that somehow that fight left him mentally broken. These guys are fighters and most who rise to the heights that Morrison did are capable of dealing with losses, even brutal ones. After all, arguably his most significant win occured almost 2 years after the Mercer loss.

Not sure if he was in a position where he had to fight Mercer at that particular time but that is a fight he should have avoided. Or his manager should have. Mercer, of course, was a devastating counter puncher and Tommy's style was made to order for him. Also, I think Tommy took him a little bit lightly as Mercer looked so small next to him. He probably could have handled Mercer a couple of years later. It was a real heart breaker and a horrifying KO. Just glad Tommy wasn't permanently injured.

demertens wrote:Not sure if he was in a position where he had to fight Mercer at that particular time but that is a fight he should have avoided. Or his manager should have. Mercer, of course, was a devastating counter puncher and Tommy's style was made to order for him. Also, I think Tommy took him a little bit lightly as Mercer looked so small next to him. He probably could have handled Mercer a couple of years later. It was a real heart breaker and a horrifying KO. Just glad Tommy wasn't permanently injured.

In retrospect, all these years later it may seem like Morrison was thrown to the wolves against Mercer, but you've got to recall that this was the same Mercer who'd looked pedestrian mixing with the likes of Kimmuel Odum & was life & death with Ozzie Ocasio & Bert Cooper. So, the match up was seen as an even one. Tommy may have evgen been a slight favorite going into it.
And, as we all saw, had Mercer had anything remotely like a human chin, Morrison would have likely knocked him spark out that night. But, the "Merciless" one was revealed to be sporting a piece of granite in his beard & he outlasted an overconfident, out of gas Tommy in the fifth with an absolutely brutal volly of KO blows.
Of just the sort that that would have ruined most young fighters physically, mentally & emotionally. But, full credit to Morrison, he rebounded from it well & went onto a most successfull career.

Wasnt Morrison well ahead on the cards going into the Fifth round?
How can they be called a one-sided fight then?

Brutu, I believe this to be a sort of selective revisionist recollection on most people's parts regarding the fight. All most of them seem to recall is the KO, not the four rounds which preceeded it which Morrison overwhelmingly swept the first three of.

Goodnight, Irene wrote:

tennesseeboy wrote:what was tommys major downfall? i have watched a lot of fights of this guy and i thought he had major skills and quickness for a big man.... i guess his downfall was his chin.. but what other things could tommy have done better?

Could you elaborate on the phrase, "major skills?"

He had the skills to beat Foreman.

IMOP?His downfall probably due to drinkin too much beer and whiskey,smokin reefer and being knee-deep in pu*sy,while he was still an active fighter.

Tommy's problem imho wasnt his chin, but his outside the ring choices. Drugs, groupies, personal issues, made Morrison inconsistent at the most inopprotune times.

keithmoonhangover wrote:He had the skills to beat Foreman.

But maybe not the power... Or the chin.

HomicideHenry wrote:Tommy's problem imho wasnt his chin, but his outside the ring choices. Drugs, groupies, personal issues, made Morrison inconsistent at the most inopprotune times.

That's about the size of it. I know a guy who went to school with him. What happened to his comeback, anyway?

x2x wrote:

HomicideHenry wrote:Tommy's problem imho wasnt his chin, but his outside the ring choices. Drugs, groupies, personal issues, made Morrison inconsistent at the most inopprotune times.

That's about the size of it. I know a guy who went to school with him. What happened to his comeback, anyway?

Uh, as much as I hate to say it because I was a big Morrison fan back in the day & we got along great when I was working fights & met him in AC in '90, his comeback in '08 was obviously rigged.
Not the fights, but the bloodtests he took in order to get licensed.
I don't know how they doctoredd them, but it's clear they did because his former manager admitted to it after he was let go & suddenly the gig was up. Comeback over & Tommy disappeared again.
Oh, he did have that MMA fight on Native American land & one final boxing match that was unsanctioned & reportedly a work. Then he disappeared.
A sad end to his career IMO.

Too bad.

There's some stuff on his current activities on Wikipedia:

"In 2010 Washington State Commission issued Morrison with a professional boxers license. WA State Commission confirmed that Greg Sirb and Tim Lueckenhoff of the ABC Commission were intervening with upcoming fights. Morrison continues to request copies of any 1996 blood test results. The Lab, the doctor and the commission have all stated that they do not have them. 2011 Morrison has been invited to fight in Montreal..."

"2010 Morrison visits MMA Clubs to teach seminars on the art of using the hands in MMA."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Morrison

Mercer, Morrison return Feb 25, 2011

By Dave Spencer / Fightnews Canada

Almost twenty years after they squared as a pair of undefeated fighters for the WBO heavyweight world championship in 1991, veterans Ray “Merciless” Mercer and Tommy “The Duke” Morrison will share the same ring in a pair of separate bouts scheduled for February 25th in Montreal. Newly formed SP Promotions is certainly stirring the pot and bringing back names long since forgotten as it travels back in time and is resurrecting names either recently or long since forgotten. Also joining the senior circuit will be two-time world title challenger Joe Gatti, brother of Arturo and over eight years removed from his last fight. Gatti who is 43 years-old is scheduled to meet Walid Smichet who at 31 and also recently retired qualifies as a young buck amongst most of the night’s combatants. Continued »
January 11th, 2011


http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/mercer- ... b-25-72070

www.boxingnewsnow.com

tells a different story, where Morrison is fighting some bum in yet another weak commissioned state.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWEyUBHR ... re=related in this video at 8.32 it shows tommy boxing ray mercer in the amateurs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_TIS6iEEdU sad to see him now

Of topic, sort of.


After he retired, Tommy trained a female boxer (I believe from Texas). I saw her fight one televised match. The reason why i remembered her was that apart from boxing, she was also a competitor of the "Worlds Strongest Women" contests. Did anything ever happen to her career?

Rocky Balboa wrote:

Crease wrote:Tommy Morrison is one of my favourite fighters to watch.

Yes, Morrison was entertaining, good value.

IMO, the manner he lost to Ray Mercer left him mentally broken. He not only got KO'd, but he got a Knocked out brutally! He took punishment there was no need for him to take from Mercer.

Back in 1995/1996, I remember Morrison wanted to fight Tyson. He would have taken out in One!

yes he was gunna fight tyson the contract was done the fight made than he found out he had h.i.v

matko wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_TIS6iEEdU sad to see him now

Man that is sad, he looks really ill, like an old man. What's the story with him now, does he had HIV or not, I keep reading different things?

Controversial wrote:Man that is sad, he looks really ill, like an old man. What's the story with him now, does he had HIV or not, I keep reading different things?

Everyone has been reading the same stories... He tested positive for HIV 3 times, didn't he?
Then later he took tests and apparently he never had it at all.

There ismsomething very fishy about the whole thing.

Crease wrote:

Controversial wrote:Man that is sad, he looks really ill, like an old man. What's the story with him now, does he had HIV or not, I keep reading different things?

Everyone has been reading the same stories... He tested positive for HIV 3 times, didn't he?
Then later he took tests and apparently he never had it at all.

There ismsomething very fishy about the whole thing.

Yeah definitely, he certainly looks very gaunt and has lost a lot of weight, for a 42 year old who was in great shape he has certainly had a big physical demise.