Tommy Morrison

Morrison was born in Gravette, Arkansas. His mother, Diana, was Native American (half Ponca and half Otoe)[4][5] while his father Tim was of mostly Scottish ancestry.[6] Morrison was raised in Delaware County, Oklahoma, spending most of his teenage years in Jay.[7] Morrison's nickname, "The Duke", is based on the claim that he was an alleged grand-nephew, or otherwise distant relative of the Hollywood star John Wayne (né Marion Morrison).[8] and his father urged Tommy to take up the sport at the age of ten. At the age of 13, Morrison's mother used a fake ID and entered her son into fifteen "toughman" contests (the minimum age for contestants was 21). He later told The New York Times that he lost only one of these matches.[9]

After graduating from high school in 1988, Morrison received a football scholarship to Emporia State University, being invited to play for the university team. In the same year, age 19, Morrison won the Regional Heavyweight Title – Kansas City Golden Gloves from Donald Ellis and advanced to the National Golden Gloves in Omaha, Nebraska, where he decisioned Javier Alvarez in the preliminaries, decisioned Warren Williams in the quarterfinals, but lost a split decision to Derek Isaman in the semifinals. Two weeks later, Morrison took part in the Western Olympic trials in Houston, Texas, defeating Robert Hargrove by a 4–1 majority decision in the semifinals, and John Bray by a 5–0 unanimous decision in the finals, and qualifying for the nationals, and garnering the "Outstanding Fighter" award of the tournament. Two weeks after that, fighting out of Republic, Missouri, at the National Olympic Trials in Concord, California, July 6, 1988, Morrison lost a 0–5 unanimous decision to Ray Mercer,[10][11] who went on to win the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics.[12] (They also had a prior match-up scheduled to be held June 16, 1988, at the Felt Forum, New York City,[13] but no further information available on that one as to why it didn't happen.)

As an amateur, Morrison claimed 222 fights (most of which were local match-ups,) with the 1988 Olympic Trials being the top of his amateur career. His amateur record is 202 wins, 20 losses.[14]

Morrison started his professional boxing career on November 10, 1988,[12] with a first-round knockout of William Muhammad in New York City. Three weeks later, he scored another first-round knockout. In 1989, Morrison had 19 wins and no losses, 15 by knockout. In 1989, actor Sylvester Stallone observed one of Morrison's bouts. Stallone arranged a script reading and cast Morrison in the movie Rocky V as Tommy "The Machine" Gunn,[15] a young and talented protege of the retired Rocky Balboa. Morrison took a six-month break from boxing to work on the movie in 1990.[12]

In 1991, Morrison won fights against opponents James Tillis and former world champion Pinklon Thomas. He was given an opportunity to face fellow undefeated fighter Ray Mercer, the WBO title holder in a Pay Per View card held on October 18, 1991. Morrison suffered the first loss of his career, losing by 5th-round knockout.[12]

He had six wins in 1992, including fights with Art Tucker and Joe Hipp, who later became the first Native American to challenge for the world heavyweight title. In the Hipp fight, held June 19, 1992, Morrison was suffering from what was later discovered to be a broken hand and broken jaw, but rallied to score a knockout in the ninth round. After two wins in 1993, including one over two-time world title challenger Carl "The Truth" Williams, Morrison found himself fighting for the WBO title again, against heavyweight boxing legend George Foreman, who was himself making a comeback.

Morrison chose to avoid brawling with Foreman and spent the fight boxing from long range. He was able to hit and move effectively in this manner, and after a closely contested bout he won a unanimous 12-round decision and the WBO title.[16]

Morrison's first title defense was scheduled against Mike Williams, but when Williams withdrew on the night of the fight, Tim Tomashek stood in as a replacement. Although Tomashek had been prepared to fight as a backup plan, some news reports created the impression that he had just been pulled out of the crowd.[17] The WBO later rescinded their sanctioning of this fight due to Tomashek's lack of experience. Almost immediately, talks of a fight with WBC champion Lennox Lewis began, but were halted when virtually unknown Michael Bentt upset Morrison in his next bout. Bentt knocked Morrison down three times, and the fight was stopped in the first round in front of a live HBO Boxing audience.[18] Morrison recovered by winning three bouts in a row in 1994, but his last fight of the year, against Ross Puritty, ended with a draw.[19]

Morrison won three fights in 1995 before meeting former #1 contender Razor Ruddock. Ruddock dropped Morrison to his knees in the first round, but Morrison recovered to force a standing count in round two and compete on even terms for five rounds. In the sixth round, Ruddock hurt Morrison with a quick combination, but just as it seemed Morrison was in trouble, he countered with a tremendous hook that put Ruddock on the canvas. Ruddock regained his feet, but Morrison drove him to the ropes and showered him with an extended flurry of blows. Just as the bell was about to sound, the referee stepped in and declared Morrison the winner by TKO.[20]

The much-anticipated fight with Lewis, who had also lost his world championship, finally took place following the Ruddock match. Morrison was knocked out in the sixth round.[21]

At one point in 1996, Morrison was married to two women at the same time: Dawn Freeman and Dawn Gilbert. Morrison had one child by age 19.[22] Tommy and Trisha Morrison were engaged in 2009 and married in 2011.

In August 2013, Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN.com reported that Morrison's mother Diana said that Tommy had "full-blown AIDS" and was "in his final days." She also stated that Morrison had been bedridden for over a year. The same article also stated that Morrison's wife, Trisha, did not believe Morrison had AIDS.[36][37]

On September 1, 2013, Morrison died at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 44.[38] According to the Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services, Morrison's cause of death was cardiac arrest, resulting from multiorgan failure due to septic shock caused by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection.[39]

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Tommy Morrison from BoxRec
• Tommy Morrison Fight-by-Fight Career Record at About.com
• Tommy Morrison on IMDb