Tommy Morrison: The Former Champ Has Died

It's being reported that former heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison has died. I always liked the fighting style of Tommy "The Duke" Morrison. I'd planned to take a look back at his career late last month, and in honor of his passing that's what we're going to do.

http://bleacherreport.com/tb/db96R?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=boxing


                                                                 Tommy Morrison
won 48 (KO 42) + lost 3 (KO 3) + drawn 1 = 52
rounds boxed 172 KO% 80.77  

 

  

Tommy burst onto the boxing scene in the late 1980's. His manager Bill Cayton was the former manager of Mike Tyson. There was little doubt that he saw similarities between the two. Mike Tyson had better defense and probably more power in both hands. Their paths would have more than likely crossed at some point, but Tyson lost his undisputed championship in 1990 to Buster Douglas, and Morrison would suffer his first lost one year later to Ray Mercer.  

 Ray Mercer had knocked out Tommy in the most brutal fashion. He'd win ten fights over two years and win the vacant heavyweight championship against George Foreman. His second loss came to Michael Bentt in 1993.  Tommy Morrison had a left hook that could knockout anyone. His left was compared to that of Joe Frazier, but many of those who'd seen both said Tommy's was harder.

 Lennox Lewis vs. Tommy Morrison  




    
 Tommy Morrison has always been one of my favorite fighters. In the fight with Lennox Lewis he was over matched, but he still put up a good fight. Lewis had gotten to him often and early. With an injured eye it was only a matter of time before Lennox defeated him. It was the last time that Tommy would compete for a heavyweight title belt.