Tommy David Morrison (January 2, 1969, Jay, Oklahoma) is a heavyweight boxer, and the former World Boxing Organization champion. Dubbed "The Duke", he is a grandnephew of Hollywood star John Wayne. ^[1] is the 2nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Jay is a city located in Delaware County, Oklahoma. ... For the mixed martial arts division of the same name, see Heavyweight (MMA). ... For other senses of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ... The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is a sanctioning organization currently recognizing professional boxing world champions. ... ... For other persons named John Wayne, see John Wayne (disambiguation). ...

Boxing Career

Morrison is often mentioned as one of the hardest hitting heavyweights of the 1990s. He was also well known for having a weak chin. As a result, his career has been full of spectacular knockouts, both in victory and defeat. In boxing, a chin refers to a boxers ability to tolerate punishment in the face without being knocked out. ...

Morrison started his professional boxing career on November 10, 1988, with a first-round knockout of William Muhammad in New York City. Three weeks later, he scored another first-round knockout of a fellow journeyman. is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

In 1989, Morrison had 19 wins, 15 by knockout. Among the fighters he defeated were former Mike Tyson opponents Lorenzo Boyd,Dan Maloney, Dave Jaco and Lorenzo Canady, as well as former George Foreman opponents Steve Zouski and Ken Lakusta. A boxer is knocked down and receives the 10-count. ... Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is a former American world heavyweight boxing champion and is the youngest man to have won a world heavyweight title. ... Dan Maloney (born September 24, 1950, Barrie, Ontario) is a former left winger in the NHL and former NHL coach. ... George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American two-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. ...

Morrison's biggest breakthrough, however, came in 1989, when Sylvester Stallone was a spectator at one of his bouts and realized Morrison would be ideal for Rocky V. Stallone arranged for Morrison to have a script reading, and cast Morrison as Tommy Gunn in the movie. While Morrison did win two fights in 1990, it was when Rocky V was released in December of that year that he gained mainstream popularity. Sylvester Stallone (born Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone on July 6, 1946) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. ... Rocky V is the fifth film in the Rocky film saga. ... Tommy The Machine Gunn is a fictional character from the film Rocky V. He is played by professional boxer Tommy Morrison. ...

In 1991, Morrison, already the recipient of much television exposure, won four fights against opponents the caliber of former Larry Holmes world title challenger and Tyson opponent James Quick 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. For four rounds, Morrison fought impressively, dominating Mercer with hard, sharply-thrown combinations. Unfortunately for Morrison, Mercer possessed one of the sturdiest chins of that era of the heavyweight division, and Morrison's best punches had little effect. By the end of round four, Morrison, whose previous fights had primarily ended in early-round knockouts, began to visibly tire. In round five, Mercer sensed Morrison's fatigue and opened up with some offensive punches of his own. He trapped Morrison on the ropes and landed a series of damaging unanswered blows. Morrison slowly slid down the ropes to the canvas, already unconcious as Mercer continued to punch him. The knockout is considered one of the most brutal of that era. For the politician and activist, see Larry Holmes (Marxist). ... James Tillis is an American prizefigther who was nicknamed Quick. He was also known as The Fighting Cowboy. ... Pinklon Thomas is a former boxer whose trademark pink boxing trunks and a left jab were key distinguishing characteristics. ... Merciless Ray Mercer (born April 4, 1961 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American professional boxer and former WBO World Heavyweight Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist and resideds in Fayetteville, North Carolina. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

Now on the comeback trail, Morrison had six wins in 1992, including one over former Riddick Bowe opponent Art Tucker, and one over future world title challenger Joe Hipp, who would later become the first Native American to challenge for the world heavyweight title. The Hipp fight, held June 27, 1992, was one of the most exciting of Morrison's career. Suffering from what was later discovered to be a broken hand and broken jaw, Morrison had to rally late in the fight to score a knockout in the ninth round. After two wins in 1993, including one over two-time former world title challenger Carl "The Truth" Williams, Morrison found himself fighting for the WBO title again, this time, on June 7, against heavyweight boxing legend George Foreman, who was himself making a comeback. As both men were famed for their punching power, an exciting battle was expected, but Morrison chose to avoid brawling with Foreman and spent the fight boxing from long range. Foreman marched forward relentlessly, but Morrison was so determined to avoid Foreman's power that he actually turned his back to retreat on several occasions. The crowd understandably had little patience with this tactic, and began to boo Morrison as the fight progressed. However, Morrison 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. Riddick Lamont Bowe (born August 10, 1967, Brooklyn, New York) is an American boxer and former undisputed heavyweight champion. ... Art Tucker (b January 29, 1959) is a heavyweight boxer from Newark, New Jersey. ... Joe Hipp is a professional boxer. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... Carl Williams, born November 11th, is a retired American boxer from Belle Glade, Florida who fought in several noteworthy boxing matches in the 1980s and 1990s. ... The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is one of the sanctioning organizations currently recognizing world boxing champions. ... is the 158th day of the year (159th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American two-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. ... The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is one of the sanctioning organizations currently recognizing world boxing champions. ...

His first defense was intended to be 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.[1] The WBO later rescinded their sanctioning of this fight due to Tomashek's lack of experience.

Almost immediately, talks of a fight with WBC world champion Lennox Lewis began. Talk of a Morrison-Lewis fight, however, was dramatically brought to a halt when Morrison was upset in his next defense by the virtually unknown Michael Bentt. In a shocking turn of events, Morrison was knocked down three times and stopped in the first round in front of a live HBO Boxing audience. WBC logo mark “WBC” redirects here. ... Lennox Claudius Lewis CBE (born September 2, 1965 in West Ham, London, England) is a retired professional boxer who represented Canada in the Olympics and fought under the British flag as a professional. ... Michael Bentt (born September 4, 1965 in London, United Kingdom) is a retired heavyweight boxer turned actor, who was born in East Dulwich, London, England, but raised in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York City. ... HBO Boxing is a successful TV series that has shown many of boxings greatest fights and historic events during the last 30 years. ...

Morrison recovered by winning three bouts in a row in 1994 but then subsequently drew in his last fight of the year, against the deceptively tough trialhorse Ross Puritty (years later, Puritty would score a shocking upset victory over hot prospect Wladimir Klitschko). Wladimir Dr. Steelhammer Klitschko (Ukrainian: , Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko); born March 25, 1976 in Solnechnoe, Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan) is a Ukrainian heavyweight boxer, former WBO and the current IBF and IBO World Heavyweight Champion. ...

He won three fights in 1995 before meeting former contender Razor Ruddock for the IBC Heavyweight Championship (one of the lowest regarded titles of all the alphabet organisations). In a thrilling encounter, Morrison was dropped to his knees in the first round, but recovered to 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. Remarkably, Ruddock regained his feet, but Morrison then 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. Razor Ruddock might refer to the following people Donovan Ruddock - a heavyweight boxer from Canada Neil Ruddock - an England international football player This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ...

The much-anticipated fight with Lewis, who had also lost his world championship, finally took place following the Ruddock match. However, Morrison fought conservatively and was never in the fight as Lewis picked him off relentlessly from long range. Morrison was knocked down and stopped in six rounds.

Testing Negative for HIV

His return to prizefighting came after several years of his belief that he was given a false-positive HIV exam in Las Vegas. Since December 2006, Morrison claimed that he had tested negative for HIV on four occasions.^[2] The head of the Arizona State Boxing Commission personally watched Morrison take a blood test at a lab in Phoenix, and received the official results demonstrating that Morrison was HIV negative.^[2] Vegas redirects here. ...

As a result of his negative test in Phoenix, Morrison was licensed Tuesday February 20, 2007 by the West Virginia Athletic Commission and faced John Castle of Indianapolis in a four-round bout Thursday night February 22, 2007 at Mountaineer Race Track in Chester.[2] Castle (4-2, 2 KOs) had been knocked out in his last two fights. After landing few punches, and being scored behind at the end of the first round, Morrison swooped in with his trademark left hook to knock out Castle in the middle of Round 2.[3] The Morrison-Castle bout was not aired on television, but a post-fight interview with Morrison showed redness under his eyes that possibly could have been blood.

It was reported on June 8, 2007 by the Arizona Republic that Morrison recently tested positive for HIV, which would disprove Morrison's claims that he either never had the virus in the first place or that it had disappeared. The report was based on statements from Randy Lang, a former agent for Morrison, who says the boxer has Hepatitis C as well as being HIV positive. The argument is that if in fact Morrison tested positive for HIV 11 years ago, and there is yet to be any such cure for the blood-borne disease, then he remains HIV positive. According to Morrison's former agent, Morrison and Arizona promoter Peter McKinn were responsible for the fraudulent test results that somehow passed approval in West Virginia. After that, Morrison was refused a license in Texas and the public was told that a doctor was late filing the paperwork. In the Arizona Republic story, Morrison's fiance disparaged Lang but didn't directly deny the claim. [4]

"MMA" career

Morrison was set to make his mixed martial arts debut against 340-pound John Stover on June 9, 2007. However, due to specific rule changes, specifically no ground fighting, the bout was not truly a mixed martial arts fight (an assumption later enhanced by the last-minute removal of any kicks, knees or elbow strikes of any kind, effectively making the fight a 3 round boxing match with four-ounce MMA gloves). Tommy Morrison was victorious, breaking his opponent's nose and scoring a TKO win.

Michael Lee Moorer (born November 12, 1967) is a former boxer who has been a world champion in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. ... The WBO World Heavyweight Championship is the top prize in the World Boxing Organization, one of four world-sanctioning boxing organizations in the world. ... Michael Bentt (born September 4, 1965 in London, United Kingdom) is a retired heavyweight boxer turned actor, who was born in East Dulwich, London, England, but raised in the Cambria Heights section of Queens in New York City. ...

References

1. ^ Tommy Morrison's Bad Blood.
2. ^ ^{a b} BoxingScene.com - " Morrison's HIV test negative, fight delayed"

External links

• Tommy Morrison Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• ESPN article about Morrison's time in jail
• Sparta Expositor article about Morrison's recent years
• Boxing record
• Guardian article. The Great White Hope climbs back into the ring.