]R.I.P Tommy 'Gunn". Former heavyweight boxing champion Tommy Morrison - who starred in Rocky V - and was diagnosed with HIV, dies at 44 By Associated Press Tommy Morrison, the former heavyweight champion who stood toe-to-toe with Lennox Lewis and George Foreman and later tested positive for HIV, died Monday. He was 44. Morrison died Sunday night at a Nebraska hospital, said Tony Holden, his longtime promoter and close friend. The family would not disclose the cause of death. In 1993, Morrison beat Foreman to win the WBO heavyweight title, only to lose it to unheralded Michael Bentt in a defeat that scuttled a showdown with Lewis. Morrison would fight Lewis a couple of years later, getting knocked out in the sixth round in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Morrison, nicknamed 'The Duke,' never reached the status of such contemporaries as Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, but it was surely a full career. He was a prodigious puncher whose bid to fight in the 1988 Seoul Olympics ended at the hands of Ray Mercer, who later dealt Morrison his first professional loss. He had a starring role in 'Rocky V' alongside Sylvester Stallone. And perhaps most memorably, Morrison tested positive for HIV when the virus still carried a significant stigma, only to declare later the test was false. Along with numerous legal issues, including a prison sentence that stemmed from weapons and drunk driving, Morrison's name became attached to headlines that would eventually overshadow his work in the ring. 'If Tommy was fighting today, he no doubt would be a world champion,' Holden said. 'You have to look at who he was fighting in the '90s, the guys in that division were Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, Ray Mercer, George Foreman. There's no one with that talent today. Tommy would absolutely dominate if he were in his prime boxing today.' Morrison won his first 28 professional fights, beating faded champions such as Pinklon Thomas along the way. His career reached its apex in the summer of 1993 with a unanimous decision over Foreman, then in the midst of his comeback, to claim a vacant title. As with so many things in Morrison's life, the good was quickly followed by the bad. Morrison was in line for a high-profile bout with Lewis when he was upset by Bentt in Tulsa, Okla., not far from where Morrison was raised. He was knocked down three times and the fight was called before the first round ended. Along with the stinging defeat, Morrison saw a potential $7.5 million payday for a title unification fight against Lewis wash away. 'I zigged when I should have zagged,' Morrison said afterward. 'It's one of those situations you have to live with and learn from it. I'll be back.' Morrison indeed came back, but he was never the same feared fighter. He beat a bunch of long shots and faded stars over the next couple of years before his loss to Lewis. That fight happened in October 1995. By February, Morrison had tested positive for HIV. He'd been preparing for another fight that winter when his blood test came back positive for the virus that causes AIDs. Morrison's license was quickly suspended by Nevada, and the ban was, in effect, upheld by every other sanctioning body. Morrison said at a news conference he'd never fight again, blaming his plight on a 'permissive, fast and reckless lifestyle.' His lifestyle never changed, though, even when he stepped away from the ring. He had already run afoul of the law in 1993, when he pleaded guilty to assaulting a college student. He also dealt with weapons charges and multiple DUI incidents over the years. He was finally sentenced to two years in prison in 2000, and another year was added to his sentence in 2002 for violating parole. When he was released, Morrison said his HIV tests had resulted in false positives, and he wanted to resume his career. He passed medical tests in Arizona - even as Nevada stood by its decision - and returned to the ring. Morrison fought twice more in his career, winning once in West Virginia and for the final time in Mexico. He finished with a record of 48-3-1 with 42 knockouts. 'Tommy's a very stubborn person and he views things the way he wants to view things. That's his right and privilege,' Holden said. 'All through his career, him and I would come not to physical blows but disagreements on certain things. We always ended up friends. That was Tommy. 'That's the way Tommy took off after he was told he was HIV-positive," Holden added. "When he first was told, I was taking him to seek treatment and to different doctors around the country. And then he started research on the Internet and started saying it was a conspiracy. He went in that direction and never looked back.'
Morrison responded poorly to his diagnosis. Unlike Magic Johnson, his acceptance of the diagnosis wavered between a halfway or non-acknowledgment. I'm uncertain to what degree he properly medicated himself but he looked 30 years older in recent years. A better cautionary tale than anything.
Tommy Morrison. The grandson of John Wayne(John Wayne's real name was Marion Morrison, when he got into boxing, he changed it to John Wayne. His nickname The Duke was given to him when he used to hang out at a fire house). When I saw Rocky 5, I thought he was an original antagonist for Rocky to go up against. He was a white version of Apollo Creed and Clubber Lang. He was very hungry and Rocky sought to help him channel it. The street fight scene was memorable, though. May he Rest In Peace.
Tommy was one of the hardest bangers in the sport. His knockout of Razor Ruddock is still impressive to this day. Ray Mercer said that Tommy hit him harder than anyone else, and that's saying a lot because Mercer also took punches from Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko and Bert Cooper. [YOUTUBE]FwYL-lPjP4Q[/YOUTUBE] I have to politely disagree with that part of the article. For Tommy to become a heavyweight champion today, he'd have to fight Wladimir Klitschko. No way could Tommy deal with Wladimir Klitschko, who has a style similar to Lewis. Though he isn't as good as Lewis, Klitschko has similar reach and power. When Tommy fought Lewis, his eye was shut in the first round and he was outclassed and eventually knocked out. Klitschko probably wouldn't knock him out though, just jab him over and over while Tommy tries to close the gap and land his left hook. Boring fight, typical of the Klitschkos. But I do think if Tommy were in his prime right now, he would beat everyone who's last name isn't Klitschko.
