Morrison Tommy. American professional boxer, actor. Biography

Tommy Morrison is a famous American boxer, actor. This is an interesting and ambiguous personality. The story of Tommy Morrison is very exciting. Let's talk about everything in order ...

morrison tommy

The Morrison Boxer Dynasty

Tommy Morrison, who was born in the town of Greyvett , Arkansas, was without a doubt a real American with several generations of family history. Boxing for the Morrison family was not a means of subsistence, but one of the hobbies. The older brother Tommy and his two uncles regularly and fairly successfully performed at local competitions. Since childhood, the future professional athlete not only heard their stories about boxing fights, but he himself felt the smell of gloves, saw the training of relatives and heard the special noise of the hall.

In Arkansas - the southern state of the United States, part of the population of which led the genealogical line from cowboys, have long respected strength. There was fertile ground for boxing here. Not only did the stronger sex empathize with sports news, but women were also aware of the interests of their halves. Tommy's mother, who organized his first duel, was no exception. She chose a 5-year-old son to be an older and bigger guy, promising soda for the victory. So Tommy Morrison took the first step in this difficult, sometimes very cruel, but truly masculine sport.

rocky 5

"Golden Glove" gave birth to a puncher

Tommy had no shortage of good coaches and problems with time for classes. From the first years he received the lessons of the classic American boxing school, and his athletic growth among fans moved in the framework of the most popular national competitions “Golden Glove”, as well as hundreds of other teenagers who later became world stars in the ring.

It became a habit for a guy to choose his older rivals. Tommy Morrison, whose height, whose weight was always quite impressive, was only 13 years old boxing against 20-year-old guys and defeating them. By the age of 18, Tommy turned into a powerful athlete with a height of 188 cm and a weight per cent. By this time, he had precisely defined his boxing role - a puncher, or boxer, to the delight of the audience in the stands, always aimed at a powerful blow and an early victory over an opponent. Despite the fact that he worked in a right-handed stance, he had worked out a strong side impact with his left hand - a hook. Sometimes this crown reception of his was compared with a similar "hook" by Mike Tyson. In the ring, Morrison tried to break into the middle or near range and use his accented series of hooks and uppercuts to “knock out” his opponent from the enemy. Most of his victories in amateur, and then in professional fighting, he ended with a knockout or a technical knockout. Few could stand on their feet without touching the floor, all the time allotted for the duel.

tommy morrison cause of death

First baptism

When did Tommy Morrison become famous? He began fights in the professional ring in 1989. Mike Tyson, Riddick Bow, Evander Holyfield reigned in heavy weight, and at the same time, the future absolute world champion Lennox Lewis began to gain first rating points. In this dark-skinned company, a talented blond looked like an outcast. Like all newcomers, he started with 4 round fights. The first fights with Steve Zouski and Aaron Brown were, though with its clear advantage, but not particularly bright. In the third fight, Morrison showed himself in all its glory, knocking out in the first round of Rick Alice. The next 2 boxers, who opposed Tommy in the first year of his professional career, also felt the power of his punches and rested for a long time on the floor of the ring in the state of grogging.

tommy morrison fights

Tommy in Hollywood

The following year, Tommy Morrison was forced to take a creative vacation. He was invited to the shooting of "Rocky 5" for the role of a beginner, but very promising boxer Tommy Gunn. According to the plot of the picture, the aged Rocky Balboa decided to convey to the young athlete all the secrets of his skill, but competitors took away talent from under his nose with attractive promises. Tommy fit in perfectly with his role.

The giant blonde looked great next to the swarthy Sylvester Stallone. In the film, he played himself - inconstant and impulsive in everyday life. Despite the rather “sour” reviews about the film itself, Morrison’s acting was praised. At some point in time, he began to dream of a serious acting career, introducing himself as the second Elvis Presley. But the expected proposal from Hollywood did not follow. The sports movie genre has very limited potential in all countries. Tommy again had to return to the boxing gym to the bags and pears and, wearing gloves, continued to torture himself with hard training, preparing for new fights and rivals.

Tommy Morrison Boxer

Well, where we do not

In the future, Morrison Tommy, trying to maximize his self, did not give up other experiments. When the audience began to clearly show interest in mixed martial arts, he spent 3 fights according to the MMA, ending them ahead of schedule with the usual knockouts, but he didn’t go further than that. Firstly, Tommy Morrison is a boxer to the marrow of his bones, and it was not a joy to learn wrestling grabs and strangulation. Secondly, by that time the many pleasant temptations that the well-to-do life of a famous athlete promised him, gradually began to obscure the competitive motivation.

Having rested a year on the set of Rocky 5, Morrison continued to “beat” his rivals in the ring. The next of them were James Tillis and Piclon Thomas.

tommy morrison height weight

First misfire

In October 1991, Tommy entered the ring against WBO champion Ray Mercer, whom he had long lost in the amateur ring. Bookmakers determined before the meeting preferences towards Tommy, but the fight ended with his knockout. Morrison Tommy had an undeniable advantage at the very beginning, but did not calculate his strength and ran out of steam. Mercer could only wait for the right moment for the final blow, which happened in the 5th round.

Tommy vs. Legends

In just 10 years in the professional ring Morrison Tommy spent 52 fights, losing only 3 of them, and the reputation of a knockout firmly stuck to him. The vast majority of his victories were early. The most famous rivals of the white boxer were George Foreman and Lennox Lewis. “Big” George, who in the 70s was the absolute world champion, defeating Joe Fraser and losing only to the great Mohammed Ali, returned to the ring, still constituted an impressive force. Having lost a little mobility, he completely retained the strength of his blows. The champion battle between them lasted all 12 rounds and ended in a unanimous decision in favor of Morrison, who after that received the WBO champion belt.

Lennox Lewis was a tough nut for Morrison. He could not oppose the Lennox jabs from a distance; he was not given an order of magnitude by a faster Canadian. As a result, the battle turned into a beating. By the 6th round, Morrison practically did not see anything due to hematomas, and the judge was forced to stop the fight.

tommy morrison story

What a real cowboy is not a reveler?

By the time he met Lewis, Morrison, Tommy had already become a hero not only in sports news, but also in police reports. The love of alcohol and fast driving has gradually supplanted sports. To these exploits, drug use and the illegal possession of weapons were added a little later. Like a bolt from the blue in 1996, the news of an AIDS boxer thundered. Only 11 years later, the error of the diagnosis was announced, and Morrison was even returned a boxing license. However, Tommy stubbornly refused to repeat the analysis. Entering the ring, he represented the faded likeness of the former champion. After several 4 round rating battles with newcomers to the professional ring and completely knocking out their desire to continue the further race for awards, he quietly left the sport.

The mystery of death carried to the grave

On the first day of the fall of 2013, news agencies announced his death at the age of 44. He died quietly at his home in Nebraska. What did Tommy Morrison die from? The cause of death is still a mystery. Whether it was HIV is hard to say. The officially announced diagnosis is respiratory and metabolic acidosis and multiple organ failure. The autopsy was not performed, the boxer was suspiciously quickly cremated. Tommy Duke Morrison, and that is how he was always represented in the ring, could not become the absolute champion and great actor ...


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