Tommy Morrison

[white lightning]

I thought I would start a message thread on Tommy
the Duke Morrison.I'm sure alot of you guys saw him
fight around 10 years ago.He hit as hard as Tyson in
his prime.Morrison would literally destroy his victims
in rather easy fashion.I can't even remember how many
guys he knocked out within a few rounds.His left hook
was incredible.His only weakness other than women was
he had a bad chin.He got knocked out a few times.He did
win the Heavyweight Belt with a win over George Foreman.
George said Morrison hit harder than anyone he ever
fought.Unfortunatley,Morrison contracted the aids virus
and had to give up boxing.Like I said,women and his like
of partying did him in.I believe his final record was
around 44-3 with around 40 knockouts.The reason they
called him "The Duke" was that John Wayne was his uncle.

 

[speedster]

I'm a huge fan of Morrison's.I rank him right up there as one my top three favourite athletes all-time.Number one is Guy Lafleur.Anyway,it was a real sad day when I found out Tommy had HIV.These days Tommy is doing fine,he is still married and believe or not is a father again.He was able to impregnanthis wife through a process of "sperm-washing" where he would not infect his wife or the baby.Let's get back to his career hi-lites.For me there are so many,if I was to list them all now,I'd be here all night.I'll go with the Razor Ruddock fight.A total brawl.Both guys were down once and rocked several times.Finally in the 5th Razor appeared to hurt Tommy and moved in to close the show and as he did dropped his guard and Morrison countered with the most vicious left hook you will ever see,Razor spun around like a top.Somehow Razor got up but Tommy quickly put him out of his misery.I was high for days.This is a cool thread White Lightning,I'm glad you started it and I hope more people post.

 

[Gary]

I saw the Ruddock fight and it was a vicious left hook,some months before Tommy ko'd Terry Anderson with a brutal body shot the fight was shown on ESPN. Morrison and Cooney were two of the best white heavyweights of there day.I believe Jerry Quarry was the best white U.S heavyweight since Marciano. With the coming of the Eastern Europeans there are more whites at heavyweigths now then I can everremember.

 

[jaxvid]

Tommy Morrison

Morrison v. Foreman

Gerry Cooney. I thought Cooney could have been one of the best fighers ever. He started quickly but got thrown in against Larry Holmes too early. It was a good fight but Holmes got the best of him. I saw the Cooney/Holmes fight on a big screen at an auditorium in rural Alabama with a half white and half black crowd. It was a rough night. The only fight wasn't on the screen. He was the only good white heavyweight for nearly 20 years.

 

[speedster]

No doubt that Jerry Quarry was the best white American heavyweight in the past three decades or so.He didn't duck anyone and fought in an era where there were so many good fighters,many of which Jerry beat.His schooling of Ron Lyle might of been his best win.Jerry fought well in his first fight against Joe Frazier and the first Ali bout only to lose both on cuts.Before the recent influx of Euro fighters,the best foreign fighter to step in the ring during the 80's was Gerrie Coetzee.He didn't get a lot of respect from the American press because of where he was from.South Africa.His title-winning effort against crackhead Mike Dokes was his best win.As far as Gerry Cooney goes,I think losing to Larry Holmes took the heart out of him,heseemed like he was more disappointed in letting his fans down than in his own performance.A string of injuries,long layoffs and a lost desire did him in.I still think the only heavyweight that could of beaten him at the time was Larry Holmes.That fight with Holmes was truly a white vs black deal that divided the races,although the races have always been divided.That was the media spin.I would have hated to been in that auditorium that jaxvid was in,sounds like it could have ended up in a full blown race riot.

 

[Gary]

Quarry was my favorite.It seemed like we could get one good white heavyweight per decade.Quarry,Cooney and Morrison.I would say there are more good white propects at heavyweight now then we have had since the 1930's.We have the Klitschko's,Mesi,Golota,Valuev,Sanders,Lyakhovich,Bidenko,Fi elds,Ibragimov's,Dimitrenko and others.There are more white propects then black! I saw an article in a boxing magazine some years ago "White men can't fight". You do notsee that kind of article now!!!!!!!

 

[jaxvid]

Quarry was a good fighter. Go to
http://www.jerryquarry.com/scrapbook.htm

to see some great on line video clips of him in action.

 

[jaxvid]

Might as well have a photo of Ingamar Johansson who won the heavyweight title in 1959, knocked Floyd Patterson down 7 times in the 3rd!

Edited by: jaxvid

 

[Gary]

I remember my dad hearing the Johansson-Pattersen fight on radio in 1959.Johansson bought class back to boxing.He was handsome,educated and hadloads of charisma.Made a movie.Not really a bad fighter,he Ko'd Eddie Machen in 1 round.But he was a playboy,didn't train to hard and liked the night life to much.I think Quarry and Johansson are two of my favorite "modern fighters".

 

[speedster]

One good white heavyweight per decade seems about right,although I'd like to add one more name to the list of 70's fighters and that is Duane Bobick.Stop laughing.I'll admit Bobick left a lot to be desired as a pro,but as an amateur he had no peer.Duane was a National Golden Gloves champ,won the All-Navy title,beat Cuban Teofilo Stevenson at the Pan-Am games to win gold,beat Larry Holmes at the Olympic trials to gain a birth at the 1972 games,and had a 60 fight win streak heading into those games.Bobick lost a rematch to Stevenson in the quarter-finals at Munich,but he was bothered by some bad swelling around the right eye recieved in his previous fight.Overall Bobick had an outstanding record of 93-10 as an amateur.As a pro he suffered from what seems to be the achilles heal of several other white heavyweights past and present,a weak chin.George Foreman,in his secound coming in boxing,took a punch as well as any fighter that I have ever seen.He was totally relaxed in there and wasn't bothered by anything,but some of these white guys when they get hit just freeze up.I include Bobick,Morrison Cooney and Mesi on that list.I'll exclude Quarry and Tex Cobb because they had solid chins,particularly Cobb.

 

[Gary]

There were some good white heavyweights during the 70's and 80's.George Chuvalo could take any body's punch.Joe Bugner had size but lacked aggression.Duane Bobick and Willie DeWitt were both very good amateurs but didn't do well in the pro's.Gerrie Coetzee was good I remember him knocking out Leon Spinks in 1 round. There was a Russian fighter really tough guy named Igor Vysotsky who ko'd Teofilo Stevenson twice. Igor was never allowed to turn pro.Today all the fighters from Eastern Europe are getting some breaks Igor never got.Alex Miroshnichenko dropped Riddick Bowe twice but lost a "decision".Alex died tragically a few years ago. How many good-perhaps great white fighters did we miss during the cold war because of the iron curtian?

 

[speedster]

How could I have forgotten George Chuvalo.He was never knocked off his feet,never.I like the picture posted by jaxvid of Quarry-Lyle.I see some fear in those eyes of Lyle,and it reminds me of another Morrison moment when he fought Pinklon Thomas.The fight was held in Kansas City where Tommy fought out of at the time.The large Kemper arena crowd was of course pro-Morrison and they booed Thomas heavily when he was introduced,but Thomas had this look of deviance,a kind of"ill show you look".By the end of the first round that look had changed to one of fear.Morrison staggered Thomas twice,openeda cut over his left eye and was totally dominant.Thomas walked slowly back to his corner at the end of the round and quit on his stool.The crowd booed the ending and Tommy seemed disappointed that the fight had been stopped,but I think having a fighter quit is sometimes more satisfying then a knockout because it is taking away the fighters will to fight.Hey,jaxvid do you think you can post a picture or two of Duane Bobick.

 

[white lightning]

I also loved when Morrison came walking out to the ring,
they would play 2001 Space Odyesey.It would really get
the crowd pumped up.Did you ever see the fight against
Art Tucker?He pounded him hard.One of his toughest
fights was against a indian fighter named Joe Hipp.If
I remember right,it took Morrison around 9 rounds to
knock him out.Tommy looked on in disbelief at the
punishment Hipp could take but as usual,Tommy knocked
him out in the end!

 

[speedster]

The Art Tucker was really good and I was satified that Tommy had recoverd from his fight with Ray Mercer.I the remember the Tucker fight took place right around the time those police officers were aquitted of their beating of Rodney King,which started the L.A. riots.I was so pissed watching these blacks breaking into stores and stealing all kinds of things and having a great time doing it,but I was particularly upset when I saw those homeys beat-up that truck driver Reginal Denny.So when the Tucker fight came on I wasn't too in love with the black man,especially when Tucker,in an interview,went off on Morrison saying that he wasn't that good and how he couldn't change and all that.Tucker was speaking in his best ebonics.So when Tommy knocked him cold,his eyes were still open as he lied there unconscious,I started cussing Tucker out in my own ebonics.The Joe Hipp fight is also one of my faves.Morrison got the TKO in the 9th as you said,but Tommy was fighting with a broken jaw suffered early in the fight and a fractured right hand.What Tommy lacked in stamina and occasional defensive lapses he more than made up for in toughness and heart.If he only had a chin he might have been considered an all-time great.

 

[jaxvid]

Duane Bobick was indeed a good amatuer fighter. The following is from an article about Larry Holmes, it's an incident I did not know about.

1972 Olympics. In the Olympic Trials, Holmes was disqualified and labeled a quitter when he was knocked down and tried to crawl out of the ring against Duane Bobick. This dark cloud would linger over his head for many years, and the entire boxing world just couldn't let that fight go.

George Chuvalo is apparently hispanic but I had always thought of him as white.

Chuck Wepner was famous as the Bayonne Bleeder, only a white boxer could have such a disparaging nickname. he did knock down Ali though.

The guy I though could take a punch better then anyone else was Randall "Tex" Cobb. Man did that guy takes some hits. I thought for sure he would be one of those brain damaged ex-boxers (and maybe he now is) but he's had a pretty good run in the movie business.

his picture is a classic!

 

[Guest]

Might as well have a photo of Ingamar Johansson who won the heavyweight title in 1959, knocked Floyd Patterson down 7 times in the 3rd!

what was the result of their other two fights ?

 

[Guest]

I remember my dad hearing the Johansson-Pattersen fight on radio in 1959.Johansson bought class back to boxing.He was handsome,educated and hadloads of charisma.Made a movie.Not really a bad fighter,he Ko'd Eddie Machen in 1 round.But he was a playboy,didn't train to hard and liked the night life to much.I think Quarry and Johansson are two of my favorite "modern fighters".

The same Ingo was disquallied in the Olympics for not trying and was not given the silver medal and branded a coward.This guy had a lot of class ???

.


Quarry was a good fighter though

 

[speedster]

George Chuvalo was born in Toronto,Ontario to Croatian immigrant parents.Trust me,I have seen George many times throughout the years and he is very white and very proud of his Croat background.

 

[Gary]

Pudking-I was hoping you had been banned from this site.It was so good to get on here with my white kinsmen and talk about white fighters without your bigotry.Go get a job! !By the way Maskeav ko'd Navarre.Please go back to the slums.Oh yes Johansson had class-it was Liston who spent time in prison.By the way loser you never did say who your black hope is.The Russians are pushing you clowns right out of the heavyweight divison. GET A LIFE!

 

[Guest]

Pudking-I was hoping you had been banned from this site.It was so good to get on here with my white kinsmen and talk about white fighters without your bigotry.Go get a job! !By the way Maskeav ko'd Navarre.Please go back to the slums.Oh yes Johansson had class-it was Liston who spent time in prison.By the way loser you never did say who your black hope is.The Russians are pushing you clowns right out of the heavyweight divison. GET A LIFE!

Johansson would have been turned into Listons Prison bitch had they ever fought. The man was disquallified at the Olympics for being cowardly. Some class.

 

[Sean]

Liston had no heart, served time in jail, and died of an apparent OD. If thats your idea of class...

 

[Gary]

We were talking about Tommy Morrison-now pudking comes on here and were back to losers like Liston.Liston was a coward. He lost in the biggest game of all-LIFE.

 

[Guest]

Liston had no heart, served time in jail, and died of an apparent OD. If thats your idea of class...

I never said Liston was a great human being but he was a FAR better fighter then Ingo . And Liston only showed weakness in the Ali fights. Fought with a broken Jaw against Marty Marshall. Fought a very tough fight with Leotis martin.


And alot of people find it suspicious that Liotn died of an OD since it was widely known that Liston was afraid of Needles.





Liston would kill Ingo with his jab alone.

 

[Sean]

Liston had no heart, served time in jail, and died of an apparent OD. If thats your idea of class...

I never said Liston was a great human being but he was a FAR better fighter then Ingo . And Liston only showed weakness in the Ali fights. Fought with a broken Jaw against Marty Marshall. Fought a very tough fight with Leotis martin.


And alot of people find it suspicious that Liotn died of an OD since it was widely known that Liston was afraid of Needles.





Liston would kill Ingo with his jab alone.

But Marshall and Martin beat him.

 

[Gary]

What if Johansson had a needle-what would this brave black man do

.Johansson is alive and doing very well in life.Where's Liston?Schemling is alive and doing well-where's Louis? Quarry wanted to fight Liston after Quarry beat Pattersen.Liston didn't want to-he must have compared notes with Foreman-Foreman ducked Quarry too!