Tommy the duke morrison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDDy4QlTTkQ&sns=em

Watched this the other day and thought how ill tommy looked. Will set my stall out and say I am a fan of the Duke. He was exciting to watch purely as he had such knock out power and a dodgy chin, you never knew what was going to happen!

Got his career on DVD and was interesting to watch how he was matched with tomato cans up to the mercer fight. In the mercer fight he produced four of the most one sided boxing displays which shows mercer had a head of steel. Then in the fifth round after blowin himself out was knocked out in one of the most devastating knockouts I have seen

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fpdeONftgaA

A few years later he gets his world title shot with the young and lowly regarded (at the time) WBO belt against big George. A good tactical fight and the opposite of how tommy normal fights. Fighting on the back foot winning the title. Then in his first proper defence gets knocked down three times by Michael bentt. Tommy himself said 99 out of a 100 times he would have beaten bentt, just in that fight Bentt got lucky.

The next big fight was against razor ruddock and tommy produces one of the best left hooks I have ever seen to put ruddock down.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=07E4ps4mkXw

Then the Lewis fight where tommy suffered a cut early In the fight where his left eye swelled shut. Reading an interview tommy was convinced that without that he would have won. Can't see it myself even with my rosé tinted glasses of being a fan!

Then the whole HIV episode. Does he have it, doesn't he have it? All seems very controversial but that top interview would show a sick man. It can be argued that yes he is a drug user as well maybe that is making him the way he is. Again as a fan it's easy to not want to believe it but I would say he does have HIV and like magic Johnson has survived longer that most. Such a shame as I thought he could still have made a bigger noise in the heavy weight scene. How would he have faired in today's era?

Adorning my living room wall is one of my best possessions a framed signed picture of the duke, one of my favourite boxers even though he was not in the elite bracket. One of the best left hooks I have ever seen, had a big heart as shown against joe hipp, broken jaw and two broken hands yet still pulls a knockout out the bag.

Thoughts gentlemen?

I always liked Tommy. Good puncher, lots of heart and the air of vulnerability that's adds excitement. Only 3 career defeats in 50 odd(?) fights I think, and wins over Williams, Ruddock (awesome left hook) & even the 2nd coming of Foreman are not to be sniffed at. Although he was a level below the elite heavies of his time (Holy, Lennox etc) he was still a decent HW and may certainly have achieved more without the HIV business and his various flirtations with the law. A career hampered by controversy - like so many fighters before and since. As for whether he has HIV? Who knows, it's all a bit cloak & dagger - he certainly doesn't look too good in that first interview but that could be as much to do with hard living as anything else. These days people diagnosed in the western world with HIV can expect a virtually average life expectancy with the right medication, Tommy could be one of many just getting on with his life in spite of the disease.

To be honest, I think it was bang out of order that he chose to go with that promoter rather than stick it out with Rocky Balboa.

Until recently I wasn't aware of how good a career he had actually had. It's a very interesting story though. So I think I'll read up on it some more rather than just on wikipedia as I have so far!

Always thought Morrison had BRUNO syndrome.....

When he got caught he needed ten seconds to process that particular conundrum in his head!!!!

By that time he was usually finished...

However like Pazienza a hugely entertaining fighter.....

Morrison-Ruddock
Morrison - Williams
Morrison - Mercer...all classics.....

Mercer was a fight that proved he could not mix with the elite.

I really liked Morrison and followed his career back in the 90''s.

As good a left hook as Paterson.