He was a very good amateur with a record of 148-8 and won numerous amateur titles, tournaments, etc.. Yes he was touted by some to be successful in the pros. His management made the mistake of setting up his debut fight with a tough journeyman named Jerry Jones whom I watched numerous times growing up. Jones was no world beater and never would be, but he gave plenty of prospects a hard time and even upset some decent named opponents. Michael went on a string of wins beating some of the usual suspects in Lynwood Jones and Danny Woford. His victory over Mark Wills was a turning point as Wills was a tough stepping stone at time.. Bentt was basically brought in as a lamb for the slaughter against Morrison but showed people why he was thought so highly of by those who knew his abilities... His last bout against Herbie Hide was a big headliner since they were both fellow countryman and a title was on the line. Hide was relatively unknown despite having more than twice the number of fights.. But he was treachurous puncher... Undefeated and had been keeping busier than Bentt. The head injuries he sustained in that fight nearly took his life... had he been more carefully managed and trained I think Michael Bentt could have been something special...
Magoo pretty much nailed it. I will only say that the matchmaking by Team Morrison in essentially in his hometown was extremely naive/optimistic. They really paid the price for that one.
I wouldn't say he blew out anything he lucked out,when he was bouncing off the ropes and Morrison ran into a right hand.morrison clearly was on the brink to k.oing Bentt who had hold on for dear life another second or two one more shot he wouldn't have recovered. I don't know about lost potential ,I think he would have been somewhere around the Micheal Grant level. "No, I was out. I was out. But once again, the biggest factor in me winning that fight was me being prepared because I was knocked out. " Bentt ... on when Morrison landed the left hook to his temple.
Yet ANOTHER post which displays your massive idiocy. I just watched the fight today. Ran into? Bentt was firing back and defending himself and caught Tommy beautifully! God I wish you would f*ck off from this site you annoying c*nt.
The knockout loss was a result of Tommy packing glass and little defense. It was supposed to be a throwaway fight because something much bigger loomed.
Wrong again you dope...Bentt knees went numb and Buckeled causing him to go into defense mode , because that was his instinct to do so which is what he did in his training camp as he stated he was anticapiting getting hurt at some point,he was out for a second or two, even he states that. I provide his OWN quote but you're so stupid you will argue it anyway,which doesn't shock me you thought cain was a weak puncher? You must like being a punching bag on this site? :yep
Nothing lucky about his win over Morrison at all. Morrison rocked Bentt and then was typically wide open in attack mode and Bentt was throwing the straighter, more disciplined blows in response, and found Morrison's glass chin. Coolness under fire + straight punches BEATS Reckless attack + leaky defense + glass chin Morrison hung that glass out and it got shattered. Not mystery there, no fluke.
If Morrison lets up and repositions himself off the riopes he k.os Bentt...it was luck,anyone can see he was battering Bentt and ran into a counter right hand ...like the Mercer fight ,where he was battering Ray,he simply got careless...to show how seriously he took Bentt.... "I don't know which Tommy will show," Bill Cayton, who manages Morrison, had said before the fight. "He has all the talent in the world, but I honestly don't know if he's hungry enough to be a great fighter."
Yeah, well, he got careless a lot then. Being a good boxer is about not being careless, especially when you carry a glass chin like Morrison did. :yep I suppose he got careless when Carl Williams, washed up and never a real puncher, had him down twice and tottering around like a drunk. And when fat fringe contender Joe Hipp broke his jaw and gave him hell. And when Ross Purrity beat him up and knocked him down twice. And when a washed up Razor Ruddock had him down. When Mercer smashed his glass jaw. When Lewis completely outclassed him. The only time he wasn't careless against a fighter with a pulse lol: @ 44 year old Foreman) he ran away half the fight, turning his back against the old man who didn't seem to even wanted to chase him. Face it, Morrison was a hype job. A decent puncher who feasted on old has-beens and absolute bums.
This is exactly how Morrison was seen at the time he actually fought. Nothing has occurred since his retirement to change this judgement.
Nice post, but he was never something special as a pro, and fought in a talented division. If he had more power, maybe you can argue top 5-7 ring ranked for a while. Bentt is not beating Lewis, Bowe, Holyfield, or Ike when they were near or on top of their game. He'd have an outside shot vs Moorer Essentially Bennt caught a ****y Tommy Morrison. Had Morrison landed first, he wins.
Exactly. He was barely rated at the time. Somewhere on the fringe of contendership, he rarely crept into the legitimate top 10, his high point being the win over Foreman which might have briefly put him in the top 5 or 6 for a few months. Bentt KO1 Morrison occurred at the time Tommy was most highly rated.