Tommy "The Duke" Morrison; how good a boxer was he really?

One of the best combination punchers ever in Heavyweight division, top 5 best left hook ever in the division along with very good power at world level.

His weaknesses were his chin and sometimes suspect stamina, but overall he had a ton of heart and was always exciting.

 

A talented athlete who showed early ability as an amateur and while he would not have made it into the elite ranks I think he could have developed into much more than he was. He could have developed into a much better fighter if he was matched properly and given the chance to learn as opposed to getting bodies he was meant to just knock over for a highlight reel. A really fast puncher, went to the body well, massive left hook and he really did have guts. But technically flawed and I wonder if he had a proper management and training team that he listened to how much of that could have been overcome but think his demons, mental state and lifestyle would have made that impossible. Even in winning he was taking a lot of punishment.

The desire to pad his record as much as possible cost him dearly when he stepped up. His partying, drinking and drugs badly affected him in terms of being ready for fights. His promiscuity, attitude to sex and women ultimately cost him healthwise. Race was definitely a factor in his career (even though he was mixed race). He was also surrounded by amateurs in terms of training and management for a long time, and being in a rural area away from a boxing hub probably hindered him too.

Given his upbringing - serious domestic abuse in the home violence and emotional abuse, parents alcohol abuse, mother accidentally killing his father's mistress, his lifestyle, doing the toughman competitions as a teenager, being a violent drinker, drugtaking it's probably a miracle he lasted as long as he did. One of boxing's sordid stories ending in mental illness, prison, his AIDs conspiracy denial beliefs, racism and homophobia and ultimately his death.

 

Tommy Morrison was the Tommy Bolin of boxing.

 

He never capitalized on his early promise when he managed to beat Joe Louis in a fantasy fight. One of the great might-have-beens.

 

He wouldn't even have been big enough to compete at heavyweight if he wasn't bulked up via ROIDS.

 

Good fighter with Great Power.

 

Judging by what I heard and saw he was a much better fighter before he got hooked up in that Rocky movie. The glamour and glitz of Hollywood took over....

 

He was exciting to watch. He could punch and showed guts. It's true his defense, chin, and stamina weren't the best, however looking back with what I know now, and what his lifestyle was, it's no wonder he had a stamina and chin issue, ("women weaken legs!")... lol
Seriously, had he been more dedicated and stuck to business, he might have done better and accomplished more. I think back in the day I looked down on him too much, but now, I think he was better than I gave him credit for.

He did something Michael Moorer and many others couldn't, he outboxed Big George and probably fought the fight of his life that night. Many, myself included, all probably thought he would poop out early and get KO'ed, but it didn't happen.

 

On a related note, one day I'm at the grocery store with my parents, and who do I run into? Michael Bentt. I tell my dad, "Hey dad, I think I just saw Michael Bentt", (this wasn't long after he quit boxing). We ended up talking with him and he was a really nice guy. He even invited us to his house where he signed a picture and showed us the championship belt.

I don't think he lived there too long... Good memories, fun times.

 

There was a thread recently about best heavyweight combination punchers. A lot of people mentioned Tyson, which puzzled me — more often than not he was one-punch-and-fall-into-a-clinch. He had that right to the body/right uppercut combo but mostly just didn’t rip off combos.

Morrison was a much better combination puncher than Tyson — he wasn’t in the same stratosphere as a fighter when you look at the whole package, but he threw combos regularly and often very creatively.

 

old tyson for sure.

the one we talk about threw 5 punch combos like i eat breakfast.

 

I'm not sure that I am in agreement but cool analogy. I've just been reading about Tommy Bolin.

 

B-

 

Give me a few examples of this guy in fights that lasted more than 5 rounds.