Vs a 1960 Sonny Liston. Morrison comes in sharp, in shape and ready to go against the Sonny Liston that beat Williams. Does he make the Big Bear look like an overgrown cub or does the Big Bear treat Morrison like a salmon??
Prime Sonny Liston would give a prime Tommy Morrison a boxing lesson before dispatching him in round 4. Liston had a pole like left jab that snapped many an opponents head back, and landed that crushing right that sent the likes of Floyd Patterson and Cleveland Williams down and out for the full 10 count. Sonny could box the distance as well, as seen in his unanimous decision win over Eddie Machen in 1960. Morrison boxes well, as also seen on June 7 1993 in his unanimous decision win over past his prime George Foreman. The Duke would box well early against The Bear, but trying to engage at close quarters would be fatal. Sonny fires out that left jab, then follows it up with that very explosive right hand to Tommy's head. Morrison falls flat on his back, staring at the overhead lights, and takes the full count. Sonny remarks, The Duke Was Not Fighting An Old Man Tonight, referring to the Foreman fight.
Liston was on a rampage while patiently waiting for his title shot. Few boxers in history would survive with a hungry, in shape Liston. That being said, Morrison was dangerous and neither guy was hard to hit. It would be a shootout, but Liston's jab and better chin earns him a win in an exciting fight that doesn't go past 5 rounds.
I think Liston would survive an early onslaught with a couple of shaky moments and then Tommy's notoriously bad stamina would begin to tell just as Sonny figured him out and became increasingly dominant. Hed knock him out between 4 and 7.
I disagree. Liston was deceptively hard to hit. Liston's head movement in his prime was very underrated. I'd actually rate his defense above Tyson's seeing as he maintained it the entire fight as opposed to the latter who all but abandoned it after the first couple of rounds.
Morrison only needs to be as good and as accurate as Cleveland Williams to land on Liston, who broke Liston's nose and landed many powerful shots in both fights. So i guess it boils down to how much better (or worse) you think Morrison is compared to Williams.
Liston would knock Morrison out in similar fashion he did Williams. Early blitz that is mostly blocked with some hard punches getting through. Liston begins to land his own hard punches and Morrsion can't cope with them. Liston hurts him and wrecks his night. They rematch and the same thing happens. Sonny Liston is a far better fighter than Tommy Morrison. Not only is he a better fighter, but he's stronger, hits harder, takes a better punch, and was better at landing his punches effectively.
I think Morrisson is better than Williams. You'd have to favour Liston but I think Tommy's in with a chance here.
Liston is a lot better than Morrison. So he is not going to lose. But Morrison is a lot better than Cleveland Williams. I guess Morrison lasts longer than Williams but still gets knocked out just as spectacularly like Williams was.