What do you guys know about Carl Morris? He was a 6'4 220~ HW from the Johnson/Dempsey era. He seems to have fought some of the best guys in his era, and had a decent record. Has anyone seen him on film?
He was supposedly of the lazy, undertrained and unreliable sort. I remember reading a preview of his Dempsey fight wherein the writer was willing to wager against Morris even showing up.
Big strong guy whom Dempsey hated, as his sparring partner Dempsey was punched around by him ,and he said Morris was a right pr*ck.His manager re-invented him when he suffered a couple of losses ,and he was instructed to be as dirty as possible, him and Jim Flynn must have been a fight to see! This content is protected
He took up boxing to avenge Jim Jeffries after Johnson battered him in Reno. He put together a run of form and was being touted as a possible challenger for Johnson, until Flynn knocked him off his perch, paving the way for him to challenge Johnson. You see him mentioned occasionally in the press, as a possible challenger for Willard. I would say that he was a significant contender of the era, but his inconsistency cot him a title fight.
Morris was Native American (Cherokee) on one side of his family, yet was a Great White Hope... Care to name another Oklahoma fighter who fits that same description?
