ESPN 30 for 30 Tommy Morrison

Case by case I agree with. I'd say they're the most reliable. I'd say the annual records are the most accessible.

But an example of what I mean, Joe Louis according to annual records has a record against ranked opposition of 44-3, but if you go by monthly rankings it is more like 30-3 because of fluctuations in the monthly records.

They're a good starting point but as I said, pinch of salt.

 

Morrison fought a severely faded Ruddock who hadn't even been active in several years leading up to that fight and won via premature stoppage while almost completely gassed. Ruddock most likely would've made Morrison look like Phil Jackson in 91.

 

At least Ruddock didn't have HIV tho, eh.

 

I don’t think he would have won any more notable fights. He would have had some soft opposition to lead up to a Tyson fight and gotten stopped.

He was a decent contender. Power, quick hands, terrific left hook, fluid combos, but his defense and chin were not good. He was fun to watch due to his flaws and heart, his win over Hipp was one of the guttiest I’ve seen. He won with a broken hand and broken jaw.

Maybe he would have won a belt if he hung around longer and got the WBA belt after they stripped Lewis. I could see Morrison beating Ruiz, although I don’t know how much Morrison would have had left in the early 2000s with his lifestyle and the tough fights he was in.

 

That’s for year’s end. So Foreman was likely ranked top 10 when Morrison beat him. He was ranked 6th at the end of 1992 and Morrison beat him in June 1993. Ruddock on the other hand wasn’t ranked. He was largely inactive after losing to Lennox.

 

I just saw this recently. It was good but obviously it got pretty sad. 30 for 30 is really good. I’ve only seen a couple of poor episodes. They mostly range from good to great (OJ 5 parter)

I don’t think this was a hatchet job on Tommy. They spoke a lot on his talent and ability, and overstate it as well. He had lots of offensive gifts with his power, speed, and fluidity, but he was a poor defensive fighter and didn’t have a good chin. Plenty of journeymen and fringe contenders landed consistently on him, and were able to drop and hurt him. The show also tends to overstate the importance of a WBO HW belt in 1993. It wasn’t looked upon too seriously.

The show also gets into his generous side with his friends, being an affectionate person, and doesn’t really get into the crazy things he said regarding HIV and other things. I wonder if his mind was affected by brain damage from both boxing and hard drugs, he was said to be into meth and speed.

The woman he was with when he died is a ****ing nutjob.

 

Morrison was an authentic beast (albeit with a streak of vulnerability) and exciting as all get out, an excellent fighter who didn't deserve to be lumbered with that 'great white hope' baggage. That he was as generally successful and brilliant a performer as he was even with the lifestyle traits of an underachiever speaks to how well he could have done if his talent hadn't been betrayed to such habitual extremes. Tragic story and a bitter (while not total) waste of God-given endowment.

Fine tribute here, incorporating a bunch of the excellent footage found in the 30 For 30 documentary, courtesy of our very own @reznick;

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Or it could just be that Tommy hit him as hard as he's ever been hit, which is what he actually said (in an understated, matter-of-fact tone). And not just to the head, either. Tommy hit him so hard to the body, he was passing flatus in his trunks (Ray has testified to this elsewhere).

Ray Mercer was in his 40's when he fought Klitschko. Morrison lost to a better fighter by far than the one Wladimir took target practice on. It's nothing to be bent out of shape or reduced to cheap point-scoring over. Young guy got too excited and made the mistake of throwing the kitchen sink at a tough, cagey customer early on, gassed and paid for it. Crap happens.

I do, however, agree that it was an unfair decision on the part of the filmmakers to include the testimony regarding steroids. Not because the testimony is untrue necessarily, but because it does so without contextualization and thus singles Tommy out for scrutiny.