How big was the Tommy Morrison bubble?

He wasn't taken seriously by knowledgeable boxing fans. Maybe he had a legion of country&western fans behind him or something.

He was an obvious American white hype job.

 

Lol you're so pathetic even when a thread has nothing to do with Tyson you bring him up in your never-ending crusade to discredit him

 

Lol don't spit your dummy out because your hero doesn't get worshipped in a post, he's not the be all of boxing you know flower......

 

You obviously have an irrational dislike of tyson. It was actually ridiculous of you to bring in tyson like that, the other guy is right this thread had nothing at all to do with mike.

 

Morrison could hit was fun to watch and was.white a big deal in the mid west .Mercer told his corner that boys trying to kill me! Unfortunately for Tommy Mercer was as hard as rock .Morrison was a kill or be killed type of fighter exciting but not designed for a long career.RIP.

 

Hahahahaha now the alts are here......

 

Foreman rates him pretty well. He may not have had been made from championship material, but that's fine. He left his mark with some iconic knockouts. He was a dangerous fighter, punched like a cannon, and would be a threat in any era.

It is interesting to note that as tough and powerful as Morrison was, he was still a good level below Foreman in that regard. Foreman was walking Morrison down without head movement from the opening bell in his mid 40's.

 

There was some hype - mainly because he was in Rocky V. Once he lost to Mercer, the hype died down.

 

True. Cooney was the Great White Hope. The hype was huge. I remember the Sports Illustrated Cover after the Norton blowout. Showing a total lack of objectivity and fueling, or maybe, being fueled by the hype, it read "Gerry Cooney - Lethal, Awesome, Ready."

LOL.

In retrospect, it was smoke and mirrors.

I was 12, so I was sold.

But, hardcore boxing fans of the time should have known better. Maybe some did.

 

Maybe that had to do with foreman being 255-260 lbs, bigger and thus stronger than his opponents.

Foreman was like 30 lbs heavier than Morrison and the size difference was obvious.

 

Does anyone outside the USA actually read Sports Illustrated? I guess the Annual swimwear edition is popular though.

 

I wasn't surprised when Morrison lost to Mercer. It was close to a 50/50 fight, and Morrison had looked shaky before. Mercer was a bit under sold. He won gold in the Olympics at heavyweight ( Not super heavyweight ) and came around at a time when people were excited about Bowe, Lewis, Seldon, and Morrison.

Morrison was hyped, but not overly hyped. Everyone knew he had good hand speed, an all time powerful left hook, and some grit. The problem is after this fight, everyone also knew he has limited stamina, a below average chin, and wasn't going to win many big fights on skills alone.

The best thing about Morrison is he was in lots of good fights and defined the puncher's chance. Boxing could use another one like him today.

His son Trey Lippe looks carbon copy on offense. Good enough I think to make the top 20 if brought along correctly. Freddie Roach has him now, so you have to assume he's good enough for his time.

 

Well, he KO'd Ruddock. He beat Foreman, and proved his grit vs Joe Hipp. It's not like he didn't beat some name fighters. After Morrison defeated Foreman ( I thought he would ) there were big talks to fight Bowe. Bowe's manager did not want the fight!

I think he was taken seriously enough in the 1990's which was a top talent time in heavyweight history.

Partying and lack of focus cost him some for sure. His manager wanted Morrison to a lot of road work and train far away from the girls and bars in preparation for the Mercer fight. Morrison did the opposite. His trainer called him the most stubborn athlete he ever coached.

Morrison was up 3-0 on my card vs Mercer, then began to gas in round four. With better conditioning, and listening to his corner, he might have won the 10 round affair. Being tired and gas is a tough thing in boxing if we are talking round 4!

PS: Somehow Keith Richards will make 80. We'll see...