October 18, 1991 Morrison KO Mercer

I totally get you. Morrison was a good enough guy but nothing irritates more when morons jump on the bandwagon without understanding stuff like limitations and disrespect the other guys potential. Mercer was a gold medalist!

I knew it was a 50-50 fight but it was sickening how many casual fans bought into the whole Tommy Gunn BS and just wanted to see some Blonde bomber knocking guys out.

 

I remember been a little impressed with Tommy for the first few rounds, he looked to be doing everything right. Then he just seemed to lose his edge. Mercer, when in that mode was a beast. He tried pounding Morrison In to the floor!

 

Yeah. Mercer wasn’t holding back was he?

 

Was it a 50-50 fight? My memory is that Mercer was favored, but I could be wrong. I do recall that I was surprised by how well Morrison performed the first few rounds. 1991 was interesting for Mercer: In both of his fights that year he was behind on the cards and scored knockouts to win.

 

My money is on James

 

Morrison was getting the fanfare. He was with the Clayton outfit. Explosive regular wins over Pinklon Thomas and the like. The jury was still out on him but Morrison had more wins than Mercer had and was gaining popularity. Mercer had that tough fight with Bert Cooper around then and came from behind to beat Damiani. Much better wins. But I don’t think mercer was getting quite the credit.

 

right. The bill Cayton machine vs the Marc Roberts machine. No comparison.

And I don't know if you remember, but they were selling shares of the Roberts fighters on the OTC and trying desperately to sell shares and get stock in that stable.

 

Morrison was becoming a hot commodity, with a string of did you see that type of KO's and his performance in one of the Rocky movies.

His manager Bill Clayton wanted Tommy to train for this fight away from Kansas City where Tommy went though girls like a pack of gum, drank like a fish, and partied using who knows what.

As it was, he went into his most important fight, lacking a bit in stamina, which was one of his weak points. I remember watching the fight. Morrison started hot and was up 3-0, but by round four, he began to gas. Mercer was far more durable than Clayton suspected, and Mercer stunned him then unloaded with Morrison being out on his feet. The Referee must have been sleeping. An epic KO.

Morrison's trainer said he was the most stubborn athlete he ever coached. If Morrison listened back then, and put in the road work for conditioning, he might have pulled off a 10 round decision. Morrison wasn't durable at all, but he had the heart. Recovering from that type of KO isn't easy.

 

Absolutely. That was horrifying to watch. A lot of guys that would be the end of a career right there.