Tommy Morrison vs Chris Byrd

The hate for Morrsion on here is pitiful. I guarantee you would not bet your house on Byrd to beat Morrison.

For such a wager you would review all the tape on Byrd and be reminded that Byrd had no legs and no hitting power whatsoever. You needed BOTH to beat Morrison

 

Tommy had no fighting IQ. His team had him punching by the numbers. Even in interviews with Tommy, it was always "we" did great, "we" got the jab going, etc... He was an attempt to make a world class fighter out of less than world class material.

I hadn't even considered the Wlad connection. With you, everything is 1 degree of separation to your maniacal hatred of the man, the greatness, the monument that still casts a shadow over the division, Wlad Klitschko. When is his HOF induction, again? I need to book a flight.

 

Mercer was statue, he had no feet movement and he demolished the best version of Morrison

And if Byrd had enough power to drop/hurt guys like Thunder/Peterson/Butler, he would have had more than enough to hurt Tommy

 

Tommy actually took the time to read his opponents before attacking , unlike David Tua who had no ring IQ , at ALL.

Watch the Tua fight again and notice how he neglected the head for 12 rounds. .
Tommy would target the head and body and Byrd hadn't the legs to move out of the way.

Byrd has no advantages in this fight , absolutely none. Ike showed how forward pressure , power and varied punching rendered him completely useless.

You never hid your hatred of Morrsion and wear it openly and proudly. . Fine by me. But deluding yourself into believing Morrison was "robotic" proves your pick is motivated by total bias!

 

Mercer was down on all the cards when he stopped Tommy. . It would take Byrd 24 round to wear him down for a stoppage at which point he wouldn't have won a single round.

 

Half of Tommy's opponents, even the most shopworn, put him on ***** Street.

I was aboard the Hype Train 30 years ago as a young man. Quickly, I came to realize that Tommy just wasn't the goods. He was tight, lacked stamina, unimaginative, not a great athlete and had a low Ring IQ... and then the stories started to emerge that he partied like crazy. We got what he was, a more invested-in, better hyped version of Johnny du Plooy.

Again, I was there. I saw him live. I was on speaking terms with people behind the scenes who were unafraid to give the real dirt. You can go ahead and create a fictitious revisionist version of him if you like. But don't expect anyone who was anywhere near the action to recognize him.

 

He out-performed Shannon Briggs against a much better version of Foreman. . A deteriorated version of him did no worse against Lewis than the best version of Briggs.
Thats reality. . Byrd losing to past prime Golota whose speed was completely gone is reality.

Morrison lost and had problems with real HWs with a punch. He doesn't have problems with a slow footed 175 pound bloater with cream puffs as fists.
Think Maidana vs Broner. Thats what the fight would look like

 

He ran like a mug against Foreman, huffing and puffing, turning his back. It was a strategy that he could not employ against any other opponent. Because any other opponent not in middleage would have been able to catch him and make him pay.

And no, he did not do better than Briggs did against Lewis. That's an absurd reading of the two fights. Briggs actually presented a real danger to Lewis.

He had major problems with Joe Hipp, for Christsakes. He had major problems with Yuri Vaulen. With Michael Bentt. With Ross Purrity. With a 100 year old Truth Williams. With a 110 year old Razor Ruddock.... He could have major problems with all types and abilities.

 

I went with Byrd to outpoint Morrison. But Tommy would be dangerous

 

Byrd didn't hit hard enough to deter Tommy. Morrison is just as fast as Byrd, much stronger, harder punching. He'd knock Chris out.

 

He simply wasn't a world class fighter.
He wasn't genuinely rated as a world class fighter in his own time, except briefly between the Foreman and Bentt fights. He ran and nicked a decision against a plodding Foreman, which Axel Schulz did later on more convincingly in the eyes of many.

Morrison was a hype job but no one was really buying it. They could see he was second-rate at best, more like third tier for most part.
He was a very half-hearted attempt at an American "White Hope" but most Americans were happy with their black heavyweights in that era anyway.

If you followed boxing at that time you will know this is the truth.
Also, if you researched his record and watch the fights, you will know this is the truth.
It's not "hate", just facts.

 

This is my opinion too. I'd favour Byrd on points, but have to note that Morrison always had that punch and a fair variety of useful attacks. I think Tommy has the guns to trouble Byrd, especially early.

 

No man. Morrison wasn't a hype job. He had explosive power and decent skills. He also had crappy stamina and a suspect chin. On the right night he could give people hell. Let's be fair to him. If he'd had good stamina he'd have probably stretchered Mercer out of there.

 

Lots of guys lasted more than 5 rounds with Mercer.
Morrison's stamina was okay but he couldn't take a punch.

I think the Carl Williams fight best illustrates Morrison's level.
Morrison struggled badly with a washed-up former contender who was never known for durability and was stylistically always vulnerable to left hook, Morrison's best weapon.
The problem for Morrison was that Williams was just a degree away from being completely empty shell "shot" and that degree was enough to make him competitive.
In his next big fight Morrison ran like hell from Foreman.

I'll be fair to Morrison, he was a busy fighter, took a lot of fights, was a hard puncher and showed guts many times. He was a dangerous professional boxer. He just wasn't world class.

 

There's no need for the history lesson or the common "if you were around at the time" speil. You weren't around in Jack Johnsons day but youre fairly certain he'd run through Micheal Spinks.

And I'm fairly aware of Tommy's faults and know he wasn't world class but this isn't revelant to a fight with Chris Byrd who wouldn't be world class during the 90s either. In fact he was a non ranker at HW until the naughties.

Furthermore, something Tommy didn't lack was heart and guts.
To stop a guy like that you needed to get his respect and Byrd who couldn't punch out of a wet paper bag would certainly not be able able to keep Tommy off him.

Make your case against Tommy in the Sanders thread as Corrie was a real HW who had the power to deal hold his ground.