Tommy Morrison, what could have been

I agree with the Colonel. Morrison got all he could get out of his career. He was a pretty good heavyweight, a top five contender, that could punch, not box all that well and had a fairly decent chin, and a big heart. Having a decent chin, only fair boxing skills and a porous defense leads to a few bad KOs.

He was extremely marketable. A good looking white guy that could punch and speak properly.

As for being found to be HIV positive, Morrison was being lined up for a Tyson fight, which would have been the end of Morrison.
Having HIV only cost him a couple of fights, one being a serious beat down by Tyson.

 

I think he could have been a bit better .. he could fight smart as he proved against Foreman .. his limitation was a less than granite chin ..

 

I think Morrison got the most he could out of his skills. I don't think anything was left on the table because of different issues. He was a strong guy who had a decent jab and speed, but was inconsistent and had an iffy defense when thinking offense. A problem with many hard punchers, they forget defense. He beat Foreman, I never thought he could do that, and he came back from the Mercer fight which was a brutal knockout, to actually in my mind out career Mercer himself.

 

There is only so far that glass cannon heavyweights can go.

Eventually you will have to step into a position in a fight where that chin gets checked, and its all over for you.

I think he had a good career all things considering. His punch resistance was never good enough when he stepped up above a certain level

 

the guy was only ko'ed against Mercer and Lewis I think, and fought some other heavy hitters and beat them. Glass chin? I don't think so,Morrison was a very good heavyweight. Good speed and power and could box when he wanted to

 

Morrison maximized his potential. He was a small, untalented, chinny guy with a good steroids-enhanced hook. That was all that he was ever going to be, whether he trained on beer and cigarettes or not.

 

Good question. Morrison without the steroid induced bulk was a more fluid and athletic fighter. Take away the constant booze/drugs/cigarettes lifestyle too and he might have been much, much better. Hard to say how much it would've moved his ceiling, but it would've moved it for sure.

 

I dunno, conditioning did not seem to be his limitation, so the drugs may not have hurt him much.
I do think his chin was not bad but average. Given the Big Guns he faced & a lack of defense, he was not a glass chin at all.
But I disagree about the other drugs, PEDs. I think he needed the strength & bulk to do as well, certainly in the modern era.
When do you think that he was clean, & how did he do?

 

I don't think he'd have done much more.

His limitations were exposed by Mercer.

A fighter can't develop a better chin.

 

He did have some talent, though. Good speed and power.

 

Against Mercer I felt he hurt Ray and then when for broke, leaving himself punched out when Mercer weathered the storm lack of pacing.No doubt his chin wasn't sterling but he was only ko'd by very good punchers.

 

LOL, WK and Lewis beg to differ, both are weak chinned but dedicated them selfs and adjusted their styles accordingly, Morrison never did, as a matter of fact he doubled down on partying......the ONLY time he had a functional training camp was the Foreman fight...........otherwise he strictly "trained" mainly with booze. drugs and Puzzy while being MIA in camp.

Morrison had a lot of natural talent but boxing is 80% mental and 20% physical ......he never got the mental part under control.

 

Well, Wlad and Lewis were much taller than Morrison. They learned to employ a laid back approach where they maximized their height and reach advantages.

Morrison didn't have the size to do that.

I do commend him for the excellent strategy he employed in the Foreman fight.

He was able to move, box and use his handspeed to stay away from the powerful but painfully slow Foreman and, thus, made his weak chin a Non-issue in that fight .

That style likely wouldn't work against a younger, faster opponent, though.