Tommy Morrison's rank during his career

https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine's_Annual_Ratings:_Heavyweight--1990s

 

The Ring had him ranked 9th in 1992-3

 

This.
Sources: https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine's_Annual_Ratings:_Heavyweight--1990s
Very sad though, had he kept the WBO belt around his waist a little longer, he would have been ranked 5# behind Moorer, Bowe, Lewis and Holyfield.

 

He was probably ranked 5th or 6th after he defeated Foreman, but truthfully Foreman was ranked too high anyway.
In reality, for Morrison to be considered a top 10 heavyweight in the 1990s at any time was being a little generous to him.

 

Had he kept the WBO belt longer it could of cost him fights with the aforementioned fighters. Didn’t Holyfield ask Bowe to drop the belt for fear of fighting for it costing him his ranking with the WBA/WBC/IBF ahead of their third fight? Also Moorer vacated it to go for Holyfield’s WBA/IBF/Lineal True championship.

 

Mmmm No, the WBC champ Lewis would have fought him in March 1994 in a title unification match.

 

They may if fought at that time had the money been right for both of them. I’m not positive but i think that the other three governing bodies didn’t recognise the WBO at that time. It would have to have been a monstrous payday for Lewis to give up the WBC belt and fights for the WBO. Not sure but I think you probably would of gotten stripped of fighting for WBO.

 

Man HW has gone down the tubes let's be honest. 90's was a bit of a golden era.

 

People only realise years later. Lewis was never really a fan favourite but how many would now welcome a fighter who would fight ANYONE to prove he’s the best. Just a side note. Lineal was never mentioned in those days but after Lewis beat Briggs he did mention it. Years later he mentioned names like Spinks and Douglas. So would he really bother with the WBO. Morrison would have only so far with that belt at that time.

 

No, the money has been right for both of them. Lewis wasn't going to relinquishe the WBC title. On the contrary, it was supposed to be a bout where Lewis should have made his forth title defense against Morrison. He wasn't going to abandon the much greater title and if they gave him that option to make the fight, no way in hell it would have occurred unless if Lewis , like you said, was about to receive monsterous payday.

 

I think the 1990s get overrated. It's revisionism at work.
The fact that mediocre fighters like McCall, Bruno, Seldon, Botha won world titles (WBC, WBA, IBF belts) and guys like Morrison, Bentt and Hide were WBO title holders shows how poor the division was at times.
Even old George Foreman, at 45, managed to become champion, and Larry Holmes in his mid-40s was a ranked contender too.

 

I'm comparing it to what we have now. This era is dire.

You talk about Old Holmes - fair point.

I could bring up Old Arreola, Ortiz, Helenius, Povetkin, Chisora, Pulev and methuselah Charr himself who all are highly ranked and who have had competitive fights with some of the current highlight fighters. With respect, old Holmes would do as well or better than these guys.

 

Yeah, that's true.

Either way, for much of the 1990s we had some very mediocre heavyweights getting ranked. Lionel Butler, Phil Jackson, even Oliver McCall (who somehow beat Lewis) was actually Chisora-level. Jose Luis Gonzalez, even Alex Garcia were regarded as top 10 at one time or other.
People were complaining back then the same as they do now.

 

But they consistently lose when they try to step up. Old Holmes beat Mercer and was close to beating McCall on the scorecards. By contrast old Ortiz lost twice to Wilder by stoppage and old Pulev was stopped by Joshua. So not really comparable.

Charr has been irrelevant for years.