Rest in Peace, Tommy Morrison

Published

12 years ago

September 2, 2013

Tommy Morrison, who for a brief span of time represented hope for an American boxing public who offered them a link to past glory days, and whose ring exploits were later overshadowed with his resistance to accepting a diagnosis of being HIV positive, has died.

The Oklahoma-bred hitter, whose left hook was the sort which could do damage to even the iron chinned, was 44. Cause of death has not been released.

His record as a professional will stand for perpetuity at 48-3-1, with 42 knockouts.

By 1991, his buzz was what it was partially because the press in the States had been preoccupied with finding that next “Great, White Hope,” a Caucasian sensation whose skin tone would match that of a semi-substantial portion of the populace who sought a light-skinned heavyweight champ. Part of the early buzz spread because Morrison claimed to be the grand-nephew of film icon John Wayne, “the Duke.” A 1990 role in Rocky V, playing the next big thing who Rock has to thrash some humility into, eventually, put him on the radar of non fight fans.

When Morrison beat George Foreman and nabbed the WBO title in 1993, he was a long step closer to being that guy. He wasn’t now a trumped up sort, who got connections because of his complexion; no, coming back from the demolition KO Ray Mercer inflicted upon him in 1991 demanded Morrison be lauded for his heart and soul.

His luck, or his fate, took a turn when a rust-shedder against Michael Bentt in 1993 resulted in another KO loss, and the evaporation of an $8 million payday against champion Lennox Lewis. He fought six rebuilding bouts, and then got the W against another bomber, Razor Ruddock, in 1995. That earned him the tardy date with Lewis, and Morrison lost to Lennox, via TKO in October of that year.

Fate landed a sharper blow in when Morrison tested HIV positive in 1996, as he prepped for a comeback bout, against Arthur Weathers. He was 27, and the world had been turned on its axis for him, as quickly and violently as his left hook disconnected foes from reality. Morrison initially accepted the HIV diagnosis, and admitted he was extremely promiscuous. “Sex became a part of my conditioning program,” he’d tell people. NBAer Magic Johnson had somewhat prepared sports fans for this news when on Nov. 7, 1991, he told the public he was HIV positive, but Magic’s situation didn’t help bring much in the way of clarity to a young athlete who had to ponder the end of his career, and, perhaps, his life.

You had to feel for Morrison when he publicly pondered if he had five, maybe ten years left to live. He made it longer than that, but the road was paved with incidents galore for the man who was entering Toughman contests when he was 13 struggled to come to grips with the stunning diagnosis. By the fall of 1996, Morrison was saying he wanted to fight on, against the perception that HIV necessitated a ring exit. His quest was helped by the announcement by George Foreman that he’d happily share a ring, and blood and sweat, with Morrison.

By 1997, his acceptance of HIV had switched, to a stubborn denial. The medications used to treat HIV, he maintained, not the virus, kicks a breakdown in the immune system into motion. Marcus Rhode agreed to get in the ring against Morrison on Nov. 3, 1996, but the venue was in Japan, as the US wasn’t open to allowing Morrison to play his trade here.

He boxed twice more, during a more serious comeback attempt, in 2007 and finally, in 2008, against Matt Weishaar in Mexico, a TKO3 victory.

Morrison was fighting the law at times following the diagnosis. In 2000, he sat in an Arkansas lockup, for a cocaine and firearm charge. The story how he contracted HIV had changed, as he now says he got it injecting steroids.

By 2006, he was telling the press that it’s possible some nefarious boxing promoter had rigged the test to come up positive, to stop the Morrison train in its tracks. But hope came alive in 2007, when it looked like Top Rank would sign him, if he looked decent in his February bout in West Virginia against John Castle. His blood showed no trace of HIV, and thus he was able to step in the ring. He beat Castle and fought in Mexico, but age, and layoffs, had sapped him of too much vibrancy. He would not box again, though he was still talking comeback and working out in 2010 and 2011, even though so of his own family members, including dad Tim, said he was “deteriorating.”

Some worried about his mental state when he asserted that he’d teleported himself to get out of a shady situation in a tavern in a 2011 interview.

By 2012, the rumor mill churned regular rumors that his health had taken a nasty turn, and he wasn’t long for this earth.

Last week, a story hit ESPN which said Morrison’s mom stated he has AIDS, and is “in the end stages,” in a bed in Nebraska. His current wife, Trisha Morrison, told the writer he was sick, but not from AIDS. She wrote this on his Facebook page a bit after noon on Monday: “Tommy fought right to his last breath. I held his powerful left hook hand till the end- he was not alone. I never left his side. He so loved his fans and reading and listening to your emails and messages. In his last few minutes, I whispered into his ear how much his friends and family loved him. He deserves to be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame- would you help me help him get there? Send your emails of support and love to tommythedukemorrison1@yahoo.com so I can share them with his sons that love him so much.”

Morrison’s legacy will be easiest to convey from the videos which show him hurling that thunderbolt of a left hook. Of course, his legacy is more varied and murky than that. Morrison used boxing to get distance from himself and a difficult home life, where his volatile dad could be abusive–dad put him in Toughman shows when he was in seventh grade–so it can be argued that Morrison is an example of boxing’s ability to lift up, as it gave him purpose and direction. He also helped convince holdouts that HIV isn’t a “gay” disease, that the virus can be spread by heterosexuals, so for that inadvertent public service, he can be commended.

The Morrison life for me brings to mind the quote by Plato: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”

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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

Published

1 hour ago

May 4, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Undercard-Results-and-Recaps-from-the-Inoue-Cardenas-Show-in-Las-Vegas

The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.

The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.

The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.

Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.

Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.

A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.

In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.

Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.

Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.

In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.

Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.

Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Published

22 hours ago

May 3, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.

In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.

Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.

Semi-wind-up

In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.

A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.

The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.

Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.

Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.

Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.

Heavyweights

In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.

Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.

The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.

In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions

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Rolly Romero Upsets Ryan Garcia in the Finale of a Times Square Tripleheader

Published

2 days ago

May 2, 2025

David A. Avila

Rolly Romero Upsets Ryan Garcia in the Finale of a Times Square Tripleheader

Disappointment.

Those bright lights on Times Square proved too much for some but not for Rolly Romero who soaked it up, floored Ryan Garcia early, then cruised to victory on the public streets of Manhattan on Friday.

Romero (17-2, 13 KOs) rode into the prize ring in a vintage Chevy Impala against Garcia (24-2, 23 KOs) and his flashy Batmobile on the streets of Manhattan and walked away victorious.

Simple as one-two-three.

Though both fighters pack tremendous power it was the lightning speed of Garcia that transfixed most and many felt that speed would prevail. It did not.

Instead, Romero caught Garcia inside with his own left hook followed quickly with another hook and down went the Southern Californian in the second round. But just like in previous instances Garcia quickly got up.

Romero tried to end the fight but was caught with a Garcia left hook and you could visibly see the changes in attitude. Romero re-thought his strategy and took the safer approach of making it a slow-moving exchange of feints, jabs and touches from distance.

For the next 10 rounds the crowd first sat on the edge of their seat then slowly sank back realizing that self-preservation had overtaken both fighters.

Though there were moments of possible shock, awe and explosion, it never came. After 12 rounds two judges scored it 115-112, and another 118-109 for Romero.

“Knockdowns always help the fighter,” said Romero.

Garcia was gracious in defeat.

“Rolly fought a good fight and did a good job,” said Garcia. “Hats off to Rolly.”

Haney Wins

Las Vegas fighter Devin Haney (32-0, 15 KOs) defeated Central California’s Jose Carlos Ramirez (29-3, 18 KOs) in a fight with few punches exchanged but plenty of side-to-side movement to win by unanimous decision.

For most fans, watching dirt turn to mud would have been more exciting.

If Haney’s goal was to win the fight and remain undefeated, he succeeded. If he was seeking to entertain fans and prove he is one of the best welterweights in the world?

It was a failure.

Still, Haney evaded exchanges for more than two minutes out of every round. Ramirez, knowing that chasing with abandon could lead to traps could not close the distance.

Haney did get caught a few times and proved any shock residual from his last fight against Ryan Garcia a year ago was a none-issue. Ramirez was also caught by a few uppercuts and survived.

Though very little meaningful punches were landed by either fighter, the judges chose Haney 119-109 twice and 118-110.

Teofimo Wins

Fighting in front of hometown fans, Teofimo Lopez (22-1, 13 KOs) gave Arnold Barboza (32-1) his first defeat.

But it was never easy.

It was like watching a magician at work as Lopez led viewers, commentators and TV judges to think he was overwhelming Barboza with his left hand. Meanwhile the actual fight was happening in a far different dimension.

Jim Lampley, the golden voice of TV commentating for decades, returned but he needs a crack group to lead him toward the proper direction. In this instance he was told Lopez was winning every round.

He was not.

Every time Lopez tried to bamboozle his foe, he was met with a body shot, jab or some other deterrent. Every round was contested scientifically with precise steps, counter steps and touches.

Lopez was quickly swollen by the blows landed by Barboza, yet the Californian did not show as much. Lopez was indeed connecting too.

It was a brilliant display of scientific boxing that the commentating crew failed to convey to the viewers. At one point, I simply turned off the sound.

Few blows landed flush. A right cross that beat Lopez to the punch in the sixth round was perhaps the best. A slick three-punch combination by Lopez in the seventh round was poetry.

Neither fighter was able to take over the fight.

Lopez moved around every round never staying in the same spot. Barboza maintained his balance and composure and seldom gave Lopez easy pickings. After 12 rounds of scientific boxing all three judges scored in favor of Lopez 116-112 twice and 118-109.

“Never quit in anything you want to do,” said Lopez.

On another note, the new commentating team for DAZN needs better side support for Lampley.

Overall, the Ring Magazine fight card was all razzle but no dazzle.

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