In your opinion was tommy morrison a good fighter?

Question

he had some good wins against people like foreman and others and then all of a sudden he just disappears from boxing.

i know it had something to do with aids or something like that,but did you see alot of potential?

Answer 1

To answer your questions Morrison was a good fighter (not great). I didn't see anymore potential then what he had shown.

Answer 2

He is top ten contender caliber, not champion.

Answer 3

He was pretty good.

Answer 4

Morrison was a better than average heavyweight, but the basic reason for his popularity, at the time he was fighting, was because he was considered the "Great White Hope".

Answer 5

He had an incredible amount of power, but he wasn't a first class fighter.

Answer 6

Ray Mercer forever put Morrison on every KO high light reel that will ever be made, it was such a vicious knockout, it got a bit part in a boxing spoof starring Samuel L. Jackson and Damon Waynons called the "Great White Hype".  Tommy was a heavy hitter with questionable defense.  As tragic as it is, Morrison will always have the stigma of a positive AIDS test hanging over his legacy, and no matter what he accomplished in the ring, HIV is the legacy he will be remembered for, his role in the Rocky film just made the positive AIDS test that much bigger news.

Morrison claims it was a false positive, but boxing in general isn't famous for it's honesty, and most reasonable people tend to err on the side of caution when death is at the other end of a possible lie.  I feel sorry for the guy, and wish him the best, but there is no amount of money they could offer me to fight him, HIV is transmitted through bodily fluids, and boxing is at times a bloody sport.  It's just not worth the risk.

Answer 7

He was good enough to be a contender.  Problem was he didn't get to fight the best heavyweights in his era besides an aging George Foreman who could've easily knocked him out on a good night.  He was also slow and tentative and didn't take training seriously.

Answer 8

Tommy Morrison did have some potential but was  somewhat on the small side for a true heavyweight.  The reason he disappeared was initially not HIV, but rather the vicious knockout that he had suffered.  He was never the same again. Then, the HIV+ issue came up and he seemed to go into limbo.  He talked comeback about a year or two ago, but the HIV issue and the records relating thereto came up again and back to limbo he went.

Answer 9

Very average. All the fights that you listed that he won 99% of those wins were against nobodys he had a padded out record because A) he was the great white hope and B) he was in a Rocky film. Ok he won against a 50 year old Foreman but Mercer and Lewis who are the only other two decent fighters on his record absolutely destroyed him. Check out Mercer knocking him out on youtube, absolute devestation and Mercer is only just above average.

Answer 10

ITs hard to say how good Tommy might have been.  Sometimes I feel sympathy for any above average White American heavyweight.  Generally, people dont always mean for race to play as big a part as it ends up playing.  However, unfortunately, Someone will always turn things into issues of race.  

Tommy was above average and would have done well except for two major setbacks.  1. He started believing in his own press.  2. Ray Mercer destroyed him.  

People dont realize the enormous pressure the press and media puts on an athelete, especially a White American heavyweight.  Like Gerry Cooney before him,  Tommy was no where near ready to handle all the attention he received just for being a CONTENDER.  I really felt bad for Cooney as well.

The difference between Cooney and Morrison is that Tommy actually began to believe all the hype.   I've met both men a number of times and I can see a clear difference between the two.  While Tommy welcomed the attention, and couldnt get enough of it,  He didnt realize that its like an addictive drug.  You always crave more.  Just dont lose or try to live as a normal person, and you're fine.  The media is a VERY Ugly institution.  They will use ANYTHING to sell a story.  

Cooney never wanted any part of the whole  ''Great White Hope'' idea.   All he ever wanted was a chance to win the title and carry it with dignity and pride.  It's like Larry Holmes said,  "Don King sold racism".  He knew it would bring the people to Las Vegas by the PLANE load.  

Cooney fought a  losing battle.  The ''Fight'' against Holmes was the easy part.  Gerry did all he could to down-play the hype but he was no match for the press.  From every direction, in every part of the press,  Cooney was treated like the champion.  His many attempts to downplay it were futile.  

After he lost to Holmes,  the press ATE HIM ALIVE.  It was very unfair and downright DISGUSTING.  Collectively,  all Gerry heard was  ''You let us down".  

Morrison wanted it ALL and didnt care what had to be done, or who had to be sacrificed in order for him to ''get it''.  The ''White Hope'' thing never bothered him.  He ate it up as long as it worked for him.   Gerry STRUGGLED to downplay it, only to be Crucified when he didnt  win.  All of a sudden, he went from ''The Royal Treatment'' to ''he was never any good,  bla, bla, bla".  

Morrison became his own worst enemy.  The press became Cooney's enemy.  The loss to Mercer, while it left Tommy a damaged fighter, could have been overlooked.  Morrison would have been given as many chances as he wanted.  His behavior and later the aids thing is what did him in.

Cooney, too, would have been given more chances.  However, he never stopped trying to ''play fair''.  Fair play doesnt rest well in a pool full of sharks.  These people will do ''Whatever it takes'' to sell tickets.  

Gerry Cooney is a very decent man.  For that I will always be a fan of his.  And I will always wish him well.