Morrison Tommy. American boxer-professional, actor. Biography

Tommy Morrison is a famous American boxer, actor. This is an interesting and ambiguous personality. The story of Tommy Morrison is very exciting. Let's take everything in order ...

Dynasty of Boxers Morrison

Tommy Morrison, born in Greywett , Arkansas, no doubt was a true American with a family history of several generations. Box for the family Morrison was not a means of existence, but one of the hobbies. The older brother Tommy and his two uncles regularly performed quite successfully at local competitions. From childhood, the future professional sportsman not only heard their stories about boxing matches, but he felt the smell of leather gloves, saw the training of relatives and heard a special noise of the hall.

In Arkansas - the southern US state, part of whose population led a genealogical line from cowboys, long since respected the power. There was fertile soil for boxing. Not only did the strong sex empathize with sports news, but women were also aware of the interests of their halves. Mother Tommy, who organized his first fight, was no exception. She chose an older and bigger boy as a rival to her 5-year-old son, promising a soda for victory. So Tommy Morrison took the first step in this difficult, sometimes very cruel, but really masculine sport.

"Golden Glove" gave birth to Pancher

Tommy did not lack good coaches and problems over time for classes. From the first years he received lessons from the classical American boxing school, and his sports growth among amateurs moved within the framework of the most popular national competitions "Golden Glove", as well as among hundreds of other teenagers who later became world stars in the ring.

For a guy it became a habit to choose his older rivals. Tommy Morrison, the height, whose weight has always been quite impressive, only 13 years old boxing against 20-year-old guys and defeated them. By the age of 18, Tommy had become a powerful athlete 188 cm tall and weighing about a centner. By this time, he accurately determined his boxing role - puncher, or boxer, to the delight of the audience in the stands, always aimed at a powerful blow and early victory over the opponent. Despite the fact that he worked in the right-hand stance, he had a strong side impact with his left hand - hook. Sometimes this his crowning reception was compared to the similar "hook" of Mike Tyson. In the ring, Morrison tried to break through to the middle or near distance and accented series of hooks and uppercuts to "knock out" his opponent's spirit. Most of his won in the amateurs, and then in the professional battles, he ended with a clean knockout or technical knockout. Few could stand on their feet without touching the floor, all the time allotted for the fight.

The First Baptism

When did Tommy Morrison become famous? He started fighting in the professional ring in 1989. Heavyweight reigned Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Evander Holyfield, and at the same time began to score the first ranking points future absolute world champion Lennox Lewis. In this dark-skinned company, the talented blond man looked like an outcast. Like all newcomers, he started with 4 round battles. The first fights with Steve Zowski and Aaron Brown passed though with its clear advantage, but not particularly vividly. In the third fight, Morrison showed himself in all his glory by knocking out Rick Alice in the first round. The next two boxers, confronting Tommy in the first year of his professional career, also felt the power of his punches and spent a long time resting on the ring floor in the state of the groggy.

Tommy in Hollywood

The following year, Tommy Morrison was forced to take a creative vacation. He was invited to shoot "Rocky 5" for the role of a beginner, but very promising boxer Tommy Gunn. According to the plot of the picture, the aged Rocky Balboa decided to give the young sportsman all the secrets of his skill, but the competitors took talent from under his nose with attractive promises. Tommy fits perfectly into his role.

The giant blond looked great next to the swarthy Sylvester Stallone. In the film, he played himself - a fickle and impulsive in everyday life. Despite the rather "sour" reviews about the film itself, Morrison's acting was highly appreciated. At some point in time he began to dream of a serious acting career, introducing himself as the second Elvis Presley. But the expected offer from Hollywood was not followed. The genre of films about sports has very limited potential in all countries. Tommy had to return to the boxing hall again to sacks and pears and, wearing gloves, continue to torture himself with heavy training, preparing for new battles and rivals.

Well, where we do not

Later, Morrison Tommy, trying to maximize himself, did not refuse other experiments. When the audience began to show an obvious interest in mixed martial arts, he spent 3 battles on the MMA version, ending them early with the usual knockouts, but he did not go further than this. First, Tommy Morrison - a boxer to the bone, and learn wrestling seizures and strangulation, he was not happy. Secondly, by that time numerous pleasant temptations, which promised him the well-being of a well-known sportsman, gradually began to overshadow the competitive motivation.

Resting a year on the set of "Rocky 5", Morrison continued "beating" his rivals in the ring. The next of them became James Tillis and Piclon Thomas.

The first misfire

In October 1991, Tommy went to the ring against the WBO champion Ray Mercer, whom he lost a long time in the amateur ring. Bookmakers determined before the meeting of preference in the direction of Tommy, but the fight ended with his knockout. Morrison Tommy had an undeniable advantage at the very beginning, but did not calculate his strength and exhausted himself. Mercer could only wait for the right moment for the final blow, which happened in the 5th round.

Tommy vs. legends

In just 10 years in the professional ring Morrison Tommy had 52 fights, losing only 3 of them, and the reputation of the puncher firmly adhered to him. The overwhelming number of his victories were early. The most famous rivals of the white boxer were George Foreman and Lennox Lewis. "Big" George, in the 70s the former absolute world champion, who defeated Joe Frazer and gave way only to the great Mohammed Ali, returning to the ring, was still an impressive force. He, having lost a little in mobility, completely retained the force of his blows. The championship fight between them lasted all 12 rounds and ended with a unanimous decision in favor of Morrison, who was then given the WBO champion belt.

Lennox Lewis was a tough nut to Morrison. He could not counter anything against the Lennox jabbers from a distance, the faster Canadian did not give him closer to the goal. As a result, the battle turned into a beating. By the 6th round Morrison because of the bruise, almost nothing was seen, and the judge was forced to stop the fight.

What kind of real cowboy is not a reveler?

By the time Lewis met Morrison, Tommy had already become a hero not only of sports news, but also of police reports. The love of alcohol and fast driving has gradually displaced sports. These addicts were later added to the use of drugs and illegal carrying weapons. As a bolt from the blue in 1996, the news about the disease of a boxer with AIDS arose. Only 11 years later, it was announced that the diagnosis was erroneous, and Morrison was even given a boxing license. However, Tommy stubbornly refused to repeat the analysis. Entering the ring, he represented the pale resemblance of the former champion. After several 4-round rating battles with the newcomers of the professional ring and completely knocked out the knockouts of their desire to continue the race for the awards, he quietly left the sport.

The mystery of death carried to the grave

On the first day of autumn 2013, news agencies announced his death at the age of 44. He died quietly in his home in Nebraska. What did Tommy Morrison die of? The cause of death is still a mystery. Whether it was HIV is hard to say. The officially declared diagnosis is respiratory and metabolic acidosis and multiple organ failure. The body was not opened, the boxer was suspiciously cremated. Tommy Duke Morrison, and that's how he always represented him in the ring, and could not become an absolute champion and a great actor ...