Thursday, September 5, 2013

Tommy Morrison, Former Heavyweight Champ Who Starred in ‘Rocky V,’ Dead at 44

Tommy Morrison in a Los Angeles gym in 2007.
Tommy Morrison in a Los Angeles gym in 2007. The former heavyweight champion, who had been in failing health over the last few years died Sunday in a Nebraska hospital.

Tommy Morrison, Former Heavyweight Champ Who Starred in ‘Rocky V,’ Dead at 44

The hard-punching heavyweight saw his career crumble in 1996 when he tested positive for HIV, a result he challenged later in life while attempting a comeback. Not only did Morrison deny that he had HIV, but he also questioned whether the disease existed and blamed the positive tests on the work of a rival promoter.

Tommy Morrison, the hard-punching heavyweight with boy-band good looks who once beat George Foreman and starred in the Rocky franchise before falling ill in recent years — all the while denying he was HIV positive — died on Sunday at a hospital in Nebraska. Morrison, who was nicknamed "The Duke," was 44.

Morrison's death was confirmed by his wife, Trisha to the mixed martial arts website, "MMA Dirty," which reported he died of "respiratory and metabolic acidosis and multiple organ failure." His death was also confirmed by Morrison's long-time promoter, Tony Holden to the Associated Press.

Tommy Morrison goes toe-to-toe with Lennox Lewis in a heavyweight fight in Atlantic City in 1995. Lewis comes away with the win, knocking out Morrison in the sixth round.
Tommy Morrison goes toe-to-toe with Lennox Lewis in a heavyweight fight in Atlantic City in 1995.
Lewis comes away with the win, knocking out Morrison in the sixth round.

Morrison had been bed-ridden for a year, with what his mother, Diana Morrison, told ESPN.com was "full-blown AIDS" in a story last month. However, Morrison denied that charge, even after testing positive for HIV before a fight in 1996. Morrison would go on to fight three more times, winning those fights, before retiring in 2008 before waging a very public health battle for his life.

Tommy Morrison is examined by a doctor in Japan prior to his 1996 bout with Marcus Rhode.
Tommy Morrison is examined by a doctor in Japan prior to his 1996 bout with Marcus Rhode.

Wildly popular because of his good looks and punching power, in 1989, one of his fans included Sylvester Stallone, who later cast him in the role of "Tommy Gunn" for the fifth installment of the "Rocky" series. Morrison got his nickname based on a claim that he's the grandnephew of the former Hollywood star, John Wayne, and he rode that aura to fame, fortune and ultimately legal and health troubles throughout a roller-coaster of a career.

Sylvester Stallone (r.), as Rocky Balboa,  returns to the tough streets of Philadelphia to train Tommy ‘Machine’ Gunn (Tommy Morrison) in ‘Rocky V.’
Sylvester Stallone (r.), as Rocky Balboa, returns to the tough streets of Philadelphia
to train Tommy ‘Machine’ Gunn (Tommy Morrison) in ‘Rocky V.’

Morrison got his start participating in tough-man contests at the age of 13, providing a fake-ID to allow him to compete. He later boxed as an amateur, garnering some local success before he lost a narrow decision to Ray Mercer in the Olympic trials. Morrison, with his two-fisted power, quickly made a name for himself in the professional ranks, running his record to 28-0 with 23 knockouts by the time he was 22. In one of the more hyped fights of 1991, Morrison faced Mercer again as a professional in a battle of undefeated fighters. After getting off to fast start, Morrison suffered the first loss of his career, losing by a fifth-round stoppage as Mercer battered him into the ropes.

But Morrison rebounded from that loss to beat an aging George Foreman two years later to capture the vacant WBO heavyweight title. Morrison successfully defended that title once before he was destroyed by Brooklyn's Michael Bentt in just one round, getting dropped three times, in October of 1993 in what was supposed to be a tune-up bout for Morrison to face heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. After winning a wild fight with Donovan Ruddock, Morrison finally faced Lewis, only to lose by sixth-round stoppage in 1995.

Morrison was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission on Feb. 10, 1996 for testing positive for HIV before a scheduled fight against Arthur Weathers. A year later at a news conference, Morrison announced his retirement, blaming the test result on a reckless lifestyle. But in the years since, Morrison steadfastly denied he had HIV, going so far as to blame the positive findings as the "work of a rival promoter" and even a "conspiracy by the government," according to ESPN.com. Morrison tried to launch a comeback in 2006, with the rallying cry that his earlier HIV diagnosis was false positives. Morrison also came to believe that HIV did not exist, and referred to his doctors as "quacks."

Former heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison (l.) faces legal troubles in the late 1990s, when he is arrested on drug and weapons charges.
Tommy Morrison, as Tommy ‘Machine’ Gunn, trains with ‘Rocky V’ star Sylvester Stallone for the film.
According to the story on ESPN.com, Morrison began having health problems nearly two years ago when a doctor "left a 12-foot piece of surgical gauze" in his chest for more than a week, his wife, Trisha, said. He then contracted Guillain-Barre' Syndrome, in which the immune system is at war with the peripheral nervous system, the story goes on to say. She also said that Morrison contracted Miller Fisher disease, a variation of that syndrome, which can lead to paralysis in the lower limbs. His family added that Morrison was being cared for at a hospital in Nebraska but wouldn't reveal which one. — Daily News

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