http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/9626860/ex-heavyweight-champ-tommy-morrison-dies-44 Former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison died in an Omaha, Neb., hospital late Sunday night. He was 44. Morrison's longtime promoter, Tony Holden, said Morrison died at 11:50 p.m. with his wife, Trisha, beside him. Morrison tested positive for HIV in 1996 before a fight with Arthur Weathers, effectively ending his boxing career. In the years that followed, he denied having HIV and also challenged the existence of the virus. Trisha Morrison, who married Morrison in 2011, picked up that fight, and in a recent interview with ESPN.com insisted that Morrison had Guillain-Barre Syndrome, not HIV. "I don't know what the official cause of death at the hospital will be," he said. "You prepare for things like this, and still you feel like you got hit by a truck when you hear the news." In 1993, Morrison beat George Foreman to win the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title. He lost to Lennox Lewis in 1995. He also gained fame for his role in the 1990 movie "Rocky V," where he portrayed "Tommy Gunn," a rookie boxer who is trained by Rocky Balboa, portrayed by star Sylvester Stallone. Morrison, as Gunn, goes on to win the heavyweight title in the movie and then later fights and loses to his mentor. Morrison was born in Arkansas and grew up in Oklahoma.
Sad thing, but one of those deaths you saw coming for a long time. What a bizarre story his was. Right at the tipping point of modern media in sports. RIP
Practically lucked into a multi-million dollar boxing career; right at the time that the best heavyweights were either aging, in jail or just freaking nuts: remember the one guy joining the marines, throwing his belt in the trash, having someone parachute into one his matches, getting punched in the nuts twice by that other guy, and the guy who started crying in the middle of a re-match?
Is this the same guy that lost to Ray Mercer which kinda changed the tone of his career. Was he undefeated prior to the Ray Mercer fight? Did he fell into an abyss after that loss? R.I.P Duke.
While there's no doubt he's far from one of the divisions' all time greats, I think he's often unfairly portrayed as an above-average journeyman who won the belt by default. Similar to how Rockets' championships always have their value hedged with the "but Jordan was retired" cop-out. On the other hand, it's easy for your skills to be overshadowed by routine controversy and/or bizarre behavior.
He denied it or didnt want to believe he was positive. I believe he even fought a couple times in 2007-2008
