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Tommy David Morrison (born January 2, 1969, Jay,
Oklahoma) is a former world heavyweight boxing
champion. Dubbed "The Duke", he is the grandnephew
of Hollywood star John Wayne.  Morrison has also
garnered media coverage for his troubled life
outside the boxing ring. 

Morrison started his professional boxing career on
November 10, 1988 with a first round knockout of
William Muhammad in New York City. Twenty days
later, he scored another first round knockout win.


In 1989, Morrison had 19 wins, 15 by knockout.
Among the fighters beaten were former Mike Tyson
opponents Lorenzo Boyd, Dave Jaco and Lorenzo
Canady, as well as former George Foreman opponents
Steve Zouski and Ken Lakusta.

His biggest breakthrough, however, came in 1989,
when Sylvester Stallone was a spectator at one of
Morrison's bouts and realised that Morrison would
be ideal for Rocky V. Stallone arranged for
Morrison to have a script reading, and was cast as
Tommy Gunn in the movie. While Morrison did win
two fights in 1990, it was when Rocky V was
released in December of that year that he gained
mainstream popularity.

In 1991, Morrison, already the receiver of much
television exposure, won four fights, against
opponents the calibre of former Larry Holmes world
title challenger and Tyson opponent James Quick
Tillis, and former world champion Pinklon Thomas. 
He was then given a crack at becoming world
Heavyweight champion by WBO champ Ray Mercer in a
Pay Per View card held on October 18 1991.
Morrison lost what turned out to be a highlight
film knockout in round five. 

Morrison had six wins in 1992, including one over
former Riddick Bowe opponent Art Tucker, and one
over future world title challenger Joe Hipp, who
would later become the first Native American to
challenge for the world Heavyweight title. After
two wins in 1993, including one over two time
former world title challenger Carl Williams
(boxer)|Carl Williams, Morrison found himself
fighting for the world championship again, this
time against Foreman, On June 7. Morrison
surprised many critics by outpointing Foreman over
12 rounds, winning the world title. Almost
immediately, talks of a fight with World Boxing
Council|WBC world champion Lennox Lewis began,
although it would not have been a unification
bout, because the WBC has always refused to have
recognised the WBO. 

Talks of a Morrison-Lewis fight, however,
momentarily came to a stop because Morrison was
himself upset in his first defense by virtually
unknown Michael Bentt, being knocked out in round
one in front of a live HBO Boxing audience. 

He recovered by winning three bouts in a row in
1994, but then, he drew in his last fight of the
year, against another virtual unknown, Ross
Puritty.

He won three fights in 1995 before meeting Razor
Ruddock for the IBC Heavyweight Championship. This
fight was named fight of the year by various
magazines, as Morrison dropped Ruddock several
times, but had to climb off the canvas in round
one himself before scoring a sixth round knockout
win. 

The fight with Lewis, who had also lost his world
championship, finally came off after the fight
against Ruddock. Lewis stopped Morrison in six
rounds.   

A few days before his next fight, to be shown on
Showtime, Morrison had a mandatory HIV test
performed by the Nevada state athletic commission.
It was revealed during Showtime's telecast of the
boxing undercard, that Morrison was on a flight
home to Oklahoma City, following the revelation
that the HIV test proved positive, automatically
retiring him from boxing as a competitor.  

Later in 1996, Morrison announced that he wished
to make a comeback with one more bout, the
proceeds of which would go to benefit his newly
created KnockOut Aids Foundation.  Morrison won
what would turn out to be his final fight, a first
round knockout of Marcus Rhode in Tokyo.  Morrison
finished his boxing career with a record of 46
wins, 3 losses, 1 draw, with 40 of his wins by
knockout.

Morrison spent 14 months in prison after retiring
on drug and weapons charges. 

On September 9, 2003, Morrison's wife Dawn gave
birth to a boy, Tristin Duke Morrison. He and his
family currently live in rural White County,
Tennessee, where he is seeking a return to acting,
and doesn't rule out the possibility of fighting
again.  He is currently penning his autobiography
and has recently signed a deal that would see a
movie produced on his life. 

On April of 2005, Morrison admitted in an
interview to using steroids, both before, during
and after his boxing career was over.


== External links ==
*http://espn.go.com/boxing/s/2000/0504/516004.html
ESPN article about Morrison's time in jail
*http://www.spartaexpositor.com/newsdetail.asp?sea
rch=Tommy+Morrison&ArticleID=252 Sparta Expositor
article about Morrison's recent years
*http://www.hbo.com/boxing/watn/morrison.shtml
HBO: Where Are They Now?