When I sat down to watch Lennox Lewis fight Tommy Morrison on October 7, 1995, HBO called the fight a tossup in the opening promos. I laughed out loud because quite frankly I thought it would be a blowout in favor of Lennox.
Tommy had a history of a subject chin and when he was knocked down in the first round by Michael Bentt in October of 1993, I knew his days as a contender were done. He had a string of comeback wins against mediocre fighters in 1994 and 1995 that culminated with a good win, a knockout over Razor Ruddock in June of ’95.
Lewis on the other hand was on a totally different level as a boxer. He had a couple of solid wins over Lionel Butler and Justin Fortune following his knockout defeat to Oliver McCall in September of 1994. This fight was to see who would get a title shot at one of the belts next.
The fight itself was a one-sided massacre. Morrison was never in the fight, was knocked down 4 times, suffered a bloody eye and was stopped in the 6th. It was certainly no surprise to me and ended Tommy’s career as a contender.
The following March after signing with Don King to be thrown to the slaughter against Mike Tyson, it was discovered Tommy had AIDS and had to retire. I always liked Tommy and it was a sad ending for a fighter who may have been limited, but was exciting to watch.
Every day is a good day to remember a fight!
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