Tommy Morrison was born on January 2, 1969 in Gravette, Arkansas. At age 15, his mother used a fake ID and entered him into ‘toughman’ contests, where he only lost once. After graduated high school in 1988, he received a football scholarship to Emporia State University, and in the same year won the Kansas City Golden Gloves Title as a heavyweight. Tommy claimed he had 222 fights as an amateur, and finished with a record of 202 wins and 20 losses. He reached the 1988 Olympic Trials , but lost to Ray Mercer, who went on to win the gold medal in Seoul.
Tommy’s nickname ‘The Duke’, came from claims that he was a grandnephew of John Wayne, aka Marion Morrison. He began his professional career on November 10, 1988 by knocking out William Muhammad in the first round in New York City. He followed that up with another first round knockout three weeks later, and in 1989, had 19 wins, 15 by knockout, and 0 losses.
Sylvester Stallone noticed Morrison, and arranged a reading for Tommy to appear in Rocky V. He was cast as Tommy Gunn in the movie, and took six months off from boxing in 1990 to work on the film. He had no pro fights from December of 1989 until June of 1990, due to a combination of injuries and the movie. Rocky V was released on November 16, 1990, and I of course saw it the opening weekend. I didn’t think it was bad, and thought Tommy did a pretty job of acting in the picture.
In 1991, Tommy took on a couple of veterans, and stopped them both in one round. James ‘Quick’ Tillis in January, and Pinklon Thomas in February. The ‘Duke’ also fought on the undercard of the Holyfield-Foreman bout in Atlantic City in April, knocking out Yuri Vaulin in the fifth. His June first round KO of Ladislao Mijangos was his last scheduled match before an August 9 showdown with Ray Mercer. That fight would bring both back into the ring for the first time since the ’88 Olympic Trials, and was certainly one I looked forward to.
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