After the brutal knockout loss to Ray Mercer in October of 1991, Tommy Morrison did the only thing he could do. Go home, rest, regroup, and plan a comeback. He returned to the ring on February 16, 1992 against a guy named Bobby Quarry in Las Vegas, and stopped him in two. A month later, he returned to Vegas and took on ‘Wimpy’ Halstead, a veteran with over 80 pro fights, and knocked him out in five. Every win distanced himself from the Mercer loss, both in his mind and in the minds of the boxing public.
Two more easy wins over marginal boxers Kimmuel Odum and Art Tucker, both quick KO’s in April and May, set up the toughest fight of his comeback. A June date in Reno with rugged Joe Hipp, at Bally’s in Reno on Saturday’s ABC Wide World of Sports. I watched this one intently, knowing another loss would be devastating for Tommy. He fought bravely, suffering a broken jaw, but overcoming it, knocked out Hipp in the ninth. It only helped Tommy’s image, and I was excited to see him prove his metal that afternoon.
Six months later he stopped Marshall Tillman in Phoenix in one, setting up a big fight schedule for himself in 1993. He signed to fight Carl ‘The Truth’ Williams on January 16 in Reno, Nevada, as part of a doubleheader featuring George Foreman vs. Pierre Coetzer on HBO. If both he and Foreman won, it was settled that they would meet in June for the WBO vacant title.
I went over my sister’s house to catch this one, and it was a great night of action. Tommy got off the deck, but showed grit and stopped Williams in eight. George won his bout too, making the June date a go. I didn’t really want to see it though, since I liked both Tommy and George. If I had to choose between the two if the fight came off, it was easy. George was probably my favorite boxer of all time, and there was no doubt my sentiments would be for him.
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