Tommy
Morrison, “My comeback could be the greatest in
the history of boxing”
An interview with
former Heavyweight Champion Tommy “the duke” Morrison
By Mike Casile (PBR) (715/06)
Tommy
Morrison was one of the biggest punchers in the heavyweight division a decade
ago, before he was forced into retirement when he tested positive with HIV. We
discussed his career, from the tough man circuit, his journey to the
heavyweight Championship, and returning to the ring for a comeback.
PBR:
Tommy,
what initially brought you to the game of boxing?
TM:
The last five generations, on my dad’s
side of the family, have always been fighters, and all the women have always
been nurses.
PBR:
I
guess that worked out pretty well then
TM:
I guess it did (chuckle)
PBR:
I
remember your debut fight at the felt forum in
TM:
Really, that’s the only fight I have
never seen
PBR:
That’s
ok; neither did the guy you were fighting.
TM:
(Laughter), I suppose he didn’t
PBR:
Because
of matches that ended like that, you began to get a ton of Television, even
Motion Picture exposure, how much did that contribute to your early success?
TM:
Well, the Rocky “thing” didn’t hurt, I
can tell you that, but nobody likes to go see a boxing match. Boxing matches
are boring. People would say to me, “oh you’re a boxer?” I would say, no I’m
not a boxer, I’m a fighter, and there is a big difference. People like to see
exciting fights, that’s what puts the butt’s in seats, and that is what gets
exposure.
PBR:
How
do you feel about term, “The Great White Hope” that was very much attached to
you during a time when the heavyweight division was dominated primarily by
African Americans?
TM:
That is something that the media
created, that was not my deal. The media can sometimes create their own animal,
and do what they want. I was just trying to roll with the punches. I do not
think, in the past, the media treated me very fairly. I was just a country boy,
who liked to out and have a few bears after a fight, and they would make it
into a big deal sometimes.
PBR:
Seemed
pretty timid, compared to what other fighters were doing at that time.
TM:
That’s the way I felt Mike.
I was never trying to hide anything, I
just laid it out there, but that is not my life anymore. All the things that
used to be such a priority then don’t mean too much to me. Priorities change,
you have children, and you just do different things.
PBR:
Moving
forward to 1993, you had beaten some pretty impressive opponents, like, Razor
Ruddock, and George Foreman and were the WBO heavyweight champion of the world.
Then you lost in an embarrassing style to Michael Bentt. Do you think that hurt
your credibility?
TM:
Well, it didn’t help. That fight right
there was one of those things. If I fought Michael Bentt a hundred more times,
I would beat him, a hundred more times. It was a fluke. If you stick around the
heavyweight division long enough, it will happen to anybody, and it has. Why it
was such a big deal when it happened to me, I never understood that. Maybe it
was because I was “white” and they hung their hat on me doing well. I don’t
know.
PBR:
Do
you think fans looked past your color and noticed your power that was
reminiscing of Mike Tyson, because of the Vacuum that was the Heavyweight
diviosn then?
TM:
The division goes through this every 10
to 12 years, and is in exactly the same position it was in 1985 when Tyson came
along. He started mowing through everybody, and everybody said, this guy is
superman, but he was just a regular fighter. He has a few kinks in his armor,
and people are lining up now to fight him, I’m trying to get him to fight me.
He live right down the rode in
PBR:
One
of things I always wrote about you was that you had the punchers curse. You
seemed to rely heavily on your power, but failed to develop the necessary
skills to move to the next level. Do you agree?
TM:
I agree with you to a point, but one thing you
need to understand was that, people never seen my best. I was just starting to
get it all together, and then I had to quit. I came from the tough man circuit,
I had a lot of catching up to do, and I had a lot of experience to gain. I
didn’t have a lot of international bouts, which is mid to low level fights
really. I was real active, I had about 19 fights in 1989 on ESPN, that’s an
extraordinary amount of fights for a heavyweight, I was a tough man fighter, I
had catching up to do. I preferred to
stay active. I needed to pick things up, but to be truthful, people never seen
me at my best. I’m looking forward to bouncing in there, taking my test and
passing it, and making some waves in the heavyweight division. I always knew I was destined for greatness, I
one titles, I beat Foreman, and Ruddock, and it wasn’t a big deal to me. I knew
I could do it. Shortly after that, it became a very dark world for me. I didn’t
realize how stupid and uneducated some people could be.
PBR:
You knocked out Razor Ruddock, and beat
Foreman, and it didn’t mean anything to you?
They
were two tremendous punchers.
TM:
Well, not to me. I was losing my
passion for boxing. Not the fighting part, but the politics of it. I had some
bad people around me, not all of them, but I didn’t get along with John Brown
very well, it was a negative situation, it was very hard to keep my head above
water. It is hard to concentrate on training and keeping everything in line,
when you have to worry about everybody stealing from you.
PBR: I can understand, at lower levels,
for guys just starting out, having to deal with certain politics in boxing. But
even with you, an established fighter and Champion at that time
TM:
It’s the same, at any level.
PBR:
And
you’re ready to return to it
TM:
I think the timing of this whole thing
is perfect. What was supposed to happen ten years ago just got postponed for
ten years? It makes for a greater story. If I could come back and win a few
titles, it would be one of the greatest comebacks in the history of boxing.
PBR:
Do
you think guys will be afraid to fight you?
TM:
Part
of them will be afraid because of the “power” factor, and part of them will,
“the chicken Sh*ts” out there will not want to fight me, because of ….whatever.
But I hope that isn’t going to happen. They don’t have anything to worry about.
PBR:
Tom,
your saying, they don’t have anything to worry about, you have said on the
record that you are NOT HIV positive right now, and you think the test you got
ten years ago was a false positive. Explain to me why you feel that.
TM:
There are several different types of
dietary supplements that were on the market back then, that I was taking, and
there were a couple of other different things I was taking that would cause a
false positive, with the test they were administering back then. They test that
they give you doesn’t pick up the virus itself, it only picks up the
anti-bodies. So if your exposed to something, and your body is built up to
protest yourself the way it is supposed to, your still going to test positive.
It has been undetectable in my blood for the last 6 or 7 years, and that’s as
far as I am going to go with that. People will find out more about that, when
we decide to go to Vegas and take care of this thing.
PBR:
Do
you think there are people, trying to keep you out of it, for other reasons,
beside the HIV.
TM:
You know what? There is a part of me
that does. There was always a little part of that thought, something was going
on there. They tell me I am HIV positive, 45 minutes later; I am on a plane, by
myself, flying through
PBR:
So
when you say “they” are you speaking of promoters, like Don King?
TM:
I don’t really know, I don’t know how
deep it went, how many layers of smut, that were plastered to the side of that
event.
I had some questions, about MY own
team. If they had something to do with it. I don’t know.
There are a lot of different scenario’s
I looked at over the years, and there are some that pretty strong. A lot
stronger than the others out there. Time
will tell.
PBR:
Are
you healthy?
TM:
I’m healthier than I have ever been,
nothing has changed in my life, other than , they have prevented me from making
a living for the past ten years, and cost me about 40 million dollars.
And that’s a tough pill to swallow. This
time, its better, I have redeemed my passion fro the sport, I don’t have to
worry about anyone stealing from me. It gives me the opportunity to help a lot
of kids. I’m not just fighting for me; I am fighting for every kid that has
been discriminated against, because of HIV. It is horrible, what some of these
kids go through, like Ryan White for example. It’s ungodly.
PBR:
Well,
HIV is something that makes people uncomfortable, it is in the background, and
we don’t want to discuss it, because every human being is vulnerable.
TM:
I didn’t have a choice, I just stood up
to it, told the world, what was known as that time. How was I to know that they
were going to be wrong?
PBR:
What
do you think of some of the current champions?
TM:
I don’t even know who they are.
PBR:
Well,
what do you think of Hasim Rachman?
TM:
I think he is probably one of the most
seasoned, best ones out there right now I think. Half the heavyweight division
out there right now, I don’t know, I have never seen them fight. I know there are some eastern European
fighters out there with belts, I don’t know. You know that information out
there in the boxing world, is only as good as the people that give it to you.
I don’t draw any conclusions, until I
see a round or two of any guy fight. I could tell you in the first 30 seconds,
if I could beat him. History has shown you that real bog men can’t fight; I
think the Klitchco’s would be the two easiest fighters out there to fight.
PBR: Really? I know they have looked
suspect in some fights.
TM:
They are straight up, that old European style. History has proven that
is doesn’t work. Look at Billy Con, a light heavy weight, 175lbs, beating Bruno
Carnero, 6ft 9”, or something. There is a history of that type of fighter.
Those European guys hold their head way up high, they are asking for a problem.
PBR:
When
do you think your going to get started in your comeback?
TM:
When we know, you will know. I plan on
fighting in October, the December, I am going to try and stay as active as I
can, and I have a lot of rust to knock off. Yesterday was my official first day
in the gym, boxing, and I was in much better shape than I thought. I need little
time to get my range, speed and timing back, the power will be there.
PBR:
What
state do you think you will be fighting in?
TM:
There are a couple of different states
we can fight in, maybe over seas,
PBR:
How
are promoters taking to this, do you see interest?
TM:
Well, they are all contacting us, with
the exception of King and Arum. I wouldn’t want to deal with them anyway.
PBR:
Are
you waiting for the right deal? I have talked to some local promoters, asking
what they thought of you coming back, and they didn’t seem to know about it.
TM:
Well, it’s been rumored for awhile,
something had to go off inside me, in terms of the right deal. Timing is
everything. Being at the right place, at the right time, is everything. I don know
why everything happened the way it did, but if I had 40 million dollars back
when I was 22, I would probably be dead. So god knew what he was doing. It will
make for a more fascinating story, I believe.
PBR:
Especially
in a dead division
TM:
I am a young 37, I had a lot of
injuries, and I fought 8 years with broken hands. They never healed, but I feel
great now. It is tough, having needles running through your veins, just to
spar. That sh*t gets old.
PBR:
What
is the one thing that you want people to know about Tommy Morrison, as he makes
his comeback?
TM:
One thing that people will see in me is
a big change. I am controlled by a different spirit these days. I was wild,
when I was young, I didn’t care a whole lot what people thought. But a lot of
that had to do with the unhappiness inside me. A lot of it had to do with
having to deal with people in the sport,
not only competing with who it was I was fighting against, but having to
compete against the very people that were there to protect me. That was a very
uncomfortable situation to be in.
PBR:
Thank
you for you time, your honesty and your courage.
TM:
Thank you.
Mike
Casile
www.Philaboxingreport.com
