Tommy "The Duke" Morrison (36-1, 32 KO's) vs. "Big" George Foreman (72-3, 67 KO's) for the vacant WBO heavyweight title in a bout scheduled for 12 rounds at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. June 7th, 1993.
First time I see this fight. Surprisingly good Morrison, here, who (somewhat) reminds me of Tyson, especially in the way he delivers his hooks and also his repeated use of head and body movement... Surprisingly inactive Foreman, as you all saw. Very hot ring girl. Other funny irrelevent fact: you can hear Lampley's commentary at 11:46...
There was a bigger age difference between Archie Moore (45 years old, possibly older) and Muhammad Ali (as Cassius Clay, 20) when they fought. But that was not a title fight. In title fights, Moore vs. Floyd Patterson for the heavyweight championship is a possibility, depending on what Moore's actual birthdate was. He was at least 39 and perhaps as old as 42 in that bout, whereas Patterson was 21. That aside, Foreman - Morrison could be it in a title fight. Nothing else comes to mind right now.
Interesting commentary. Can't rule out Mercer stopping him again even with a different approach, but I wouldn't say it's a case of Mercer having his number. Tommy just blew himself out after three rounds and could no longer box effectively, and was left vulnerable to Mercer's attack. With better conditioning and a more intelligent approach, Tommy could outspeed and outpunch Mercer, boxing and moving on the outside while pacing himself better. Ray wouldn't have Foreman's height and reach, either.
Lol a little less punching power? Mercer wasn't nearly as good as even a old Foreman. Didn't Holyfield knock down Mercer? He couldn't knock down a old Foreman though. And if you read up about the Foreman vs Morrison fight. Instead of training Foreman was more worried about trying to get that sitcom deal he got. Read and learn. If Foreman took this fight seriously and trained he would of won. He didn't and lost, end up story.
Toughness accounts for much of it, but being able to take a punch is also affected by conditioning. A winded fighter is much easier to knock out. To me, Tommy Morrison seemed to be a victim of his own success. When he just crushing his opponents with early knockouts and his movie appearance drew some attention, getting him bigger fights, I think he underestimated the work that the great fighters put in. And he learned the hard way that not everyone will drop from that amazing left hook.
I saw this fight a few times back in the day and often wonder how would Morrison have fared against a 25 year old Foreman that beat Frazier in 1973 . .. I have to give the fight to Foreman no matter what strategy Morrison used . Anyone hear of how Tommy is doing these days ? Some youtube posters report he's in hospice , and I can't find any up- to date info on him on the web ...
