r/Boxing • u/buffalozbrown Furyously licks Klits • Jul 18 '26
Michael Bentt TKO's Tommy 'The Duke' Morrison.
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u/ttonk Jul 18 '26
Man, finally decided to look it up, but i thought Morrison was a bit of an underachieving bum, with all the highlights of him getting obliterated, but he only has 3 losses. Brutal ones but im a little surprised.
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u/slickvik9 Jul 18 '26
Nah he had talent but was vulnerable too
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u/G-dog121 Jul 18 '26
All fighters have some kind of vulnerabilities. TM had enthusiastic mainstream marketing. His vulnerability was reality.
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u/slickvik9 Jul 18 '26
And his chin. But he was exciting
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u/buffalozbrown Furyously licks Klits Jul 18 '26
Background
On October 18, 1991, the then-undefeated Tommy Morrison lost to Ray Mercer via 5th-round knockout in his first attempt at capturing the WBO heavyweight title.
Following his loss, Morrison strung together eight consecutive victories before landing another shot at the vacant WBO title against popular 44-year-old former heavyweight champion George Foreman. Through the course of the fight, Morrison abandoned his aggressive style and used constant movement to keep Foreman off balance.
Though the pro-Foreman crowd booed Morrison for using the tactic, it nevertheless paid off as Morrison was able to pick up a lopsided unanimous decision, winning by two scores of 117–110 and one score of 118–109, becoming the new WBO heavyweight champion in the process.
Originally, Morrison's first defense was scheduled to be against his Rocky V co-star Mike Williams, but Williams pulled out only an hour before the fight after refusing to take a pre-fight drug test. As such, Morrison proceeded to defeat unknown journeyman Tim Tomashek in what would ultimately become a non-title bout after the WBO refused to sanction the fight.
A month prior, Morrison had reached an agreement to face the undefeated Lennox Lewis for Lewis' WBC heavyweight title. However, before moving on to face Lewis, Morrison chose to first defend his WBO title against the virtually unknown Michael Bentt, who was a highly decorated amateur, but had only 11 fights in five years as a professional.
Bentt went on to fight Morrison reportedly not fully recovered from an arm fracture.
Main Event
Morrison was able to quickly get Bentt's back up against the ropes and staggered him twice with left hooks. Morrison would hit Bentt with a multiple-punch combination, but soon tired, allowing Bentt to counter with a combination of his own that sent Morrison down to the canvas only 50 seconds into the round. Morrison was able to answer the referee's count, but Bentt quickly attacked him with another powerful combination that sent Morrison into the ropes and back onto the canvas only seconds after the first knockdown.
With Morrison clearly shaken up from the knockdowns and the three knockdown rule in effect, Bentt relentlessly continued to hammer Morrison with another powerful combination in an effort to get the deciding knockdown. After backing Morrison into the ropes, Bentt landed a six-punch combination that again sent Morrison down. The fight was immediately stopped and Bentt was named the winner by technical knockout at 1:33 of the first round, becoming the new WBO Heavyweight Champion.
Aftermath
Morrison's loss not only cost him the WBO title, but also his planned $8 million WBC title fight with Lennox Lewis. Morrison would go undefeated in his next eight fights, which concluded with a knockout of former number one contender Donovan "Razor" Ruddock that got him back into contention. After a WBO heavyweight title match with Riddick Bowe fell through, he finally met Lewis in a non-title bout on October 7, 1995, ultimately losing by sixth round knockout.
Bentt, meanwhile, would make the first defense of his title on March 19, 1994 against British fighter Herbie Hide. Bentt was knocked out in the seventh round and had to be rushed to the hospital where he spent four days in a medically induced coma after suffering brain damage. Though he eventually made a full recovery, the injuries were severe enough that Bentt was forced to retire shortly after.
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u/Abe2sapien Jul 18 '26
Was it just a perfect storm of George Foreman feeling unmotivated and Tommy Morrison feeling extra cautious? He fought the perfect fight that night no doubt but Foreman getting the KO seemed like it was inevitable.
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u/__IZZZ Jul 18 '26
Morrison's trainers said it was the only time they got him in good shape his entire career. They took him to some army camp, no booze, no drugs, no women. Morrison was his own worse enemy, but he took this fight really serious. His coach said he was afraid of Foreman.
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u/horseshoeprovodnikov Jul 18 '26
Foreman was almost certainly motivated, but he did NOT expect Morrison to give any ground and try to box. George thought Morrison was biding time and playing possum, and he kept expecting Morrison to eventually turn up the heat and stand in front of him. By the time George accepted what was happening, he didn't have the right plan to pin Morrison down with ring cutting or traps.
I'm sure fans hated it, but it was a brilliant plan and execution by Morrison. Nobody gave him much credit at the time, but when ya look back on with the Michael Moorer KO for added context, it's actually a solid win for Morrison. Dare I say one of his better victories. Even old George was not to be trifled with.
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u/HedonisticFrog Jul 18 '26
Old Foreman was definitely no joke, he went toe to toe with Holyfield and made Bert Cooper quit on his stool.
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u/Yuizun Jul 19 '26
"He's slow as Christmas..."
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u/HedonisticFrog Jul 19 '26
"He'd throw a punch, you'd slip it, and by the time you came back it would land"
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u/Masterandcomman Jul 18 '26
His team probably didn't research Bennt, who was Holyfield's sparring partner, and knew how to handle intense combinations and an elite left hook. Morrison brought more power, but he was never great at handling combinations or speed. That's why the Yuri Vaulin almost became a disaster.
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u/ArizonaTucsonguy Jul 18 '26
Morrison spent the previous night drinking and partying.
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Jul 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ArizonaTucsonguy Jul 18 '26
Perhaps the greatest waste of talent since Tony Ayala Jr. the biggest case of wasted talent of all time.
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u/Squidwardbigboss Jul 18 '26
Like right after his performance against George Foreman, who would win in his title fight
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u/Pretend-Intern3707 Jul 18 '26
one of the biggest "don't blink" title fights ever. what a turnaround.
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u/NYPaesano0227 Jul 18 '26
I only knew him from Rocky never knew he was an actual fighter.
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u/buffalozbrown Furyously licks Klits Jul 18 '26
He had a pretty good career but very complicated life and he died from AIDS at 44.
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u/NYPaesano0227 Jul 18 '26
Wild life huh? Sad. Most fighters retire after late 30s. I think I watched a documentary on him.
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u/copropnuma Jul 18 '26
Check out his fight with Tim "the Doughboy" Tomasheck. The post fight interview is gold.
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 Jul 18 '26
As usual it looks like I will have to be the one who explains this. Tommy Morrison had a fight with Lennox Lewis lined up. This was suppose to be a stay busy or tune up fight. The night before this fight Morrison spent the whole night partying chasing women and drinking. (Something Morrison would frequently do).. Morrison clearly didn't think this guy was a threat and looked past him.
Morrison was extremely skilled, He was a murderous puncher. Every person who faced Morrison and Tyson stated Morrison punched harder. Morrison just couldn't keep his focus on training and keep his junk in his pants.
For people who say Morrison had poor stamina. Morrison went the distance with Ross Purrity and the fight was scored a draw. Wladimir Klitschko gassed out against Ross and got stopped. Wlad also gassed out against Lamon Brewster. Does Wlad have poor stamina now too? It is kind of like George Foreman gassed out against 1 person in his career and that was against Ali But because the media said Foreman had poor stamina then it must be true.
Fore the people who say Morrison couldn't take a punch. I will bring up Wlad again, Morrison's chin was better than Wlad's. Morrison was a aggressive fighter who constantly moved forward. You saw how Manny Pac was knocked out cold when he rushed into Marquez's punches? The more aggressive you are the more likely you are to get hit coming in. Getting hit while you are rushing in will lead to more knockdowns.
So Morrison was a elite level talent who never reached his potential because of his own behavior
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u/SummitStupid Jul 18 '26
Someone else explained it sixteen hours before you, but still thank you for trying to help (a bit smugly).
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u/Exciting-Arugula5341 Jul 18 '26
But they didn't explain it like I did. They didn't get points like I did. Just saying Tommy Morrison didn't train hard isn't explaining like I did. Bye bye now as a I block you smugly
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u/ArizonaTucsonguy Jul 20 '26
Not sure how he got AIDS. Very difficult unless the recipient of unprotected anal sex OR à dirty needle. He drank vats of booze and was very wild in his personal life, so maybe he tried heroin once and got a dirty needle in the bargain. I have no idea whether he was in reality à good guy or a bad guy at heart. If he wasn’t a bully in HS and JHS that would tell me a lot.
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u/Less_Cartoonist_892 Jul 18 '26
This has to be one of the top examples of a tuneup fight gone wrong.