Tommy Morrison

Tommy David Morrison (January 2, 1969 – September 1, 2013) was an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competed from 1988 to 2009. He is best known for having a great left hook and formidable punching power along with a questionable chin. Morrison won the vacant World Boxing Organization heavyweight world title in 1993 with a unanimous decision victory over 44-year-old George Foreman. He lost the title in his second defense to Michael Bentt that same year. The other major lowlight of Morrison's boxing career was his fight with Ray Mercer in 1991 in which Morrison was knocked out after receiving 18 unanswered punches. In 1995, he won the minor International Boxing Council heavyweight world title when he defeated Donovan Ruddock by technical knockout (TKO). Morrison is also known for his acting career, having co-starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in the 1990 film Rocky V as the Oklahoma boxer Tommy Gunn. Morrison's inability to take a good punch led to him being knocked down 13 times from October 1991 to October 1995, including being knocked down by a jab by Lennox Lewis in October 1995. Morrison made a brief comeback to boxing from 2007 to 2008 when the Nevada commission lifted the indefinite worldwide suspension in July 2006, and he briefly dabbled in the world of MMA. As a mixed martial artist, he scored a notable first-round knockout win over Wyoming state heavyweight champion Corey Williams in 2009, which became Morrison's last fight in combat sports before his final retirement due to his declining health that began in 2011. On September 1, 2013, Morrison died at the age of 44 as a result of AIDS. His son Kenzie Morrison was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal stomach cancer in August 2026.