Tommy David Morrison (born January 2, 1969 Gravette, Arkansas died September 1, 2013 Omaha, Nebraska) was a professional boxer that competed from 1988 to 2008, and won the vacant World Boxing Organization heavyweight world title in 1993. He retired from boxing in 1996 when he tested positive for HIV, but returned for two more fights in 2007 and 2008. Morrison is also known for starring alongside Sylvester Stallone in the 1990 film Rocky V.^[92]

In August 2013, Morrison's mother announced that her son was in the final stages of AIDS, and he died on September 1, 2013. He was in a vegetative state the last twenty months of his life and he was cared for by his wife Patricia Morrison.

Morrison's widow, Patricia, was on Fight News Unlimited in December 2020 and disputed that Tommy Morrison was ever HIV positive despite receiving a world wide ban from the Nevada Athletic Commission for a HIV-positive test in February 1996.^[87] Morrison's career was discusse on an episode of the Amazon.com audiobook Everipedia Boxing Show. It was authored by Matthew E. O'Neil and published in 2021. Carlos Acevedo authored The Duke: The Life and Lies of Tommy Morrison. It was published in 2022.

Morrison was born in Gravette, Arkansas. His mother, Diana, is of Native American descent. His father, Tim Morrison Sr.,was of Scottish descent. Tim Sr. died in 2014. Tommy's sister, Tonia, died in 2019. Tommy Morrison has one living sibling, Tim Morrison Jr.

He graduated from Jay High School in Jay, Oklahoma in 1988. While in high school he played varsity basketball and football. Morrison had many high school friends and they were loyal to him even up to the time of his death.

Morrison was raised in Delaware County, Oklahoma, spending most of his teenage years in Jay. ^[16] Morrison's nickname, "The Duke", is based on the claim that he was related to Hollywood star John Wayne (né Marion Morrison). Morrison's older brother Tim Jr boxed and his father urged him to take up the sport at the age of ten. Morrison's sons, Kenzie and Trey, have also boxed professionally.

In 1988, Morrison won the Kansas City Golden Gloves from Donald Ellis and advanced to the National Golden Gloves in Omaha, Nebraska, where he lost a split decision to Derek Isaman. Two weeks later, Morrison took part in the Western Olympic trials in Houston, Texas and won the heavyweight title; he was also named the "Most Outstanding Fighter" of the tournament. Two weeks after that at the Olympic Trials that were held in Concord, California he lost a split decision to Ray Mercer. Mercer went on to win the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics. While Morrison fought in toughman contests in the 1980's, his accredited amateur career is rather incomplete. As testimate is his fifth round destruction at the hands of Ray Mercer on October 18, 1991. Morrison played high school varsity football for Jay, Oklahoma. He wore a Jay football cap directly before he fought George Foreman in 1993. His athleticism in a boxing ring made him look more technically proficient in boxing than he probably was.

Tommy's father started the "Wolfcreek Boxing Club" in 1976.

They barnstormed the Midwestern United States fighting in unsanctioned boxing matches called "smokers." The bouts were not sanctioned. Morrison also fought in toughman contests as a teenager for a few hundred dollars against untrained boxers. Prior to 1988, his accredited amateur career is almost non-existent. Trent Morrison was also part of the Wolf Creek Boxing Club and he was honored by the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2018.

In a March 1998 article by Tom Friend of ESPN The Magazine, the writer discusses Morrison's connection to organized crime:

Morrison started his professional boxing career on November 10, 1988, with a first-round knockout of William Muhammad in New York City.

Three weeks later, he scored another first-round knockout.

In 1989, Morrison had nineteen wins and no losses, fifteen by knockout. In 1989, actor Sylvester Stallone observed one of Morrison's bouts. Stallone arranged a script reading and cast Morrison in the movie Rocky V as Tommy "The Machine" Gunn, a young and talented protege of the retired Rocky Balboa. He took a six-month break from boxing to work on the movie in 1990.

In 1991, Morrison won fights against opponents James Tillis and former world champion Pinklon Thomas. Tillis stated in his autobiography Thinkin' Big that he fixed his match against Morrison because he did not get paid by his manager for his previous matches. He also stated in his book that he was not paid to lose against Morrison. Thinkin' Big was published in 2000 and is available on Amazon.com.^[89] He was given an opportunity to face fellow undefeated fighter Ray Mercer, the WBO title holder, in pay per view card held on October 18, 1991. Morrison suffered the first loss of his career, losing in a 5th-round knockout.

He had six wins in 1992, including fights with Art Tucker and Joe Hipp, who later became the first Native American to challenge for the world heavyweight title. In the Hipp fight, held on June 19, 1992, Morrison was suffering from what was later discovered to be a broken hand and broken jaw, but rallied to score a knockout in the ninth round. After two wins in 1993, including one over two-time world title challenger Carl "The Truth" Williams, Morrison found himself fighting for the WBO title again, against heavyweight boxing legend George Foreman, who was himself making a comeback.

Morrison chose to avoid brawling with Foreman and spent the fight boxing from long range.

He was able to hit and move effectively in this manner, and after a closely contested bout he won a unanimous 12-round decision and the WBO title. Morrison beat Foreman for a vacant title. Foreman was 44 years old at the time of his fight with Morrison, and had lost to Evander Holyfield in 1991 and was battered by Alex Stewart in 1992.

Morrison's first title defense was scheduled against Mike Williams,but when Williams withdrew on the night of the fight, Tim Tomashek stood in as a replacement. Although Tomashek had been prepared to fight as a backup plan, some news reports created the impression that he had just been pulled out of the crowd. The WBO later rescinded their sanctioning of this fight due to Tomashek's lack of experience. Almost immediately,talks of a fight with WBC champion Lennox Lewis began, but were halted when virtually unknown Michael Bentt upset Morrison in his next bout. Bentt knocked Morrison down three times, and the fight was stopped in the first round in front of a live HBO Boxing audience. Morrison recovered by winning three bouts in a row in 1994, but his last fight of the year, against Ross Puritty, ended with a draw. Puritty knocked down Morrison twice.

Morrison won three fights in 1995 before meeting former #1 contender Razor Ruddock. Ruddock has lost three of his last six fights before he fought Morrison. Ruddock dropped Morrison to his knees in the first round, but Morrison recovered to force a standing count in round two and compete on even terms for five rounds. In the sixth round, Ruddock hurt Morrison with a quick combination, but just as it seemed Morrison was in trouble, he countered with a tremendous hook that put Ruddock on the canvas. Ruddock regained his feet, but Morrison drove him to the ropes and showered him with an extended flurry of blows. Just as the bell was about to sound, the referee stepped in and declared Morrison the winner by TKO. Some thought it was a premature stoppage.

The much-anticipated fight with Lewis,who had also lost his world championship, finally took place following the Ruddock match.

Morrison was stopped in the sixth round.

He was knocked down four times by Lewis.

Morrison was knocked down thirteen times in his career.

After retiring in 1996 he competed two more times.

In 2007 he knocked John Castle out in West Virginia. In his last boxing match he tko'd Matt Weishaar in the third round in Mexico.

In 1996, Morrison was scheduled to fight against Arthur Weathers.

The Nevada Athletic Commission determined that Morrison had tested positive for HIV. The Commission suspended Morrison from boxing in Nevada. Several days later, Morrison's physician administered a test, which was also positive. At a news conference on February 15, 1996, Morrison said he had contracted HIV because of a "permissive, fast and reckless lifestyle". Morrison stated that he would "absolutely" never fight again. Marc Ratner of the Nevada Athletic Commission spoke to commentators on Showtime before the Weathers fight was supposed to begin and stated that Morrison had been banned from competing worldwide.

At another news conference on September 19, 1996, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Morrison announced he wished to fight "one last time" when he could find an opponent, the proceeds of which would benefit his Knock Out AIDS Foundation. A spokesman for the Oklahoma Professional Boxing Advisory Board said Morrison would probably not be permitted to fight in Oklahoma because of his Nevada suspension. To treat his infection, Morrison said he took antiretroviral medication, which reduced his viral load to almost undetectable levels.

In 2006, Morrison said his HIV tests had been false positives. The Nevada commission's medical advisory board reviewed Morrison's 1996 test results and concluded they were "ironclad and unequivocal. "Morrison said he tried to get a copy of the original test result but was unable to do so, adding: "I don't think it ever existed. "The Commission said Morrison could "contact the laboratory, and they would immediately release the results to him." In a 2017 documentary from ESPN called "Tommy", Morrison's ex-wife Dawn Gilbert showed the producers Morrison's HIV positive test result that was taken in 1999; he had less than twenty T Cells. When he was in prison he began taking HIV medication and it helped restore his health.

Morrison tested negative for HIV January 2007.

That year, he began fighting again.

After passing medical tests in Texas, West Virginia licensed Morrison to fight in that state. In February 2007, he fought and beat John Castle. In June, Morrison's former agent, Randy Lang, alleged that Morrison had tested positive in January and that the boxer had tampered with blood samples. Morrison responded that he had fired Lang when he discovered that Lang was not a lawyer. ^[30] Morrison's HIV status was confirmed numerous times.

On July 22, 2007, the New York Times reported that Morrison took two HIV tests in 2007 and a third specifically for the Times. HIV experts reviewed the three tests and concluded that the 1996 result had been a false positive. But ringside doctors, including Nevada's chief ringside physician, expressed doubt. They implied that the negative results were not in fact based on Morrison's blood. The experts agreed that no one is ever cured of HIV; if the negative tests from 2007 were performed on Morrison's blood, then he had never been infected with HIV. However, as Morrison's boxing comeback hit a snag when the Arizona Republic released public information from Morrison's manager Randy Lange that Morrison did indeed have HIV and had tested positive for it. The HIV medication that he had been taking had allowed him to pass the HIV test.

The Kansas City Star described fight his fight against Corey Williams in Wyoming on January 31,2009 as a "staged" event and a "fake fight." It was on Internet pay per view for $9.99. Not too many people purchased the fight. In January 2011, the RACJ, the boxing commission for the province of Quebec, required that Morrison take a supervised HIV test in advance of a scheduled 2011 fight. Morrison declined to take the test because he said it would be the same kind of test administered by Nevada in 1996. Instead, Morrison invited the Quebec commission to attend a public test, but the commission did not come. Morrison stated that if Quebec refused to license him, he would "take the dog and pony show somewhere else." ^[14] He opened the 3,000 square foot TCB boxing Gym in Wichita, Kansas in 2010.It closed a year later.

In December 1993, Morrison was charged with assault and public intoxication when he allegedly punched a University of Iowa student. Morrison said that the student had been staring at him. ^[14] Morrison pleaded guilty and paid a $310 fine, but said he was innocent. ^[14] In October 1996, Morrison pleaded guilty to transporting a loaded firearm in Jay, Oklahoma; he received a 6-month suspended sentence and a $100 fine. In 1997,an Oklahoma jury convicted him of DUI in an accident that left three people injured; the court ordered Morrison to spend time in treatment.

In the winter of 1996 Morrison signed a contract with Don King Productions to eventually fight Mike Tyson in the Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The plan was for Morrison to fight a few tune up fights, compete against Francois Botha, and then compete against Tyson.

At another news conference on September 19, 1996 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Morrison announced he wished to fight "one last time" when he could find an opponent, the proceeds of which would benefit his KnockOut Aids Foundation.

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Professional Boxing Advisory Board said Morrison would probably not be permitted to fight in Oklahoma because of his Nevada suspension.

In December 1993, Morrison was charged with assault and public intoxication when he allegedly punched a University of Iowa.

Morrison said that the student had been staring at him.

Morrison pled guilty and paid a $310 fine but said he was innocent.

In October 1996, Morrison pled guilty to transporting a loaded firearm in Jay, Oklahoma; he received a 6-month suspended sentence and a $100 fine.

In 1997, an Oklahoma jury convicted him of DUI in an accident that left three people injured; the court ordered Morrison to spend time in treatment.

Morrison was trained by Tommy Virgets.

His assistant trainer was Doug Dragert and his cutman was Ray Rodgers.

Morrison's trainer for his last professional boxing match was John Bray. He was co-managed by Bill Cayton and John Brown.^[91] He trained at the Virginia Military Institute for many of his boxing matches.

In September 1999, Morrison was given a 2-year suspended sentence for a DUI in Oklahoma.

On September 16, 1999, the police stopped Morrison for driving erratically and found drugs and weapons in his car, which resulted in various drug and firearms charges.

While awaiting trial on the September 16 charges.

Morrison was again arrested on charges of intoxication and possessing a weapon while a felon in November 1999.

On January 14, 2000 Morrison was sentenced to two years in prison on the September 16 charges.

On April 3, 2002, he was sentenced to another year in prison after violating parole in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but was given credit for time previously served.

Morrison competed in an MMA bout (standing striking only allowed) against John Stover in Arizona in 2008 and won.

The referee stopped the fight with Stover on his feet and the crowd booed.

He opened the 3,000 square foot TCB Boxing Gym in Wichita, Kansas in 2010.

It closed a year later.

In one of his last recorded interviews in February 2011 he spoke to a reporter from the Kansas City Star about a potential comeback to the sport of boxing.

^[90]

Morrison was arrested in August 2011 when driving on a felony drug possession charge.

The arrest stemmed from a 2010 arrest.

He spent a month in jail.

Morrison spent the last twenty months of his life in a near vegetative state, unable to care for himself.

He was attended to by his third wife Trisha Harding Morrison.

In August 2013, Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN.com reported that Morrison's mother Diana disclosed that Tommy had "full-blown AIDS" and was "in his final days." She also stated that Morrison had been bedridden for over a year. The same article also stated that Morrison's wife, Trisha, did not believe Morrison had AIDS. ^{[14] [14]}

On September 1, 2013, Morrison died at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 44. According to the Nebraska Department of Health & Human Services, Morrison's cause of death was cardiac arrest, resulting from multiorgan failure due to septic shock caused by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Morrison's death was covered by the Kansas City Star.^[80]

ESPN released a documentary on Morrison's life in 2017 called "Tommy", as part of their 30 for 30 documentary series. In it, his trainers, friends, family and opponents discuss his career and his death. "Tommy" was codirected by Gentry Kirby and Erin Leyden. Tommy Morrison's father, Tim, died in 2014. His sister, Tonia, died in 2019. He was legally married, to Dawn Freeman of Jay, Oklahoma. They were married in March 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada and divorced four years later when he was in prison. Everipedia editor Matthew E. O'Neil reached out to Morrison second wife Dawn Morrison Brady in March 2020 and she responded:

The following is from World Boxing News:

.Articles

producing misleading, hearsay, discriminatory information on TOMMY, his widow, or any family member, should be removed or updated with the following Official Timeline. Please

have your legal department provide me with a link on what you have placed or will be placed on social media regarding my husband, Tommy Morrison, before Thursday, December 17th, 2020. 2011:

Dr.George Schuchmann

II, a surgeon at Ft. Sanders Hospital,

Knoxville, TN, left 12 feet of undocumented surgical gauze in TOMMY’s chest for over 1 week to rot inside TOMMY’s chest. Surgery was

performed on TOMMY’s chest because he came out of jail in October 2011 with an insect bite to his chest’s right side. The insect

bite was either from a brown recluse or tick. The evening

of December 08th, 2011, after the gauze was discovered and pulled out, TOMMY’s right leg gave way, and he fell headfirst into a wall and landed on his neck. This was

the beginning of 21 months of hell. TOMMY was

in and out of septic shock. 2012: BOSTON

MASS. GENERAL HOSPITAL’S

EXTENSIVE ANTEMORTEM EXAMINATION confirmed: “NO VIRAL INCLUSIONS, FUNGI OR BACTERIAL FORMS ARE IDENTIFIED.” July 31,

2012 Court Document: Dkt#324.p.3.12 2012 and

2013: TOMMY was tested for ALL AIDS-defining diseases, and TOMMY’s NEGATIVE results ruled out AIDS. Court Document: Dkt#324.p.3.12

2013: On September

01, 2013, at 11.50 pm, TOMMY died of cardiac arrest, septic shock, septicemia caused by the infected gauze, and multi organ failure after being placed in a medically induced coma 24 hours prior. Upon request by TOMMYS

widow on September 01, 2013, @ 11.511.50pm U.N.M.C’S an EXTENSIVE POSTMORTEM BLOOD AUTOPSY was performed and confirmed: “FINAL DIAGNOSIS: No viral particles seen. No retroviral inclusions. No

budding retroviral present.”

NO HIV. Pathology Report

Sep.17.2013. (retrovirus

is the scientific

term for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ). Between 2013 and 2016: Documents already filed and on the record in the Court of Law from Dr. Guenther; Dr.Hinrich; Dr.Smith; Dr.Voy; Dr.Soloway; Dr.Moses

Ph.D.; and

Dr.Osio in

the form

of either

Affidavits or

Authenticated Pathology Reports,

all confirm no scientific evidence of HIV, no scientific evidence of AIDS, no clinical symptoms of HIV, and no AIDS diseases in TOMMY. In 2014: The Western blot test, allegedly used and noted on

Defendants’ 1996 “lab report” produced for the first time, was discontinued by the CDC as a confirmatory test for HIV. The Exhibit produced by Defendants violated 21 CFR Part 11 and

21 CFR Part 211 as it was not authenticated with any signature from a 1996 pathologist “signing out” the document. The name of the ordering physician on Defendants’ “1996 lab report”

was also proven in court to have been falsified by the Defendants. In 2014: Defendants revealed in Court Documents that the “medical suspension”

imposed on TOMMY on February 10, 1996, that immediately, indefinitely, worldwide suspended TOMMY from his career, and made his life spiral into turmoil, was SECRETLY LIFTED 10 years later in July 2006 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. In 2015: Former FBI Special Agent, now head of the Nevada

State Athletic Commission, ROBERT BENNETT, swore Under Oath on behalf of Defendants NSAC for the first time since 1996 TOMMY was “not indefinitely suspended on February 10, 1996”. COURT DOCUMENT: Dkt#140 p.7.19-20. In 2015: Former FBI Special Agent, now

head of the Nevada

State Athletic Commission, ROBERT BENNETT, swore Under Oath on behalf of Defendants NSAC for the first time since 1996 documents existed of any clinical symptoms nor any HIV infection in TOMMY. COURT DOCUMENT: RFP#8. Dec.01.2015. In 2015: It was proven in court

that Defendant Dr.Margaret

Goodman’s

public and worldwide claim in 2007 was false, fraudulent, malicious,

and made with the intent to ruin TOMMY’s comeback. Defendant Goodman claimed that Dr.HIatt was a physician and renowned pathologist and

had reviewed and diagnosed TOMMY

with HIV in 1996. “DR.HIATT” was never a licensed physician, never a board-certified pathologist – not even

a

renowned pathologist, and HIATT had never reviewed TOMMY’s 1996 results and never had diagnosed TOMMY with anything in 1996 nor even at any time during TOMMY’s lifetime. COURT DOCUMENTS: HIATT’s responses and objections to Plaintiff’s Requests for Production. RFP#53; RFP#43; RFP#18.

In 2015: Defendants further unleashed fraudulently concealed information for the first

time that their

clinical laboratory reports are now not a diagnosis of HIV, rendering the “document dump” of their “lab reports,” in this case, as mute. COURT DOCUMENT: Request for Interrogatory #12p.10:20-23. Nov.18th,2015, signed under Oath by Elizabeth Iole for

Defendants QUEST. Elizabeth IOLE is married

to KEVIN IOLE, who broke the “news” of a “diagnosis

of HIV” to the worldwide media in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 10th, 1996, before TOMMY was even told. Kevin Iole refuses to report on this case. In 2015: Defendants confessed for the

first time that their tests do not test

for the HIV VIRUS. COURT DOCUMENT: Request for Interrogatory No.#15 p.15:24-26. Nov.18th,2015. In 2016: Defendants, despite having allegedly

received TOMMY’S blood and was tested by

QUEST

Diagnostics using their “CDC algorithm/recommendation,” to determine for the co-defendants whether TOMMY had the “HIV” Human Immunodeficiency Virus- confessed for the very first time in 20 years: “neither the State Defendants nor Quest Diagnostics ever diagnosed Mr.Morrison as carrying the HIV Virus.” COURT DOCUMENT: Dkt#174 p.7.2-4. In 2016: Defendants now confess

to knowing that the MMWR produced

by the CDC cites:

“Information from a laboratory-initiated report of a CD4+ T lymphocyte count is INSUFFICIENT for reporting a case of AIDS.” COURT DOCUMENT: Dkt#175-11. Defendants for over 20 years, and in court before their confession, used

their “laboratory-initiated CD4+

reports” as a case of AIDS. In 2016: Federal Judge Richard F.Boulware II ruled from the Bench on September 08th, 2016:

“We wouldn’t even be having this discussion if the test was specific for the existence of the virus or not. That’s obviously why there’s even the possibility of a claim. The tests didn’t test for

the virus.” COURT DOCUMENT: Transcript Hearing September 08th, 2016. In

2018: CDC’s Dr.M.Owen, Assistant Director of Laboratory

Services in Atlanta, NCHHSTP, (and colleague of

Defendants’ Expert Witness “Branson”)

confirmed the following information that had been fraudulently withheld from the Court, TOMMY, family, fans, and Estate: viral load tests are not actually approved for screening and making a diagnosis. In 1996, there was not a CD4 test kit. It is possible to have very low

CD4 counts caused by other diseases such as cancer,

other infectious diseases, genetic disorders, ETC. In 2020: Defendants were caught using false, non-existent Statutes against TOMMY from February 10, 1996, to

his death, and again using the same false, fraudulent, misleading, reckless misuse of statutes that had never been approved by the Legislator in 1996 throughout the entire MORRISON case in Federal and Appellate Courts and the U.S.Supreme Court. NRS. 469.1005 did not exist at all. NRS. 467.100(2) did not exist until 1999 NRS.467.1005 did

not

exist until 1999 NRS. 467.100(3) did

not

exist until 2003 NAC.467.027(3) did not exist until 1997 NAC.467.027(3b) did not exist

until 1997 In 2020: Defendants withheld hundreds of pages of medical records exonerating TOMMY from HIV and AIDS, including TOMMY’s postmortem pathology report from their own Expert Witness that would have made a difference to their own Expert Witness’s report filed under penalty of perjury. From 1996 to 2020: Defendants have not brought forward any credible eyewitness, nor any physical or

scientific evidence that demonstrates anyone had actually scientifically ruled out a “differential diagnosis” by testing TOMMY for over one hundred other ailments that cause #false #positive results. MORRISON’s evidence on the record establishes UNMC, one of the very best infectious disease facilities in

the nation, did testing for other conditions that can react in a #false #positive reaction to QUEST’s testing. It was scientifically established that TOMMY had many ailments, non-contagious, that would render a #false #positive

reaction to Defendants’ testing. From 1996 to 2020: Defendants’ intentional delay, until confessing in 2016, that: their tests used did

not diagnose TOMMY with HIV; *that the statutes used against TOMMY did not exist in 1996; were a deliberate device to gain an advantage over TOMMY from 1996 to 2013 and over TOMMY’s Widow, a pro se litigant for the Estate of Tommy Morrison, from 2013 to 2020, causing prejudice in presenting TOMMY’s case. ✕

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