RIP Tommy Morrison

Boxer Tommy Morrison, former WBO Heavyweight Champion, passed away Sunday at a hospital in Omaha, Nebraska at the age of 44 years old. Cause of death has not been announced but Morrison has been bed ridden for the past year and may have been suffering from HIV or AIDS (His wife claims that he was actually suffering from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, not HIV).

 

Initially diagnosed with HIV in 1996, Morrison accepted that his reckless lifestyle was to blame for contracting HIV and announced his retirement. In 2006 he went on to claim that his 1996 tests were false positives and that HIV is a government conspiracy. There is some disagreement on tests that he took in 2006 and 2007 but eventually went on to fight two more “staged” matches in 2007 and 2009. He finished his career at 49-3-1 with 44 knockouts.

 

During his heyday in the 1990s Morrison appeared in a number of boxing sets including Kayo, Ringlords and All World but because there were very few boxing sets after the mid-90s he did not show up in a major release until the 2011 Ringside Round Two set, which included both autographs and relics for Morrison.

 

He was a prolific signer and his autographs can be found on everything ranging from action figures to posters with prices starting around $30 for 8x10 pictures, $50 for signed gloves and action figures and over $60 for larger pictures and posters.