Rocky V Tommy The Duke Morrison versus Stallone Final Fight Scene Relived
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
What better way to pay tribute to the late heavyweight Tommy ‘The Duke’ Morrison than by reliving his final street fight scene as Tommy Gunn versus Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in the 1990 movie Rocky V? First Tommy Gunn beats up Balboa, then Balboa beat up Tommy Gunn, then the two pugs, champion and ex-champion, ‘duke’ it out on the street for the unofficial title of top dog. Morrison always reminded the general public of the classic Midwestern tough guy, and reinforced his image by claiming to be related to movie western hero John Wayne. Note the doppelganger Don King impersonation by actor Richard Gant in a mink coat at the movie ends.
Rocky V: Gunn versus Balboa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mSY2_aC8WQ
Stallone, who is now 67 years of age, was 44 years of age at the time Rocky V was filmed in 1990, ironically the same age as Tommy Morrison when Tommy died on September 1, 2013. Despite their own screen film ending brouhaha, Stallone and Morrison were friends during the filming. Morrison’s selection showed good casting as he made a good villain.
Morrison blew all of the money he earned in the ring and the movies, and his rugged lifestyle and troubles with the law cost him a fight with Iron Mike Tyson and other golden opportunities later on. His 2007 comeback, 11 years after Morrison went public with his HIV Positive status, was probably motivated by financial necessity.
Morrison’s last attempt to return to the ring in February 2011 against 3-0 Erik Barrak at the Pierre Charbonneau Centre in Montreal did not clear the Quebec Boxing Commission as Morrison did not submit to prefight blood testing. Another bout between Ray Mercer and 3-26 Stephane Tessier also did not materialize on the same card. In his final interview in November 2011, Morrison was talking about beating Wladimir Klitschko, which would have given him the opportunity to regain his World Boxing Organization Heavyweight title nearly two decades after he lost it. Morrison did not live to see his final ‘dream’ materialize unfortunately.
Whether by coincidence or popularity, Tommy Morrison’s final scene in Rocky V will probably what he best remembered for, not his fights with George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, Pinklon Thomas, Razor Ruddock and others. Morrison’s career as an actor ended with the Rocky V final fight scene.
The day he went public, Morrison appeared that evening on Larry King Live. Morrison initially deemed his HIV Positive status puzzling, mind boggling, and hard to accept. How he got it, where he got it, and who he got it from was very unimportant to Morrison. While acknowledging the possibility he contracted HIV from another boxer in a sparring session, Morrison felt he was more likely to have contracted HIV from his promiscuous lifestyle. What was important to Morrison was “Where Do I go from here?” Morrison’s subsequent problems with alcohol, drugs and the law, where an indicator of his failure to answer the question. As such, whether Morrison died of multiple organ failure, as his wife Trisha claims, or whether Morrison died of AIDS, as his mother Diana claimed, was less relevant than the question of knowledge of self, and his sense of purpose was. His 12 round decision win over George Foreman, and three knockdown his first round stoppage loss to Michael Bentt, both in 1993, were an indicator of his inconsistency in dealing with his inner demons.
Tommy Morrison 1996 Larry King Clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crq3Pow_tgE
By the point of this interview in 1996, Morrison’s appearance in Rocky V had already faded into obscurity. Strangely, Rocky V is slowly reemerging as Tommy’s boxing legacy.
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