The boxing world, and more importantly the Morrison family lost ?The Duke? last night. Tommy Morrison died last night and now he can finally rest in peace. Morrison fought some nasty demons in his life and now that he’s finally been called to rest, he can do so in peace.
As most of the boxing world knows, Morrison was diagnosed with HIV back in 1996. Previous to the HIV diagnosis, Morrison was a real force in the heavyweight division. He captured the WBO heavyweight title by defeating George Foreman and in doing so he notched himself into boxing history as a legitimate and respected champion.
Morrison’s career had it’s successes, but it also had it’s share of black eyes. He wasn’t always fighting in the ring. A lot of his fights came outside of the ring. He had his demons and he fought them all the way to the end. Morrison had his bouts with drugs, and let’s be clear, he in fact did have HIV. The people that really knew him, and the folks that truly loved him all know the facts about Tommy’s HIV. Let there be no doubt, Tommy Morrison tested positive for HIV and he left this earth with HIV.
Morrison had his reasons for denying the HIV diagnosis. What those reasons were can certainly be debated. Only Tommy knows for certain. Perhaps it was pride, perhaps it could have been denial, or perhaps so that he could prolong his career in boxing, or all of the above.
I’ve gotten to know some of Morrison’s closest family members over the years. His former girlfriend Lisa, and his former wife and mother of two of his children, Dawn, both know the truth behind Tommy Morrison health issues. They both lived with him and they both loved him. I have spoken with Tommy’ son Kenzie a few times as well. Kenzie is a good kid and as you can imagine, he’s struggling to cope with all of this.
Put aside his bout with drugs. Put aside the HIV diagnosis. Put aside Tommy’s inner demons, and you have a solid man that was loved by many. His kids loved him dearly, and they are all coping with their loss today. I spoke with Tommy’s former wife, and mother of his kids today, and she too is pretty torn up over the loss of Tommy.
The people that knew Tommy will tell you how funny of a guy he was. Tommy had a great sense of humor. I met him out in Los Angeles when he was dating my friend Lisa. When I first met him, he was healthy as an Ox. There’s much more to the Tommy Morrison story. For any one negative story about him that was written, there’s 50 positive stories that never made the press.
The following is an official statement given exclusively to 8CountNews from Tommy’s former wife, and mother of two of his kids, Dawn Brady.
?I am heartbroken for Tommy’s boys. He will live on through them. There’s always been so much good in Tommy and I want people to know this. Tommy has always had a great sense of humor. It was incredible. If Tommy couldn’t make you laugh, nobody could. I also want it to be known that Tommy had the most generous heart that I ever known. He has donated so much money in the past to homeless people and also to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. When Tommy was filming the ?Rocky? Movie, on the way back to his hotel, he would take a wad of hundred dollar bills and give it to a homeless man. He was so so generous. There are so many things that people don’t know about his generosity. Tommy wasn’t the kind of guy that wanted recognition for it. He just did these things out of the goodness of his heart. Yes, he made his mistakes in life, but he also touched lives, and changed lives, mine was one of them and I will forever be grateful. I am so grateful to him for my two sons that I gained (Trey and Kenzie), and for his stepping up and loving Justin as his own, and for our son Tristin Duke.?
