Former WBO Heavyweight Champion Tommy Morrison Passes Away at Age 44

[popsicle]

ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill first reported the news on Monday afternoon, noting that the once-great boxer died in a hospital in Omaha, Neb.

The cause of his death is currently unknown and may be a cause of contention for quite some time.


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...ium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_t2

 

[Mygirlsadie]

So young. RIP Tommy Gunn.. I'm pretty sure his death was AIDS related even though he denied having it until the very end.

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

Good looking guy, saw him in person during the early 1990's....at a Trump event.

Heard he was John Wayne's nephew. Had a mean left hook.

Rumors of Tommy leading a wild, reckless life back then.

RIP

 

[wfgodot]

Tommy grew up in Delaware Co., Oklahoma - and it can be a rough, rough, rough place.

Big hero here in NE OK. Rest in peace TDM.

 

[jjenny]

Apparently he didn't believe he had HIV (or even that HIV is a deadly disease) so he wasn't taking any meds for it. Sounds like he was in deep denial.


"Tommy wants to talk to you about HIV. It’s a farce, he says. An invention by a scientist who wanted to make money, a lie kept alive by a government that wants to scare people. He doesn’t have HIV, never did, and besides, it’s not the deadly disease it’s been made out to be."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/02/4453030/previous-story-tommy-morrison.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Mygirlsadie]

Apparently he didn't believe he had HIV (or even that HIV is a deadly disease) so he wasn't taking any meds for it. Sounds like he was in deep denial.


"Tommy wants to talk to you about HIV. It’s a farce, he says. An invention by a scientist who wanted to make money, a lie kept alive by a government that wants to scare people. He doesn’t have HIV, never did, and besides, it’s not the deadly disease it’s been made out to be."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/02/4453030/previous-story-tommy-morrison.html#storylink=cpy

It's very sad that he thought that way. I guess he was scared I don't really know but if he would've not been in such denial over it chances are he would be alive and healthy right now.

 

[popsicle]

It's very sad that he thought that way. I guess he was scared I don't really know but if he would've not been in such denial over it chances are he would be alive and healthy right now.

After being dx in 1996 he went into early retirement. Not sure what he did then.

He re-emerged in 2006, boldly claiming that he was free of the disease and speculating that HIV was a government conspiracy. He also believed his initial test was either a false positive or a dastardly ploy by a rival promoter.

He tried to fight but could not find a fight sanctioned by a reparable commission. He beat John Castle in 2007 and defeated Matt Weishaar in 2008, and it is said both seemed to be nothing more than publicity stunts.

Tommy's wife, Trisha, insists that he was suffering from Guillain-Barre and not HIV.

I have had patients with GB Syndrome and it is not like having HIV. Both of them will kill you early though. I wonder what the truth is.

 

[oh_gal]

Did I read in the article that subsequent tests confirmed that he didn't have AIDS? The wording was so odd, I'm not really sure what I read.

ETA: It wasn't the same story that's in the OP. I'm going to go see if I can find it....

OK...here's the one I read:
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/...oxer-tommy-morrison-dies-at-44/#ixzz2dsSd6Odk



And here's the part that confused me from the article:
When he was released, Morrison said his HIV tests had resulted in false positives, and he wanted to resume his career. He passed medical tests in Arizona — even as Nevada stood by its decision — and returned to the ring.

******

What does that mean, that he was cleared?

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

I've read somewhere that he didn't agree to "witnessed" HIV tests. Who knows?

Such a shame.

RIP TM

 

[LadyL]

I read that he got treatment when he was first diagnosed, but then after the 'false positive' tests, started doing research and came to the conclusion that he never had it to begin with.

My first thought was he suffered from paranoia because of an undiagnosed or untreated mental illness. Either that or he realized that the diagnoses effectively killed his career and he wanted to try and resusitate it. Or both.

 

[jjenny]

His mother told ESPN before hid death he was dying from "full blown AIDS." His mother also talked about his wife being in denial. Wife had unprotected sex with him.
I don't believe he had "false positive" tests. He had several tests that showed he was HIV positive. So he was suspended from boxing (which cost him a huge amount of $) and then years later somehow managed to get HIV negative tests to get back to boxing.

"She says he has full-blown AIDS. She believes he's in his final days. His skin is jaundiced; his liver is failing. "He's too far gone," she says, flashing an incredulous look when asked whether he could recover. "He's in the end stages. That's it." She says Morrison has been bedridden for a year, can't speak and is being kept alive with the help of a feeding tube and a ventilator."

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9588582/tommy-morrison-latest-big-fight

 

[ATasteOfHoney]

His mother told ESPN before hid death he was dying from "full blown AIDS." His mother also talked about his wife being in denial. Wife had unprotected sex with him.
I don't believe he had "false positive" tests. He had several tests that showed he was HIV positive. So he was suspended from boxing (which cost him a huge amount of $) and then years later somehow managed to get HIV negative tests to get back to boxing.

"She says he has full-blown AIDS. She believes he's in his final days. His skin is jaundiced; his liver is failing. "He's too far gone," she says, flashing an incredulous look when asked whether he could recover. "He's in the end stages. That's it." She says Morrison has been bedridden for a year, can't speak and is being kept alive with the help of a feeding tube and a ventilator."

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9588582/tommy-morrison-latest-big-fight

Thank you for sharing that article, JJenny. It was so bittersweet.