RIP Tommy Gunn

(Source) Tommy Morrison, who hailed from Jay and soared to the top of the world heavyweight boxing ranks in 1993, died on Sunday night at 44 in Omaha, Neb., his former promoter Tony Holden has confirmed. “It’s true,” said Holden, who resides in Tulsa. “He was with his wife Trisha when he passed.”  The cause of death has not been reported by any member of Morrison’s family or Nebraska authorities.

In February 1996, before he was scheduled to fight in Las Vegas, Morrison was suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission after having tested positive for HIV. Three days later, during an internationally televised news conference conducted at the Marriott Tulsa Hotel Southern Hills, Morrison said that an additional blood test also revealed that he carried HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

In recent years, Morrison vehemently denied that he was HIV-positive. Unable to obtain a boxing license in any state that has a boxing commission, he fought as recently as 2008 in Mexico. 

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Was Rocky 5 bad? Yes. Do I still like watching the final street fight scene? Of course. And not for nothing, but you have to give Tommy Morrison credit. Dude had AIDS for 17 years and refused to admit it. That type of stubborn persistence is admirable if nothing else.

PS

And for anyone confused, Tommy Gunn the pornstar is still alive, chilling in his zombie proof van.

thanks to kevin for the wiki link