Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 6, 1992                   TAG: 9203060104
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: LEXINGTON                                LENGTH: Long

BOXER TRIES TO GET BACK ON HIS FEET

That was the idea when trainer Tommy Virgets proposed a new training site to heavyweight boxer Tommy "The Duke" Morrison.

"There were too many things pulling and tugging at Tommy back home in Kansas City," said Virgets, who was an assistant track coach at VMI from 1978-84. "He's a celebrity there. It's nothing for his phone to ring at 3 o'clock in the morning. There was too much interference in terms of making boxing his No. 1 priority."

Morrison and his advisers had talked of establishing a training camp away from Kansas City, but the movement didn't gain much momentum until Oct. 18, when he suffered a fifth-round knockout at the hands of Ray Mercer. It was Morrison's first defeat in 29 professional fights.

"It made me come to the realization that maybe I hadn't made all right decisions, even though I trained my butt off and had never been more confident for a fight in my life," said Morrison, who turned 23 in January.

"Being in that position [against a name contender] for the first time, there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of expectations. It was too much to handle. Had I won that fight, things really would have gotten out of hand. I would have been next in line to fight Larry Holmes."

Instead, Morrison returned to action against lightly regarded Bobby Quarry, whom he knocked out Feb. 16 in the second round. Even before that, Morrison had agreed to set up camp at VMI for a March 20 fight against Wimpy Halstead (78-5).

"He's [Halstead] a real journeyman, but he goes the distance with everybody," Virgets said. "What we're trying to do is take Tommy into the later rounds. Obviously, we know he's got more talent than Wimpy, but for this point in his career, it's exactly what we wanted."

Of Morrison's 29 victories, 23 have been by knockout, 15 in the first round. That was despite a seven-month break to film "Rocky V," in which he played Stallone's opponent, Tommy "Machine" Gunn.

Morrison was on a roll, in his life and his career, until he fought Mercer. Indeed, Morrison was on a roll through four rounds of that fight; he was leading on all three judges' cards.

"We felt he was easy to hit and couldn't stand up to the pounding," Morrison said. "We were wrong. Being young and inexperienced, I gave it my best and punched myself out."

Morrison's credibility was further damaged when Mercer lost a 12-round decision to the 42-year-old Holmes.

"I really had no emotions," Morrison said. "I figured Mercer would win. I was a little shocked, as was everyone else. Ray Mercer is not a good boxer; he's not a good technician. He's someone who can take a sledgehammer between the eyes and keep on coming."

With former champion Mike Tyson awaiting sentencing on rape charges, there is a shortage of heavyweight contenders to Evander Holyfield's crown. Morrison won't be fighting no-names for long.

"If I look good in my next fight, there's a strong possibility we'll fight George Foreman," Morrison said. "If we beat Foreman, it'll guarantee a title shot at Holyfield or Holmes, whichever one wins [their title fight on June 19].

"I'm in exactly the situation I want to be. Being me is an advantage [as] basically a white fighter in a black man's sport. Even though it's a very racial thing, you've got to accept the fact that it's true. That's not my fault.

"All I can do is train hard. I don't want to be remembered as a `Great White Hope.' I want to be remembered as a credit to the sport."

Although Tyson may be eligible by parole by the mid-1990s, many believe the boxing world has seen the last of him.

"I know you have," Morrison said. "No doubt about it. After having nothing, then having everything, it's going to be hard to go back to having nothing again. I don't think he's mentally stable enough to withstand the type of mental abuse he'll face there [in prison]."

Morrison doesn't figure that Holmes and Foreman, 43, will be factors for long, and he also believes Holyfield is a short-timer.

"I think Holyfield probably will be gone before long," Morrison said. "I think he's very susceptible to being beat and he gets hit too easily. I think, in the next year and a half, you'll see five or six people make a strong challenge."

Morrison listed himself, Mercer, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis and Michael Moorer as "fighters of the future."

"Obviously Moorer, because he's a southpaw, is a guy who people will try to avoid," Morrison said. "Nobody likes to fight a southpaw. They're dangerous and awkward."

Morrison describes a trip to the video store as the highlight of his first two weeks in Lexington, but he loves the anonymity. He lives a stone's throw from the VMI drill field through arrangements made by Greg Cavallaro, a VMI fund-raiser who boxed under Virgets as an undergraduate.

"It took me coming here to realize this was the kind of atmosphere I needed," Morrison said. "As we all know, young athletes don't always know how to utilize their time. This is the only time I've been totally focused on the job at hand."

All that's at question is how long Morrison puts off the lure of Hollywood.

"Boxing is something you have to do at a certain time in your life," Morrison said. "Acting is something you can do forever. Obviously, people are drawn to boxing for financial reasons, but if I do the things I'm capable of doing, I feel I could be out of the sport in two years.

"I don't have aspirations of breaking any records. I'd like to fight for the title, win it, defend it once, then get the hell out. I'd make enough where I could live pretty comfortably for the rest of my life."