Lennox Lewis vs Tommy Morrison - Highlights (Lewis Schools, KNOCKS OUT Morrison)

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October 7th, 1995. In the battle of "Dangerous Right Hand vs. Explosive Left Hook", two hard hitting heavyweights collide in a battle 2 years in the making. This fight was originally scheduled to take place in 1993 after Lewis was recognized by the WBC as their heavyweight champion. This is due to the fact that reigning WBC Champion Riddick Bowe threw the belt into a bin during a press conference which was widely seen as an effort to avoid Lewis; his mandatory challenger at that time.

An agreement was reached for Lewis to make his 4th title defense against Tommy Morrison. However, the fight failed to materialized due to Morrison’s shocking 1st round KO loss against unknown Michael Bentt in October 1993. A year later, Lewis also suffered an unexpected knockout defeat against 5-1 underdog Oliver McCall and lost his WBC title, further delaying the possibility of their fight.

After the McCall loss, he fired trainer Pepe Correa and hired the legendary Emmanuel Steward. Under Steward’s tutelage, Lewis rebound strongly with TKO victories over Lionel Butler & Justine Fortune in May & July of 1995 but some of his past weaknesses were still evident in the eyes of many observers.

Similarly, Morrison came back strong from his defeat; going 7-0-1 between February 1994 and June 1995 notably a spectacular KO win over Donovan Ruddock in a hard fought battle, putting him back into world title contention.

Morrison was scheduled to fight Riddick Bowe, but Bowe opted to take the more financially lucrative option of fighting Evander Holyfield in a rubber match. On the other hand, Lewis could not secure a return bout against McCall (though he eventually earned the rematch in 1997). Thus, a Lewis-Morrison fight deal is finally agreed upon.

Prefight records; Lewis 27(23)-1, Morrison 45(39)-2-1.

While Lewis was expected to display the power of his right hand against Morrison’s vaunted left hook as this fight was billed, Lewis surprisingly utilized his left hand to amazing effectiveness backed by an authoritative jab evident from the 1st round,. He also showed improved defense and counter punching ability.

More significantly, Lewis’ past weaknesses such as the tendency to telegraph his punches, overextending his jab and right hand, as well as going off balance after throwing his right hand were significantly improved. Additionally, Lewis also came into the fight evidently composed and without the knack to rush into landing his big right hand; a fatal mistake that caused him his McCall loss.

Lewis’ unexpected effective use of his left hand caught Morrison by surprise, who mostly had no answers despite a valiant effort. To his credit, he was able to land a few good shots (as seen in this video) through sheer determination.

Lewis scored the 1st knockdown in the 2nd round with a beautiful short counter left hook that opened a cut above Tommy’s right eye. Lewis proceeded to score 3 more knockdowns using his left to great effect, before Mills Lane halted the bout as both Morrison’s eyes were almost completely shut.

This is considered to be one of Lewis’ greatest wins.

Before this bout, Lewis’ most notable use of his left was against Frank Bruno in 1993 that led to his TKO victory after a grueling battle. However, it is interesting to note that during his 2nd year as a pro Lewis scored a 1st round KO over Zambian Michael Simawelu with a huge leaping left hook.

Please enjoy this highlight of one of Lewis’ best wins! Muchas gracias and keep your punches up at all times!