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Morrison slated to fight on Celaya-Chavez Jr. undercard
Controversial heavyweight Tommy Morrison, who didn't box for 11 years following a positive HIV test in 1996, will fight the second bout of his comeback on Saturday night in Leon, Mexico.
Morrison, 39, is scheduled to face Matt Weisharr (3-0-2, 1 KO) of Atchison, Kan., in a bout that will be televised on a pay-per-view card headlined by junior middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. against Jose Celaya.
Morrison tested positive for HIV, the virus known to cause AIDS, on the eve of a 1996 bout in Las Vegas and was suspended indefinitely. But last February, Morrison mounted a comeback after several blood tests came up clean. He was granted a license to fight in West Virginia, where he knocked out John Castle in the second round on Feb. 22.
Texas officials cleared Morrison (47-3-1, 41 KOs) for a second fight that was supposed to take place in Houston in April, but the bout was canceled. Texas officials acknowledged that Morrison had been examined and verbally cleared to fight but that he was removed from the card because lab test results did not arrive on time for him to fight.
Morrison has maintained that he is not infected with HIV and anxious to continue his career.
"I decided to give it a final whirl in 2008," Morrison said. "I just started training after the holidays, but I'm at the point where I have to do it now, if I'm going to do it at all. My girlfriend got tired of me sitting around the house all day, and told me to start fighting again, or go get a real job."
Dan Rafael is boxing writer for ESPN.com.
Controversial heavyweight Tommy Morrison, who didn't box for 11 years following a positive HIV test in 1996, will fight the second bout of his comeback on Saturday night in Leon, Mexico.
Morrison, 39, is scheduled to face Matt Weisharr (3-0-2, 1 KO) of Atchison, Kan., in a bout that will be televised on a pay-per-view card headlined by junior middleweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. against Jose Celaya.
Morrison tested positive for HIV, the virus known to cause AIDS, on the eve of a 1996 bout in Las Vegas and was suspended indefinitely. But last February, Morrison mounted a comeback after several blood tests came up clean. He was granted a license to fight in West Virginia, where he knocked out John Castle in the second round on Feb. 22.
Texas officials cleared Morrison (47-3-1, 41 KOs) for a second fight that was supposed to take place in Houston in April, but the bout was canceled. Texas officials acknowledged that Morrison had been examined and verbally cleared to fight but that he was removed from the card because lab test results did not arrive on time for him to fight.
Morrison has maintained that he is not infected with HIV and anxious to continue his career.
"I decided to give it a final whirl in 2008," Morrison said. "I just started training after the holidays, but I'm at the point where I have to do it now, if I'm going to do it at all. My girlfriend got tired of me sitting around the house all day, and told me to start fighting again, or go get a real job."
Dan Rafael is boxing writer for ESPN.com.
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