Like father like son, in the ole Morrison household. The father was Tommy Morrison, former heavyweight champion of the world in the boxing ring. Nicknamed the Duke, the Machine was also a martial arts expert. Tommy’s son is Kenzie Morrison who is also in the fighting world. His full name is James McKenzie Morrison who uses most of his middle name as his primary name in the ring. Kenzie Morrison is 34 years of age and left the boxing ring along with the gloves to fight in a new league with the same ring that Conor McGregor is part owner of, the BKFC. The BKFC is the Bare Knuckles Fighting Championship. It’s boxing without the gloves. Kenzie who is nicknamed TCB, Taking Care of Business, who won his first match in his debut knocking out Alex Davis in an impressive 63 second bout.

Tommy Morrison was once the WBO World’s Heavyweight Champion of the World when he beat boxing legend George Foreman. He won the match with a unanimous decision in 1993. Later in the year of 1993, Tommy would lose the belt to Michael Bentt. Morrison did win the first title defense fight after beating Foreman. The Duke had 52 professional fights and had a record of 48-3-1 in the ring. Tommy had 42 of those wins come by knock out. Former boxer Pinklon Thomas said Morrison hit like a baseball bat. Tommy did have a strong left hook. He made the list of the 100 best punchers over the last 100 years. Morrison’s career took him to Hollywood as he worked with Sly Stallone and landed a part in the Rocky series. It was Rocky V and he went by the name Tommy Gunn, a boxer who needed Rocky’s help to better his career. Most people will say Rocky V was the worst movie in the Rocky saga. It was still entertaining, but I do agree it was the worst one. Tommy tragically passed away at the age of 44 as he died from AIDS in 2013. He retired from boxing in 1996. Tommy would have a brief comeback from 2007 & ’08. In 2009 Tommy would step in to the cage for his only MMA fight as a favor for a friend who was the promoter. He had a first round knock out which would be his last fight of his career beating the Wyoming state heavyweight champion Corey Williams.

Bare Knuckles boxing style has been around since the 17th Century where it roots back to England. It’s same rules as boxing with no gloves, but you can wrap your hands. The wraps can not extend over the knuckles. Maybe Kenzie Morrison has found his niche with the BKFC. I know it is only one fight, but with MMA being so popular in present days and boxing seems like it is becoming a dying sport. Bare knuckles could get some traction and become a sport on the rise especially with big names having stakes in the game. Morrison had a solid record as a regular boxer. In 23 fights, his record was 20-1-2. He had 18 wins by knock out. In one of his wins, he beat Hasim Rahman Jr. who is the son of a former heavyweight champion in the boxing world, Hasim Rahman. Kenzie made the transition to Bare Knuckles to create his own legacy. In his debut versus Alex Davis, he controlled the fight right from the start getting a long jab early on & then just coming after his opponent. While Davis was staggering, Kenzie dialed up a series of punches that made his opponent collapse on the canvas. The ref counted to ten as Davis knew enough was enough after that punishment was served up to him by Morrison. Now Kenzie wants to fight Jake Paul, who was a MMA fighter who transitioned over to the boxing world and leads the league in You Tube videos. That could be a fight that may bring in some money. Do they fight with gloves on or gloves off? That is the million dollar question. Will the BKFC gain legs with names like Morrison on the fight card? It was an impressive debut for Kenzie in the BKFC. I’m curious to see how far Kenzie will go in the BKFC? Can he become the champ in the BKFC? Could he make it big time and find his way into the next Rocky movie or Creed flick? Probably not. He is sort of living the same story of his father’s character, Tommy Gunn in Rocky V. Tommy Gunn was in the shadow of his coach Rocky Balboa and wanted to get out and at the same time beat the champion for the glory and money. Kenzie is living in Tommy Morrison’s shadow and trying to get out making his own legacy and wanting to make the big score versus a guy like Jake Paul. Who would have thought the fighting world comes with so much drama?