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Morrison in Ring: ‘No Blood, No Risk’

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From Staff and Wire Reports

Heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison, who tested positive for HIV earlier this year, says his return to the ring is safe and there is no cause for alarm.

“I don’t want to put anybody’s life in danger,” the 27-year-old Oklahoman said Friday. He said he never would have considered fighting again had he believed there was any chance of passing his infection in the ring.

Morrison (45-3-1) is to fight Marcus Rhode (15-1) of St. Joseph, Mo., on the undercard of the George Foreman-Crawford Grimsley bout. The Morrison-Rhode bout is expected to begin tonight at about 8 PST.

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Morrison quit the ring in February after testing positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The fight will be the former World Boxing Organization champion’s first in more than a year.

Morrison said he was not pleased with Magic Johnson’s decision to make a statement in opposition to the fight without consulting him. He added that he believed Johnson would not have opposed the fight had he known there were provisions to stop the fight if Morrison is bleeding.

If Morrison is cut, there will be a one-minute timeout. If Morrison’s cut man, trainer Tommy Virgets, is not able to stop the blood flow in that time, the outcome of the fight will be determined by the scorecards.

“I would never consider fighting again if I thought for a second we were putting anyone’s life in danger,” Morrison said. “If there’s no blood, there’s no risk.”

Morrison was confident, he said, that there would be no problems.

“I’m not a bleeder,” he said, noting that he had only shed blood in four fights. But Morrison did bleed badly in his last ring appearance, when he was stopped by Lennox Lewis in the sixth round on Oct. 7, 1995.

Rhode was a last-minute replacement for Anthony Cooks (9-5), who bowed out after an arrest warrant was issued for him by law enforcement authorities in Oklahoma, his home state.

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“I’m carrying around a lot of anger right now, and I’m going to unleash it on somebody,” Morrison said. “My job is to go in there and kick somebody’s butt.”

Morrison also said he would like to box again against Foreman, whom he beat for the WBO title in 1993.

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