Former heavyweight world champion Tommy “The Duke” Morrison passed away a little over twelve years ago, at the age of just 44. His life was marked by a meteoric rise to glory, fame, and success, followed by an equally sudden downfall that began with the discovery that he had contracted AIDS ([click here to read his story]). Yet, the suffering that his tragic fate inflicted on his family is not over, as revealed by the words of Diane Morrison, the late champion’s mother.
Diane has entrusted an open letter to Tony Holden, Tommy’s former manager, asking him to share it as widely as possible. Her message is not a mere outburst, but rather a heartfelt plea for help addressed to anyone willing to stand by her in the fight against the lies that, twelve years after his passing, continue to disturb the peace of the Morrison family and those who truly loved the former boxer.
Below we publish, in full, Mrs. Diane Morrison’s letter.
With a heavy heart, I write this not because I want to, but because I feel I must.
My name is Diane Morrison, and I am the mother of Tommy Morrison. Many of you knew him as the heavyweight boxing champion, Tommy “The Duke” Morrison.
My son has been gone for more than twelve years. Yet it still feels like yesterday. His passing is something I rarely talk about, because the pain never truly goes away.
Trisha Harding, who my son married while he was battling drugs and in a confused state of mind, has taken control of Tommy’s estate pushing her conspiracy theories for self-fame.
Now Trisha, who is from England, has convinced a UK producer to make a documentary about Tommy titled “I Am Tommy Morrison,” and she is involved in producing it. She has attended WBC conventions, getting major champions and boxing figures to do interviews. They believe they are giving a tribute to my son and I so much appreciate that but they don’t know this documentary will be filled with Trisha’s conspiracy theories that Tommy never had HIV, and this documentary needs to be stopped.
The documentary is now in production and is expected to be released next year. I ask anyone who was interviewed to please contact me or inform the producer and request that your interview be removed. This documentary will be based on false information, concealing the truth and coverups, only to prove her conspiracy theory that my son never had HIV.
I don’t like doing this, but I must write about the experience and pain Trisha Harding has put on our family.
During the last two years of Tommy’s life, he was not in his right mind. He was battling HIV and struggling with drug dependency. It was during this time that he met and married a woman named Trisha Harding.
I took care of Tommy for a period during his final days. Watching him decline from AIDS was the hardest thing a mother could ever face. When he passed, everything that followed felt unreal.
Trisha refused to let us bring his body home for a proper burial. She said she would have his ashes put into necklaces and tour the country to give them to his friends and fans, claiming it was what Tommy wanted. Maybe he said that once, in a confused and delusional state of mind but I know my son. In his right mind, he would never have wanted that.
Our family begged her to let us bring him home. Trisha ignored our wishes.
Tommy’s close friend and promoter, Tony, tried to help. He finally told us that she had agreed to release the body to our family. For a moment, we felt relief. We arranged for a funeral director to drive to Omaha to retrieve Tommy’s body, and he was hours into his drive when we received the call that shattered us she had changed her mind.
I can’t describe the pain that caused me. I was already trying to grieve my son’s death, and then I had to face this.
Trisha decided to cremate him instead. She promised to send the family a small amount of ashes to bury.
After that, things only got worse. She took control of his estate and started claiming publicly that Tommy never had HIV or AIDS. I’ve seen her go online and push these lies, and I even watched podcast hosts people who never knew my son being rewarded by Trisha with remains of my son’s body. As a mother, you can’t imagine the horror and pain I felt every time I saw this and it continues to happen.
I don’t understand how she can keep spreading these false stories about Tommy not having HIV. I was there. I saw the doctor’s reports. I knew what my son was going through. The birth of Tommy’s youngest son was complicated but successful, as the physical HIV virus was removed from Tommy’s sperm to ensure my grandson was HIV negative. She even went so far as to convince one of our own family members to pretend to be Tommy for an HIV test. She escorted him into a clinic, they drew blood, and of course the test came back negative. She continued to conceal positive tests when they were documented facts. When she was suing Nevada, the defense lawyers subpoenaed all of my son’s doctors, resulting in multiple test results and all were positive. She used HIPAA laws to ensure those tests did not go public, and yet she continues to claim there are no positive tests.
Even when Tommy was in denial, he was quietly taking HIV medication. His ex-wife and doctors can confirm that. But once he married Trisha, he stopped taking his medicine and we all know how that ended.
Later, Trisha tried to sue the Nevada Athletic Commission for more than $100 million, hoping to enrich herself. Her case was extremely weak, with no merit, and she lost badly. And now she has taken it to the public, not showing records of the truth, and points to her conspiracy theories and court documents that never held up.
She also took control of Tommy’s estate and continues keeping possession of all my son’s belongings including a storage unit full of memorabilia and accomplishments that he was very proud of. Without a doubt, Tommy would have wanted these things to go to his sons. After twelve years, two of his sons have received nothing.
She continues to make posts showing all of Tommy’s memorabilia that she continues to possess.
Our family along with members of Tommy’s team sent a cease-and-desist letter through our attorney, demanding that these lies and conspiracy theories be stopped. By further disrespecting the family, she ignored it. Sadly, we didn’t have the financial means to keep fighting.
It’s been more than twelve years, and I still can’t find peace, because Trisha Harding won’t stop. We are now setting up a GoFundMe page to help us take legal action against Trisha Harding, the producer, and all distributors of the documentary I Am Tommy Morrison. The family is not seeking any compensation from this suit we only want her to stop and to leave the family at peace.
I am proud of my family and of Tommy’s close friends who have refused to be involved. Trisha keeps searching for anyone willing to take part, hoping to make her story believable. But those who really knew and loved Tommy know better. I can honestly say Trisha Harding never knew my son. She was with Tommy when he was not in his right mind sadly, due to the abuse of drugs caused by changes in his life that many of us would have never overcome.
I just want to say my son Tommy was an amazing young man, and people have no idea what he went through. When he fell to drugs, he would fight back to become clean and sober which he did, but sadly it was for only a short time. We all love and miss Tommy’s big heart and big smile. We need Trisha Harding to please stop now and to leave our family at peace.
I don’t like sharing my family’s private pain. But I just want her to stop, so that we can finally have peace and begin to heal.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Diane Morrison
Mother of Tommy “The Duke” Morrison