By Keith Idec

Trey Lippe-Morrison laughs whenever he watches footage from his first professional fight.

Literally.

That’s how bad Lippe-Morrison feels he was when he made his pro debut in February 2014. The son of the late Tommy Morrison stopped Kris Renty in the second round of his pro debut.

The outcome is about the only positive Lippe-Morrison takes away from that scheduled four-round fight in Miami, Oklahoma.

“Oh, man, I think in every aspect you can think of, I’ve improved,” Lippe-Morrison told BoxingScene.com. “Not just boxing-wise, because I think the big thing about boxing is it’s 80-90 percent mental. Mentally, I’ve improved.

“And I wanna say in every area of boxing I’ve improved. I wanna say in punching, defense, ring generalship, my footwork – anything you can think of I’ve improved, really. Because if you were to go back and watch my first fight, oh man, I mean, I laugh when I watch it. I mean, it’s bad. It’s real bad, and I’ll be the first one to say it.”

Starting Friday night, Lippe-Morrison hopes to start showing skeptics he can attract attention in boxing for something other than his famous last name. Lippe-Morrison (11-0, 11 KOs), of Tulsa, Okla., is set to face Pittsburgh’s Ed Latimore (13-0, 7 KOs) in a six-round fight that’ll be part of Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecast from Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla. (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT).

The bout will mark Lippe-Morrison’s return from late-January surgery that repaired a torn tendon in his right hand. Like Lippe-Morrison, who didn't have any amateur fights, Latimore hasn’t exactly fought a credible list of imposing opponents while building his unblemished record.

Nevertheless, Latimore figures to be the most difficult foe Lippe-Morrison will have encountered as a professional. Even after an eight-month layoff, Lippe-Morrison expects to win impressively.

“I’m looking to show all the things I’ve learned coming up to this fight,” Lippe-Morrison said. “My last fight I hurt my hand, so I really think that was a blessing, instead of a major drawback. Because while I hurt my hand, I really developed skill with my left hand and my left hook and all of my punches with my left hand. I’m just looking to showcase that.”

International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach works with Lippe-Morrison at Roach’s Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, where Lippe-Morrison resides most of the time because he doesn’t take much time off between bouts. The 26-year-old Lippe-Morrison is thankful Roach was willing to spend time developing his skills.

“It’s honestly been a dream come true,” Lippe-Morrison said. “I’m really fortunate. The way Freddie teaches is unlike any coach I’ve ever been with. Since the first two or three days I was ever with him, he just kind of stood back and just saw how I moved and what I did, and he just added little things to what I did.

“As far as the things I did wrong, or the things I needed to get better at, he worked at it piece by piece, little things at a time. He corrects them that way, and it’s been a blessing.”

The 6-feet-2, 221-pound Lippe-Morrison turned to boxing about a month after his father died due to complications from AIDS in September 2013. Tommy Morrison (48-3-1, 43 KOs), a onetime WBO heavyweight champion who initially became famous for his role in “Rocky V,” always wanted to see his son to box.

It wasn’t until repeated violations of team rules got Lippe-Morrison kicked off Central Arkansas’ football team, however, that he decided to pursue boxing. Lippe-Morrison had to convince Oklahoma promoter Tony Holden, who worked with Tommy Morrison, to support his pro career.

“I was just trying to think of another sport I could make it in,” said Lippe-Morrison, who played defensive end for Central Arkansas. “So I said, ‘Well, my dad boxed. Maybe I can try that.’ As driven of a person as I am, I knew I could learn fast. I knew I wouldn’t be very fundamentally sound at the beginning of it. But that always drove me to do better.

All but two of Lippe-Morrison’s 11 professional fights have taken place at Buffalo Run Casino, which Holden owns. The venue is about 20 minutes from Vinita, Lippe-Morrison’s hometown.

Between fighting so close to home and being Tommy Morrison’s son, Lippe-Morrison has endured a lot of pressure just to make it to this fight Friday night.

 “I’ve dealt with that fight by fight,” Lippe-Morrison said. “It’s actually gotten a lot better. The only thing that sucked was when I had my first two fights, honestly I wasn’t very good. And a lot of people compared me in my first fight to my dad in his last fight.

“So a lot of people were like, ‘Oh, this kid’s definitely not gonna make it.’ And I just used that as a driving process. Something to prove people wrong and something to keep me going. It really worked. As far as pressure, there’s a little bit of pressure [being Tommy Morrison’s son]. But I don’t let that get me down. I mainly just use it as fuel.”

A victory over Latimore, who’s promoted by Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports, clearly would be the most noteworthy victory of Lippe-Morrison’s 2½-year pro career.

“I think I’ve converted some people,” Lippe-Morrison said. “And when I say some, I mean a very small amount. Like I said, I still have a lot to learn. I think a lot of people probably think I’m probably not gonna make it. But, you know, I’ve still got a lot to learn and I think I’ll end up getting those people on my side later on.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.