BOWE, RIDDICK-JESSE FERGUSON & ROY JONES, JR.-BERNARD HOPKINS ON SITE POSTER (1993)

HISTORY: Riddick Bowe fought Jesse Ferguson on May 22, 1993 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Bowe knocked him out in the 2nd round to retain the World Heavyweight Title. Three months earlier, on the undercard of Riddick Bowe vs. Michael Dokes, Ferguson fought Ray Mercer in what was supposed to be a tuneup for Mercer before challenging Bowe for the title. Ferguson upset Mercer by a 10-round unanimous decision and got the title shot against Bowe. Bowe's purse was $7 million, and Ferguson's was $500,000. Bowe entered the fight as the WBA and IBF heavyweight champion, but the IBF refused to sanction the match because it didn't consider Ferguson to be a worthy challenger. Bowe was a 40-1 favorite. The fight aired live on HBO. There was a crowd of about 8,500. As the first round drew to a close, Bowe dropped Ferguson with a left hook. Ferguson struggled up at the referee's count of nine, and the round was over. Ferguson came out for the second round and was met by a six-punch barrage that dropped him face down. The referee began to count and then signaled that the fight was over with the round only 17 seconds old. Bowe landed 65 of 94 punches, while Ferguson landed 19 of 43. On the undercard Roy Jones, Jr. won a 12 round unanimous decision over Bernard Hopkins to take the vacant IBF world middleweight title. This was the first world title fight for both boxers. Hopkins was ranked #1 by the IBF and Jones was #2. The IBF middleweight title became vacant after James Toney defeated Iran Barkley to win the IBF super middleweight title three months earlier. Jones landed 206 of 594 punches (35%) and Hopkins connected on 153 of 670 (23%). The Associated Press reported: "Jones was much too fast and much too strong for Bernard Hopkins."Presented here is an original, scarce, original, on site poster to this event.

FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original, cardboard, on site poster which pictures all four fighters. Bold color and print. Bold, clear images. Clean front and back. No tack holes. Crease near bottom. Minor edge wear. 18" x 24."