MAYWEATHER, JR., FLOYD-VICTORIANO SOSA HBO POSTER (2003)

HISTORY: On April 19, 2003 at Selland Arena in Fresno, California WBC Lightweight Champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr fought Victoriano Sosa in the featured bout. Mayweather, Jr. won a unanimous 12 round decision in defense of his title. Sosa Is Given a Boxing Lesson by Mayweather By Paul Gutierrez, Los Angeles Times, April 20, 2003 He winked. Floyd Mayweather Jr. had been caught by an overhand right and fell into the ropes, forced to grab and hold Victoriano Sosa to stem the attack. There were 45 seconds remaining in the sixth round and the crowd was chanting Sosa's last name, imploring the upset-minded challenger to finish off Mayweather and take his World Boxing Council lightweight title. But while in the clinch, an unconcerned Mayweather looked down at the ringside broadcasting team and winked, as if he knew something. He did. Sosa, often the more exciting and busier fighter, was not landing clean blows, while Mayweather was picking Sosa apart with pristine jabs to the face and stomach. Mayweather weathered the sixth-round storm Saturday night and put on a jab clinic to come away with a one-sided unanimous decision, 118-110, 119-109, 118-110. The Times scored it 117-111. The announcement, though, angered the Selland Arena crowd of 7,255, which was nearly 3,000 less than capacity and witnessing the first world title fight in the city's history. "Don't go by the oohs and ahs," said a fresh-faced Mayweather, who improved to 30-0. "That's not what boxing's about. "A lot of [Sosa's] shots hit me in the arms and shoulders. I'm just happy with my victory. I don't go out there to brag and boast. I mean, he was throwing more punches than me but I was landing more shots." The CompuBox numbers showed Mayweather landing 55% (248 of 448) of his punches while Sosa connected on only 14% (79 of 565). Still, Sosa, a native of Santiago, Dominican Republic, who claims to be related to the Chicago Cubs' right fielder and could have used his purported second cousin's home run swing in the ring, was unimpressed. "I'm very surprised," said Sosa, whose eyes were swollen and whose record dropped to 35-3-2. "He has to give me a rematch. I beat him. "Here in California, I guess you have to kill someone." Or maybe not get tagged so often by jabs. "I could hit him with the jab all day," said Mayweather, who connected on 60% of his jabs (147-246), compared to the 7% (12-182) the wiry Sosa landed. "I hit him with the jab whenever I wanted to." Offered here is an original, HBO poster used to advertise this fight.

FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original, paper, HBO poster which pictures Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Bold color and print. Bold, clear image. Clean. No tack holes. Mild creasing. Edge and corner wear. 27" x 40."