WILLIE "WILL O' THE WISP" PEP - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: BOB "THE DEPUTY SHERIFF" FOSTER, JOEY MAXIM, MARVIS FRAZIER, CARLOS ORTIZ, RUBEN OLIVARES, GERRY COONEY, LARRY HOLMES, AARON PRYOR, ARTHUR MERCANTE, JOSE "CHEGUI" TORRES, BERT SUGAR, LIVINGSTONE BRAMBLE - HFSID 275237

BOXING GREATS
11x17 color print of a pair of Everlast boxing gloves signed by 13 fighters, including nine champs, and legendary ref Arthur Mercante, Sr.
Illustration signed: "Willie Pep", "Larry Holmes", "Aaron Pryor", "Jerry Cooney", "Bert Sugar", "Carlos Ortiz", "Marvis Frazier", "Bob Foster", "José Torres", "Joey Maxim", "Arthur Mercante", "Ruben Olivares", "Livingstone Bramble" and one unidentified signer. Color, 11x17. Print of a pair of hanging Everlast boxing gloves. 14 signatures in all. Nicknamed "Will o' the Wisp" for his elusiveness, WILLIE PEP (b. 1922) was Featherweight Champ from 1942-1948 and 1949-1951. LARRY HOLMES was heavyweight champion (WBC or IBF) from 1978-1985. He successfully defended his title 20 times. AARON PRYOR (b. 1955), who was known as "The Hawk", was WBA welterweight champ from 1980-1983 and IBF champ from 1983-1985. Pryor defended his title 11 times before retiring in 1991 with a 39-1 record (35 KOs). In 1980, JERRY COONEY was ranked number 1 in the WBC. In 1981, he beat former world Heavyweight champion Ken Norton by a knockout in the first in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd and HBO cameras. In 1982, he fought Larry Holmes for the World Heavyweight Championship, losing by a knockout in 13 rounds but gaining the $1 million loser's purse. Puerto Rican boxer CARLOS ORTIZ held the junior welterweight crown (1959-1960) and then the lightweight title (1962-1968). MARVIS FRAZIER, the son of former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier, was a skilled heavyweight himself at the amateur and professional level, but is unfortunately remembered being knocked out in the first round in fights with Larry Holmes (1983) and Mike Tyson (1986). ROBERT FOSTER won the world light heavyweight title by knocking out Dick Tiger (1968). He successfully defended his title fourteen times against tough opponents, retiring still champion in 1974. JOSÉ TORRES was world light heavyweight champion (1965-1966) and President of the World Boxing Organization (1990-1995). He has written biographies of Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali. JOEY MAXIM, born in 1922, gained the U.S. light heavyweight title in 1949 and the world ranking the following year, holding it until 1952. Maxim beat some of the finest fighters of his era, including Jersey Joe Walcott, Sugar Ray Robinson and future world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson. Mexican fighter RUBEN OLIVARES was world bantamweight champ (1969-1972), and later held the WBO featherweight title (1974-1975). LIVINGSTONE BRAMBLE, the first world boxing champ raised in the US Virgin Islands, held the WBA lightweight crown from 1984 to 1986. ARTHUR MERCANTE has refereed more championship fights, from Dempsey to Ali, Foreman and Haglerm than any other ref, and wrote Inside the Ropes about his experiences. BERT SUGAR (1937-2012) is a popular sportswriter who has written a book on Boxing's Greatest Fighters. One-half-inch tear at right of upper edge. Otherwise, fine condition.