Welcome to my card gallery! Please be sure to visit my web site at www.americasgreatboxingcards.com if you haven't already.
Navigation: Please use the scroll bar above to view the other pages. I hope you will find them informative and interesting.
If you would like more information about my boxing card encyclopedia "America's Great Boxing Cards", please go to www.americasgreatboxingcards.com. In the years since its 1st publication my book has become the reference on boxing cards. The descriptions below are short excerpts from the book, which also provides detailed write ups and analysis, hundreds of images, and checklists of sets that had never been studied methodically before. Also below are card galleries of various issues, which I am providing for everyone's easy reference.
I will try to make the gallery as close to chronological as I can.
And in answer to a question I frequently get, no, the cards here are not for sale. This is a museum page dedicated to public education; I don't even own many of them. Wish I did. If you are interested in buying boxing cards please use the menu bar at the top to go to the boxing cards for sale page.
Final Note: I moved the strip cards to the Boxing Strip Card page.
Final Final Note: Please look on the Exhibit card page for Exhibit cards of boxers.
Final Final Final Note: there is a substantial postcard page too.
Date(s): July 2, 2005. Album by Adam Warshaw. 1 - 927 of 927 Total. 691170 Visits.
1 Pre-1870 John C. Heenan CDV by Fredricks. This is the earliest verifiable boxing card. Until the late 1850's the photographic technology did not permit commercial scale, affordable production of photographs. Fredricks was one of the first to make albumen images, a skill he learned in France and brought to the States in 1855. By the time this card was issued as part of his commercially produced "Specialite" series of famous personages, Fredricks owned a large studio and gallery in New York City. His work is featured in a number of museum collections, including the Smithsonian.
2 N167 Jem Carney. One of four cards issued as part of N167 by Goodwin, it is the first series of boxing cards inserted into packages of cigarettes.
3 1887 N28 Allen & Ginter Jimmy Carney. N28 cards are the most common of the 19th Century tobacco boxing cards and among the easiest to collect in high grade (ex or better) because they are printed on thick, high quality cardboard. The set consists of 50 cards, ten of which depict boxers. On the card backs is a checklist of the issue.
4 The great John L. Sullivan's N28 card. I feel it is his finest representation on a 19th century lithographic card.
5 N29 Jack McGee. Following the success of the N28 series of fifty cards, Allen & Ginter issued a second series, which Burdick dubbed N29. We know it is a second series because it says so right on the card backs. N29 cards are more difficult to find than N28 cards but still readily collected.
6 N29 Allen & Ginter Patsey Kerrigan.
7 N43 Frank Murphy. Acting on the old adage that more of a good thing is better, Allen & Ginter re-used the images of the N29 set to create the set that Burdick catalogued as N43. The set features the fronts of the N29 cards within oversized cards that depict colorful boxing and decorative paraphernalia alongside. These cards are large, even bigger than modern cards, and were used in 20-packs of cigarettes, as stated on the card reverses. They are in very high demand.
8 This is an album page from the 2nd series of Allen & Ginter champions albums, ACC designation A18.
9 N162 Old Judge & Gypsy Queen Charlie Mitchell. There are five boxers in this colorful and extremely popular multisport lithograph set from Goodwin: Jack Dempsey, John L. Sullivan, Jake Kilrain, Jem Smith and Charlie Mitchell. All five are IBHOF members. The card backs contain a checklist. N162’s are moderately difficult but not rare.
10 N162 Old Judge & Gypsy Queen Jack Dempsey.
No, this is not the heavyweight champ. This is the original Jack Dempsey, a great middleweight champ nicknamed the Nonpariel. The other fellow is William Harrison Dempsey. He took the name in tribute to the Nonpariel and it stuck.
11 N174 Jack Dempsey. The second major boxing issue from Goodwin consists of albumen photographs in nine formats; the set is very complex. Cards with the rectangular bottom logo are sometimes found with a distinctly pink hue. I have no idea nor, frankly, does anyone else, whether only certain boxers have cards in certain styles, and to state otherwise is to speculate. I have a comprehensive checklist in my book but new variations do surface. N174 cards sell for high prices when they are found.
12 N174 Gypsy Queen Tug Wilson. Issued only with two formats, GQs are scarcer than OJs. The thick-skulled Wilson came to the US from England, stood in with Sullivan for long enough to win a $1,000 challenge purse for lasting, and returned to England to open a grocery business with the money.
13 N174 Peter Jackson. This format of N174 has the pink cards. Jackson was the best of the 19th century black heavyweight contenders, denied a shot by Sullivan. He and Corbett fought to a draw.
14 N174 George Godfrey. He is misidentified as "Joe" Godfrey. The most common format N174. Godfrey was another black contender. This and the Peter Jackson are the earliest known cards of black boxers, so they bring a premium from specialists. Godfrey was elected to the Bare Knuckles Boxing HOF.
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16 A John Wood cabinet card of Godfrey from the same photo session as the Old Judge card's photo. Cabinet cards were populaly issued in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are called “cabinet” card or “premium” card because their size usually exceeds 4” x 6” and were often displayed in curio cabinets. Many were issued to promote various organizations and businesses. Some were even issued by boxers to promote themselves, or sold individually by companies capitalizing on the card collecting craze to sell mass-produced images of celebrities.
17 N174 Bob Fitzsimmons. Sorry for the lousy scan but this card is rare and was issued in Australia.
18 N174 large screen Gypsy Queen. There are 7 known cards with the large GQ legend with only 1 example of each fighter known.
19 N174 large screen Gypsy Queen Willie Clark.
20 Old Judge card with rare back advertising, likely an Australian or UK issue.
21 A very rare Aussie OJ card
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23 1887 W.S. Kimball Champions of Games and Sports (N184)Patsy Cardiff. Not to be outdone by its competitors at Allen & Ginter and Goodwin, W. S. Kimball & Co. issued its own set of champions cards. There are five boxers. The card fronts are found with or without the company name wrapped around the portrait of the subject.
24 N184 John L. Sullivan, with logo around the head. These are the rarest of the regular tobacco sized multisport champions lithographed issues and owing to thin borders and weak cardboard are very hard to find in nice shape.
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29 N150 John L. Sullivan. One of four poses found in the issue.
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33 N157 The Sunny South. Boxer is Cal McCarthy an early featherweight and bantamweight champ
34 N692 a smaller, tougher version of N157 w/ different branding
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36 1889 Kinney Hold To The Light Metamorphic (N223)John L. Sullivan. This is a unique, extremely rare issue. The cards’ images change when held to sunlight. The Sullivan, gets long hair and a beard when he changes. It is a layered set of images on thin stock and is vulnerable to damage.
37 1889 S.F. Hess & Co. (N332) Jack Havlin. S.F. Hess, a Rochester, NY company, issued a very rare series consisting of an unknown number of blank-backed photographic cards of boxers and other celebrities in a format very similar to N174. The issue is so rare that it is meaningless to speak of the 80+ known cards as a set.
38 N332 S.F. Hess Charlie Mitchell. It was not uncommon for parents to lop off the tobacco ads on cards and give the images to their kids. When the card is rare it can make identification a challenge. This one was sold as an unidentified photo of an anonymous boxer and sold for less than 1% of what a Hess would normally cost.
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40 1887 Lorillard’s Mechanics Delight (N269) Jimmy Elliot. Lorillard issued this sought after set of fifty numbered boxing cards in 1887. Personally, my favorite 19th century set; I appreciate the broad scope of subjects, the numbering, and the write ups on the backs of the cards.
41 N269 Lorillard Mechanics Delight Tommy Warren. An early lightweight champion.
42 N269 Lorillard Mechanics Delight John L. Sullivan. One of two Sullivans in the set, both carrying the same card number.
43 N269 Lorillard Mechanics Delight Bill Poole. A gangster and nativist political enforcer immortalized in Herbert Asbury's "The Gangs of New York" who was drawn on to create the "Butcher Bill" character in the movie. Murdered by Irish gangsters affiliated with John Morrissey (our next card subject), his last words were "I die a true American." His funeral procession drew thousands of onlookers.
44 John "Old Smoke" Morrissey. The Tammany politico and gangster was one of the toughest bare knuckles brawlers of pre-Civil War NYC and founded the Saratoga Springs track. Served in Congress and died a very wealthy man. His crew murdered Bill Poole, though not on his orders. He and Poole had a bitter blood feud based on Poole's nativist sentiments.
45 1889 History of Poor Boys and Other Famous People (N79) Jake Kilrain: Although not really cards, the two booklets in this series that depict boxers are popularly collected by 19th century boxing card collectors. The booklets were produced by Duke and show various Duke products in addition to detailed biographies of the celebrity subjects. The elaborate cover art is what makes these items popular among collectors. The two boxer subjects are John L. Sullivan and Jake Kilrain. The set is popularly treated as an 1888 issue, but that is clearly wrong; the last paragraph of the Kilrain biography states that he and Sullivan had signed in January 1889 for a July 1889 championship bout.
46 1893 Lorillard Red Cross Long Cut Tobacco (N266)Choyinski[sic] and Goddard. The set designated N266 by Burdick consists of 25 known unnumbered cards. It is one of the easiest sets to date; 1893 is printed right on the fronts of the cards in very small, faint print below the “Red Cross” name. Each oversized “tall boy” card depicts a match between two fighters and illustrates a specific move. Some of the illustrations show blows permitted under the rules of the London Prize Ring (“L.P.R.”), but not under the modern rules for gloved prize fights. Card backs contain a short blurb about the fighters and fight depicted, and a huge Red Cross advertisement. These colorful cards are larger than average tobacco cards but smaller than postcards, trade cards or cabinet cards, which accounts for both their desirability and their difficulty in better conditions.
47 N266 Fitzsimmons v. Dempsey. One of the two keys to the set showing Jack Dempsey and Bob Fitzsimmons, who fought for the middleweight crown. Fitz held two titles at once (middle and heavy) at a time when there were only three weight divisions.
48 N266 Murphy v. Weir
49 N266 McAuliffe v. Myers
50 N266 Hall v. Pritchard
51 N266 Frazier and Daly
52 N266 De Baum and Campbell
53 N266 Dawson and Needham
54 N266 Chambers and Clark
55 Offered for sale the few times they've come up as some prototype, they are much more likely cuts from some sort of as yet undiscovered poster for the Red Cross set.
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57 1895 Mayo Cut Plug (N310)Joe Chonskia [sic]. Mayo produced a series of 35 subjects with photographic depictions of many of the biggest stars of the day. The set features two front styles: names at the top and names at the bottom of the image.
The fighter whose name was routinely mangled by the card companies, San Francisco native Joseph Bartlett Choynski [ko-yin-ski] was the first great Jewish-American fighter. Although he weighed about 170 he was a heavyweight who fought most every contender and champion, and defeated Jack Johnson early in Johnson's career.
58 Mayo Jim Corbett, name at bottom variation.
59 Mayo Jim Hall. There are extreme print variations found in the name at bottom Mayo issue. They are detailed in my book. Ones like this, missing the artistic enhancements, are the rarest.
60 Side by side of a fully finished Hall card and one missing the art layers.
61 N310 Joe Walcott
62 Old Chocolate Godfrey, name at bottom variety.
63 2012 HOFer [finally] Jake Kilrain, name at bottom variation
64 Uncut partial strip of N310.
65 Another uncut N310 strip
66 All three of the N310 uncut strips shown here originally fit together as one strip but were separated over time. I know of only one other uncut N310 strip.
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70 N386 Spaulding & Merrick John L. Sullivan
71 This is a carte de viste (CDV) of Jem Carney. About the size of a modern photograph it was produced in the 1890s.
72 N537 Little Rhody Jim Corbett
73 1890s Jim Corbett CDV.
74 Richard K. Fox, publisher of the Police Gazette, was a well known photographer and prize fight promoter. He was responsible for a large issue of cabinet cards under his own studio name as well as a set issued under the Police Gazette name. He also made up several CDVs of himself, like this one.
75 A CDV of The Great John L in his prime, from the UK.
76 Richard K. Fox cabinet of Bob Fitzsimmons.
77 Richard K. Fox cabinet Tom Hyer. Hyer was one of the first American heavyweight champs, winning acclaim in a 101 round (yes, that is correct) bare knuckles title fight in the 1840s. He successfully defended against Yankee Sullivan in the 1851 and then retired to run his bar and gang in New York City.
78 Another Fox cabinet of Bob Fitzsimmons, this one on a rare white mount.
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86 This cabinet of HOFer Charlie Mitchell was issued as part of a set of boxers by The Champion and is designated in the ACC as M125.
87 M125 cabinet of Australian boxer Frank Slavin.
88 Police Gazette John L. Sullivan. Richard Fox issued a multitude of cabinet cards under his studio and also issued a series for his newspaper The Police Gazette. The latter have the ACC designation M128.
89 M128 Jake Kilrain
90 John Wood Studio cabinet card of Jack [Nonpariel] Dempsey. An image from the same sitting was used to make his S.F. Hess card.
91 Jem Smith. Same pose as used on the N167 Old Judge and N151 Duke Honest Long Cut cards.
92 Patsy Cardiff. Same pose as his Old Judge card.
93 Jake Kilrain by Wood. Same pose as his N174 Old Judge.
94 Stevengraph silks of Kilrain and Smith. An English issue of four cabinet-cards that frame very finely woven silk fighter portraits about the size of a bank check.
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96 1895 Newsboy Cabinets (N566)Peter Jackson. The National Tobacco Works issued a gigantic set of several hundred cabinet (4 1/4” x 6 1/2”) cards in the early 1890’s, popularly listed as an 1895 issue. I know of 4 boxing subjects, John L. Sullivan, Jim Corbett, Peter Jackson and Bob Fitzsimmons, depicted on at least 14 different cards.
97 N566 Newsboy Bob Fitzsimmons with Campbell mount and Boston Herald advertisement back
98 N566 Corbett. One of the full body poses. Campbell mount.
99 Paddy Ryan, heavyweight champ and 2020 IBHOF inductee
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101 John L. Sullivan cabinet card. One of many types of souvenir cards of the first true fistic superstar, this particular format is found with at least three different poses.
102 John L. Sullivan trade card. This cabinet sized card is usually found imprinted on front or back with a local merchant's advertisement, a common use for trade cards in the late 19th century.
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105 What we have here is somewhat of a mystery but is generally accepted as being some kind of composite sample card associated with the N150 series.
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107 1882 John L. Sullivan cabinet by Mora. One of the earliest Sullivan cabinet issues.
108 Chickering 'borrowed' the Mora card image to make a Sullivan card.
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113 Turning now to trade cards (product-specific issues), here is an 1890s X-Zalia Jim Corbett. A snake oil of the worst sort, Corbett plugged it for a fee.
114 This bloody card was issued with blank back or imprinted for products
115 A minstrel show Sullivan toured with; very different times...
116 Sure, JL drank tea...
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119 1901 Ogdens. A giant issue of several series of subjects, with a nice selection of boxers. British.
120 This is from the "A" series
121 The BAT issued different versions of the cards overseas. This was Danish.
122 Tough Aussie version of the Ogden's issue.
123 1904 Battling Nelson. Styled like a cabinet card but printed. Includes his record to 1904 on the back.
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125 Jack O'Brien's card
126 Jimmy Britt. Also seen: Jim Jeffries, John L. Sullivan
127 George Dixon, discovered in 2019
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129 Jim Jeffries, the California Grizzly, in his prime in 1899.
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131 1904 Jeffries-Munroe cabinet card by Sporting Life magazine. Unlike 'true' cabinet cards, this one is printed rather than photographic, and double-sided. Only one specimen is known.
132 An appearance card for HOFer Freddie Welsh.
133 Dana Studios mounted photo of Monte Attell. Never seen a better Attell
134 ca.1909 James J. Jeffries self-issued cabinet card w/Sarony image. Sarony was a well-known photographer of athletes. Jeffries made several cabinets in conjunction with his 1910 comeback.
135 Spectacular mounted photo of the Michigan Wildcat, Ad Wolgast
136 T218 Sam Langford. Perhaps the most widely collected T-type boxing cards are the T218 cards of Champion Athletes and Prizefighters, issued with various American Tobacco Company products. The T218 cards are beautiful examples of turn of the century lithography. The cards measure approximately 2 ½ x 2 7/8 inches, and typically contain a short write-up and fight statistics on the backs.
137 T218 Jack Johnson, side view. In my opinion the T218 set is the nicest looking of the 20th century lithographic sets.
138 T218 Stanley Ketchell
139 T218 Sam Langford Tolstoi back. Mecca is the most common brand of T218. Hassan is slightly more difficult to find than Mecca, say on a 55:45 ratio. The Tolstoi back is rare.
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142 T218 Willie Lewis.
143 T219 Willie Lewis. The T219 set is a cut down version of T218 with only 50 boxers. Compare this card with the T218 Lewis image for the cropping. The basic cards in the set are the Honest Long Cut (“HLC”) brand cards. The Miners Extra brand is uncommon. The Red Cross brand is rarely seen.
144 T220 Charlie Goldman. Issued with Mecca and Tolstoi cigarettes, the 50-card set designated as T220 by Jefferson Burdick in the American Card Catalog is one of the two “basic” boxing card sets from pre-World War I era of the 20th Century.
145 T220 Silver Borders Charlie Goldman. A significant border variation exists in the T220 set. All cards are commonly found with a white border. For some reason, 26 Mecca brand cards were printed as well with a silver border.
146 T220 Mecca Silver Borders Joe Coburn. Note the man at the left.
147 T220 Coburn white border. The man’s image clearly was removed after the silver bordered printing, since the plant leaves that replaced him still form his silhouette. Why the American Tobacco Company bothered to remove this man from the picture is unknown. It proves that the silver cards were printed first. I have never seen a white bordered Coburn with the man at the left intact.
148 T220 Silver Borders Kid Lavigne.
149 T220 Silver Borders Mike Donovan. This card blew my mind when discovered early in 2006. Until then all catalogs carried the silver bordered variation of T220 as a 25-card subset of the 50-card issue including Jack Goodman, which does not exist. This card was the 26th silver border discovered and is one of 2 known specimens. The silver set consists of 25 cards.
150 T220 Silver Borders Young Erne
151 T220 Silver Borders Willie Beecher
152 T220 Freddie Welsh Tolstoi back
153 1910 Dixie Queen T223 John L. Sullivan. The same 50 cards in T220 were issued in a smaller format on coarser paper as Dixie Queen premiums. They are quite rare.
154 T224/T229 Pet/Kopec Cigarettes Monte Attell. Abe's brother Monte was a title holder. Pet and Kopec were West Coast brands with very limited distribution. Pet brand cards are rare; Kopecs are all but impossible to find.
155 T225 Jas. J. Jeffries. This series has 10 back variations. The gory details are in my book.
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157 T226 Red Sun Puglistic [sic] Subjects Willie Lewis. This set of 50 cards is very tough to find and very desirable; a high grade set of 50 brought $57,605.23 at auction some years ago.
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159 T227 Abe Attell. A multisport set of 24 known (1 missing) cards with 5 boxers issued in a large format similar to modern cards with images not seen on any other T cards, the T227 Honest Long Cut or Miners Extra brand set is very desirable, especially because of its four baseball players. Abe Attell was a Jewish-American champion who was the go-between in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
160 T227 Ad Wolgast
161 T227 Johnny Coulon. Every boxer in T227 was a champion and is in the IBHOF. The others not shown here are Frankie Klaus and Jack Johnson.
162 T227 Jack Johnson. Honest Long Cut back.
163 T227 Jack Johnson. Mechanics Extra back.
164 T227 Frank Klaus. I really like this image.
165 These T227 items were cut from an as-yet undiscovered advertising piece or album. Likely an ad piece.
166 T9 Turkey Red cabinet cards are among the most beautiful cards of the T era. Commonly found with the redemption address at the bottom and on occasion with no address.
167 There is an advertising back known only with the baseball cards.
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172 1909 Jeffries Championship Souvenir Playing Cards Bob Fitzsimmons. The W.P. Jeffries Co. created a really nice set of playing cards depicting boxers and boxing matches from the past. The card back shows Jeffries, fat and happy in a bowler hat.
173 This card was enclosed in the deck of Jeffries cards and is tougher to find; I suppose it was routinely discarded.
174 Jeff made himself the Joker.
175 Sullivan was the King; Johnson was the actual champion at the time. He does not merit an individual card, undoubtedly due to his race.
176 Another card from the set showing Jeffries about to fight Fitzsimmons for the title. The reference to bearhood is a play on one of his nicknames, the California Grizzly.
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178 E75 has 20 line-drawn cards issued by the American Caramel Co. The cards are checklisted on the back. It is one of the most common caramel sets.
179 E75 McCoy
180 A little tougher than E75 are the American Caramel Co.'s E76 issue, also of 20 cards with checklist backs. They can be distinguished based on typeface and fonts.
181 E76 Nelson
182 E77 Al Kaufman. Issued by the American Caramel Company, the same maker of the E75 and E76 sets, this particular set has 24 cards including two wrestlers and is very tough to find.
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184 E78 Frank Klaus. Cards from this set are rare. The card fronts are similar in format to the E79/80 cards, while the card backs are very similar to the E75/76 cards. There is no branding or manufacturers designation on E78 cards. A checklist of the 25 cards in the issue is provided on the card backs.
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186 E79 Marvin Hart. E79 is one of the most widely collected boxing caramel card sets. E79 card back contain a partial checklist and reference 27 "Scrappers", giving the set its nickname. Card backs are printed in black; very rarely will be seen in red.
187 E79 red back. Some call these E80 but Burdick treated them as E79. Really, the issue is academic since they should be collected together as a two or three series single issue.
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190 E79 Jack O'Brien and Partner
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195 E80 Attells. E80 is one of the more difficult 20th century boxing sets. E80 references 44 Scrappers on the card backs, which have a complete checklist of the set. There is overlap between E79 and E80; very likely the 79 red backs were some of the cards listed on the E80 backs.
196 Typical E80 back on a card not issued with E79
197 Normally, this card has a lot going for it--Jack Johnson from a very difficult pre-war E set (E80). What makes this special is the stamping on the card back. I've seen this before--in a museum, when I went to research my book at the Met's Burdick Collection. The stylized "B" and the "Jeff B." indicate that this card was once the possession of none other than the creator of the American Card Catalog, Jefferson Burdick.
198 ca. 1910 Jim Jeffries uncatalogued card. A candy issue from around the time of the Johnson fight, these cards are quite difficult to find.
199 ca. 1910 New England Gum Co. Jeffries and Johnson flip card. Another Jack v. Jeff card.
200 Flip side
201 Although this strip card set uses the E79 and E95 art it is really a card cut from an advertising sheet for Philadelphia Caramel Company, which made the sets
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205 Heavyweight champ Tommy Burns was also a top lacrosse player. Here is his C60 card.
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211 A 1913 self-issued promo card for Sam Langford, stats back shown in next image. These sorts of cards start making appearances in the 'teens.
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213 1915 Susini Jack Johnson [Cuba]
214 1915 Susini Billy Wells [Cuba]
215 1915 Cope's Cigarettes (UK)
216 1919 photo card of the Dempsey-Willard fight from a series of cards issued as both PCs and PC-sized blank-backed cards.
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218 1919 Underwood & Underwood Jack Dempsey: Underwood & Underwood was known for licensing photos. Many baseball sets from the 1920’s have the U&U copyright on their images. Apparently, U&U also tried its hand at producing postcard-sized cards of its own. Dempsey and Willard are the known subjects, indicating an issue date ca. 1919.
219 An oddball card, probably a souvenir from 1921 as there is a postcard with the same image and graphics that is dated from the Carpentier bout.
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221 1924 Benny Leonard standup card from the Flying Fists serial. Two known examples, one with the stand part torn off.
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227 1936 Indiana Sport Young Perez.
228 1936 Indiana Sport Humery-Berg, blue variation
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238 1926 Weber Bakery Gene Tunney. From a movie stars set. Tunney is shown from his role in The Fighting Marine.
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251 1930s Chilena de Tabacos Tunney
252 1925 Bunsen Confectionary Famous Figures Criqui
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261 1927 York Caramel (E211) King Tut (obviously not his real name). This rare set of cards depicts fighters of the era. Burdick catalogued it as E211.
262 1927 York Caramel (E211) Frankie Genaro. The Burdick Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has only 2 E211 cards.
263 E211 York Caramel Andy Divodi.
264 1931 Cigarrera Bigott (Venezuela). Uses the York Caramel images.
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268 1920s Romeo y Julieta Jack Johnson. A Cuban tobacco issue of approximately 200 cards of fighters.
269 1920s Romeo y Julieta Joe Welling
270 1920s Romeo y Julieta Jeff Smith
271 1920s Romeo y Julieta Chrley Weinert
272 1920s Romeo y Julieta Young Wallace
273 1920s Romeo y Julieta Joe Dillon
274 1920s Romeo y Julieta Juan Casala
275 1920s Romeo y Julieta Johnny Shugrus
276 1920s Romeo y Julieta Jimmy Kane
277 Romeo y. Julieta #85 Jimmy Wilde
278 Romeo y Julieta Willie Beecher
279 Romeo y Julieta Benny Leonard
280 A second version of the Leonard card, discovered in 2016.
281 Jewish boxers were well represented in the RyJ set. Besides Leonard and Beecher, we have Matt Wells, Abe Goldstein, and Lew Tendler
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285 This and the next image are more Romeo y Julietas showing the variety of designs and image quality in the issue.
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287 1920s Romeo y Julieta white variation
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289 1920s Romeo y Julieta white background with ring variety.
290 1920s Romeo y Julieta Sullivan v. Kilrain
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295 1920s Romeo y Julieta La Ciencia Del Boxeo. Another tobacco issue, this one showing 'how-to' boxing poses.
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318 1930 Chocolatin Mercedes Papke and Lewis. A very rare issue from Uruguay.
319 Papke and Lewis as they looked glued down.
320 This and the next photo show the Mercedes boxing series as it lays out on the album pages.
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322 Jeannette and MacVea from the Mercedes set. These are counterfeits; South American sellers will often make photocopies or laser prints of partial sets and glue them into the album to give the impression of a complete set.
323 E. Quintana issued a large series of boxing and baseball cards in 1931. The baseball cards include Martin Dihigo cards that sell for thousands. The boxers include Sixto Escobar and Pedro Montanez.
324 1931 Quintana back. There are a couple of varieties of backs depending on series of issue.
325 One of the Montanez fight cards, actually shows his opponent.
326 Two more Montanez cards
327 A Sixto Excobar card
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329 One of the people shown is Pincho Gutierrez, who trained Kid Chocolate.
330 1930s premium from a Cuban haberdashery w/HOFer Kid Chocolate.
331 1920s caramel wrapper from Argentina
332 1920s caramel wrapper from Argentina
333 1920s caramel wrapper from Argentina
334 This is a mail response card used by Pathe to respond to fans who wrote to Jack Dempsey care of the studio.
335 This is the header card for a series of German transfer stamps depicting the 1927 Dempsey-Tunney fight.
336 16 of the 20 stamps
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338 ca. 1929 or 1930 E282 Goudey Oh Boy Gum Jack Dempsey and Tom Mix. From a series of 32 movie-related cards. One of the first Goudey cards.
339 A no-brand variation, recently discovered
340 A 1920s Hollywood still of Dempsey used to make the E282 Oh Boy card.
341 1920s French PC made from the same movie studio publicity still. From a global perspective, Dempsey was the most popular athlete in the world in the 1920s, proven by the many PCs of him from around the world.
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348 Three version of Greiling cards of Benny Leonard. Circa 1925-26. BTW, this one was stolen out of the mail en route to me, so if a postman tries to sell it to you, kick him hard in the testicles and contact me.
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351 Prestine-Velox, a French cabinet card sized multisport set.
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388 1933 Goudey Sport Kings Max Baer. Goudey’s sole multisport issue depicts four fighters: Baer, Dempsey, Tunney and Carnera.
389 Premium of Dempsey, Baer and Carnera from the Goudey Sport Kings issue. Scene from the MGM film The Prizefighter and the Lady.
390 ACC# R308 Tattoo Orbit Primo Carnera. Image from the MGM film The Prizefighter and the Lady
391 R308 Dempsey. Image from the MGM film The Prizefighter and the Lady
392 1930s Ray-O-Print Jack Dempsey
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395 Loose-Wiles, the maker of Rippled Wheat cereal, issued a number of different items relating to Jack Dempsey in 1936 when he signed on as a national spokesman.
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400 ca. 1936 H-Unc. La Salle Hats cards. A set of 8 cards given in an envelope as a promotional device for haberdasheries.
401 This would be 7 of the 8 cards in the set plus an original envelope.
402 La Salle Hats Kid Lavigne
403
404 1937 Kelloggs Pep Cereal Tommy Loughran
405 1937 Kelloggs Pep Cereal Jess Willard
406 1937 Kelloggs Pep Cereal Jack Sharkey
407 1937 Kelloggs Pep Cereal Jack Delaney
408 1937 Kelloggs Pep Cereal James Corbett
409 1930s Rogers & Peet Gene Tunney.
Issued by a haberdashery (clothing store) ca. 1930 in packs of 4, these blank-backed cards are quite difficult to find. Four boxers are featured: Tunney, Schmeling, Sharkey and Baer
410 In 1936-37 several newspapers, likely from a chain, issued stamps in pairs in their papers. They included boxers. They've gotten some respect lately as people realize that there are early cards of Joe DiMaggio and other stars in them.
411 There are two or more of the biggest names available. Sometimes found without the biography. Collected either way.
412 1938 NX5 #11 Kid McCoy. An ultra rare set issued in the American-occupied Phillippines just before the Japanese invasion. Supposed to be 250 cards; 40 are known. Most of them are shown here.
413 The wrapper from the set; only one I've ever seen. Sold on eBay years ago and never seen again. Note that the wrapper says 140 cards while the cards themselves say 250 cards/ .
414 1938 NX5 Joe Louis
415 1938 NX5 Benny Leonard
416 1938 NX5 Al Brown
417 1938 NX5 Johnny Kilbane
418 1938 NX5 Tony Canzoneri
419 1938 NX5 Joe Gans
420 A few of the exercise cards.
421
422
423
424
425 1942 Chicago Tribune Joe Louis, from a set of 70 WWII related strip cards issued in the newspaper with corresponding album.
426 Uncatalogued 1940s arcade card of Georges Carpentier. These cards were issued in Coney Island and sold only at that location. They are quite rare. I have seen a few of them offered over the years. The image was stolen from the Blue Boxers exhibit set.
427 1925 Blue Boxer Carpentier.
428 Coney Island Louis and Johnson. The pictures in the set were sourced from a variety of other issues and publicity photos.
429 An uncut sheet of the Coney Island cards.
430
431
432 1948 Kellogg’s Pep Tony Zale is the sole boxer in this small, thin black and white cereal insert set.
433
434 reversed image of Zale from the Pep issue. There are also cropping variations.
435 1948 Leaf Jack Dempsey. The 1948 Leaf boxing set is one of the two post-World War II boxing sets issued by a major gum manufacturer (the other is the 1951 Topps Ringside set) before 1990. It consists of 49 different cards, plus an unissued extremely rare Rocky Graziano (with fewer than ten known examples, most collectors do not even consider the Graziano to be part of the set).
436 1948 Leaf Joe Louis. Printing quality is the biggest condition concern with 1948 Leaf cards. The card stock itself is fairly thick and holds up well, but the printing can vary from atrocious to breathtakingly nice. Front image registration is the single worst problem with the set. The set was printed in three passes -- black, red and blue – and relatively few of the cards actually align perfectly for all three phases. When the printing lines up exactly, the result is a crisp, sharp image and a very nice card indeed, but if any phase misses the mark by even a millimeter, the entire image is thrown off. Many collectors of this issue will sacrifice corner sharpness or centering to get a properly printed card. The card fronts also suffer from inking irregularities.
437
438
439
440
441 This four-card strip may be a salesman sample.
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453
454
455 1951 Berk Ross Hit Parade of Champions (W532)Sugar Ray Robinson. This ugly multisport set was issued in boxed sets for sale directly to children in 1951, in four series. The cards came in two-card panels with a perforation between them.
456 1951 Ringside Abe Attell. This set was Topps’ sole full-fledged venture into the boxing market. The 1951 Ringside set was issued in two 48-card series. The second series is roughly twice as hard to find as the first series.
457 1951 Ringside Tiger Flowers. This card is very popular and sells for a considerable premium.
458 1951 Ringside Barney Ross. Card fronts show a color image of the boxer (a painted photo called a “Flexichrome” was used) with the name and division in a box. The illustration quality varies with the quality of the source materials. Champions of the past have gold laurels surrounding a plate with the title and dates of title above the name. The present-day champions have a crown on the card.
459 1951 Ringside Gene Tunney. Card #95, Tunney is very tough to find. Although not short prints, two other cards are notorious problem cards: Joe Louis (#88) frequently has terrible centering left to right, and John L. Sullivan (#69) is often off-centered towards the bottom.
460 The Ringside box.
461 A two-card panel, sold in nickel packs.
462 An 8-card salesman sample. This one shows Marciano's rookie card.
463 The back of the sample panel.
464
465 Kid Herman newsstand issue (1946-1970s): Issued in New York City by boxer Kid Herman, whose image appears on the back of the envelope in which they came. The set was sold originally in a packet for $0.25 at the Kid's newsstands and also peddled at Stillman's Gym, and was updated updated on different papers through the early 1970s. See my blog for more details.
466 Kid Herman Tommy Burns, original format printing
467 Over the next 20 years or so after the initial issue of the set, Herman reprinted the set and issued new cards for the new champs, in ever worsening quality. Interim reprints shifted from thin chipboard to heavier polished stock similar to Exhibit cards. The last printings were on a slick paper and weren't even sized consistently.
468 Kid Herman Jack Dempsey. Printed on thicker cardboard like an exhibit card, often mistaken for them. The earlier printings of Dempsey feature a different pose.
469 Kid Herman Schmeling
470 Kid Herman card of Jack Sharkey. The earlier printings of Sharkey feature a different pose.
471
472
473 Joe Louis made after his retirement as the date "1946-" has been removed from the card.
474 Kid Herman card of Ezzard Charles from a later printing. Trimmed down, probably a sample.
475 Kid Herman Walcott, also a trimmed down sample
476 Here is a Marciano card from a later printing.
477 Patterson Kid Herman card, later printing
478 Here is the Sonny Liston from a later printing of the Kid Herman set.
479 The most elusive and valuable of the Kid Herman cards, printed post-Ali's 1967 loss of his belt and freedom for refusing induction into the army. Same pose as the 1960s Exhibit card.
480
481
482 1950s Joe Palooka Benny Leonard. The back panel of a candy box.
483 Joe Palooka box.
484
485 1947 Homogenized Bond Bread Marcel Cerdan. A short print, with La Motta.
486 The Homogenized Bond Bread card art was sourced from a variety of publicity photos of the era. Here is the Cerdan. The "deceased" notation is something that its former owner added to the piece.
487 This Cerdan is about 7 x 10 and comes from a multisport picture pack. It is often misidentified as a Homogenized Bond premium; really it is just the same art used for another product.
488 A Graziano from the picture pack. Not known as a Homogenized Bond Bread card.
489 A Primo Carnera from the picture pack; same image as on the Homogenized Bond card.
490
491 1950 Bowman Wild Man Sullivan v. Kilrain
492 1951 Berk Ross Sugar Ray Robinson. One of six boxers in this two-card per panel multisport set, issued in boxed form.
493
494
495
496
497 1930s Adam Hats premium, type 1. ACC designation H815.
498 1930s Adam Hats premium, type 2
499
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514
515 Another mens clothing issue, this one by Slidewell Bows, a tie-maker.
516
517 Now this is an interesting example of how a piece made for one purpose was reused. Bob Murphy's Slidewell Bows advertising piece had a new piece of copy stripped onto it to make this fight poster, which was then blown up and printed. Note the National studio logo at the bottom right that is not in the Slidewell ad piece.
518
519 Slim Jim was a brand of Slidewell Bows and several boxers were used to promote it.
520
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525
526 1951 Bread For Energy Billy Graham. I really like the proto-Pop Art designs of these labels.
527 1951 Bread For Energy Kid Gavilan
528
529
530 1954 Brasserie Motte Cordonnier Laurent Dauthille. The issuer was a French brewery that sponsored a sweepstakes for a trip to its brewery in what was then French colonial Africa.
531 1954 Brasserie Motte Cordonnier Robert Cohen. Cohen was a world champion. I am absolutely certain on the ID of Dauthille and this one but the IDs of the fights in the ensuing images are tentative.
532 1954 Brasserie Motte Cordonnier Laurent Dauthille and Charles Humez
533 1954 Brasserie Motte Cordonnier Dauthille v. Young.
534 1954 Brasserie Motte Cordonnier Gavilan v. Humez
535 1954 Brasserie Motte Cordonnier Villemain v. Nardico
536 1954 Brasserie Motte Cordonnier unknown--anyone got any ideas?
537 1955 Topps Hocus Focus Rocky Marciano small variety. One of the rarest Marciano cards.
538 1955 Topps Hocus Focus Archie Moore.
539
540
541 1962 Topps Great Americans John L. Sullivan.
542 1962 Topps Great Americans Jim Corbett
543 This is a 1927 or slightly later set of transfers issued by a German company commemorating the Dempsey-Tunney "Long Count" title fight.
544 Matchcover from Primo Carnera's liquor store in Glendale, California.
545 Tony Canzoneri died in 1959, so his autographs are not easy. This is the only signed exhibit of his I've ever seen.
546 Beau Jack signed exhibit card. Jack was "discovered" shining shoes in Miami hotels as an older man and became a fixture on the autograph circuit after that.
547 1940s snapshot of Jim Jeffries Barn in Burbank, California, site of many local bouts.
548 1950 Safe-T Manuel Ortiz. A Washington DC area regional issue, and very rare.
549 Barney Ross signed contract for 1951 Topps Ringside cards. Ross, a true American hero, was a 3-division champ and won the Silver Star for battlefield heroics on Guadalcanal.
550 OK, it isn't even remotely a card. It is, however, a cool boxing collectible. This slug is a trade stimulator for Jim Jeffries' pool hall and bar in Los Angeles.
551 OK, it isn't a boxing card, but come on, I'm only human. Julie Newmar...
552 1930s Lucky Heart Co. Joe Louis premium.
553 Advertisement for Lucky Heart Co. offering the Louis premium, from The Chicago Defender newspaper on June 5, 1937. Thanks to collector Arthur Rich for his research in finding this ad.
554 1935 Brown & Bigelow Joe Louis premium
555 A variation with a caption. Also 1935.
556 Brown & Bigelow also made fans using the Louis artwork, and sold them to various businesses for use as promotional products.
557
558
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562
563
564 An Israeli "Cassius Clay issue from the late 1960s. Blank backed and on thin paper.
565
566
567
568
569
570 1965 Golazo by Crack [Argentina]. HOFer Locche shown here.
571 1965 Golazo Perez [IBHOF]
572
573
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576
577 1967 Crack Campeones Cassius Clay.
578 1967 Crack Campeones
579
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617
618 The Joe Louis puzzle from the board game
619 A few years ago a set of cabinet sized cards was discovered. The art on some of the cards differs from the art on the regular cards. Perhaps a prototype or proof set?
620
621 Box cover for the board game, copyrighted 1969, with the players using the yellow cards. The red cards were issued later.
622
623
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629
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631
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648
649 1972 Ases Del Ring [Mexico] Saldivar, Napoles, Ramos and Olivares
650
651
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659
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661
662 1975 Malaysian issue Ali
663 1975 Malaysian issue Ali
664
665 1975 Malaysian issue Ali
666
667
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669
670
671 1975 Malaysian issue scene from Ali-Foreman
672 1975 Malaysian issue Foreman
673 1975 Malaysian issue Ken Norton
674
675
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679
680
681
682 1935 Pattreiouex Joe Louis
683 1938 Churchman's Joe Louis
684
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688
689 1965 Swedish Candy Clay
690 1966 DC Thompson Hornet Clay
691 1922 Comic Life Sports Champions Dempsey
692
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701
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708
709
710 1959 or 1960 German card of a September 1959 match between Bubi Scholz and Johnny Halafihi
711 1962 German card of Harold Johnson issued as he arrived in Germany to fight a title match with Bubi Scholz.
712
713
714
715
716
717
718 1952 Cicogna
719 1954 Rover
720
721 1958 SADA Firenze
722 1959 Hokus Fokus (Germany) Sugar Ray Robinson
723 1964 Chocolat Simon (Spain) Griffith-Paret.
724
725
726
727 Can't say exactly when issued but definitely pre-1959 since that was the year he died and the signature is good.
728
729
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731
732
733
734
735
736
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738
739
740
741 1973 Panini Roberto Duran RC.
742
743
744
745
746
747
748 1981 Gong Salvador Sanchez RC. A Japanese issue, from a full page insert in the magazine.
749 1981 Gong Alexis Arguello RC. From sticker sheets in the magazine.
750 1981 Gong Tommy Hearns RC, predating his Panini by a year.
751
752
753 1982 Panini Wilfredo Gomez RC
754 1986 Panini Italian Mike Tyson RC. The cards were issued in multiple languages. Italian is tougher than English.
755 1986 Panini
756 1983-84 Fight Beat Magazine cards. This quartet was issued in the December 1983 mag, which was the premiere edition of the publication. Mancini, Rosario and King are RCs.
757 1983-84 Fight Beat Magazine. Camacho RC.
758 1983-84 Fight Beat Magazine
759 1983-84 Fight Beat Magazine
760 1984 Fight Beat Hector Camacho RC
761 1984 Fight Beat
762 1984 Fight Beat
763 1984 South African cheese (really) card.
764
765
766
767
768 1987 Panini Julio Cesar Chavez RC
769 1990 Browns Riddick Bowe RC
770 1990 Browns Hector Camacho
771
772 1991 All World Nigel Benn. Signed by the Dark Destroyer himself.
773 1991 Ringlords Holyfield prototype. I like this one better than the actual card.
774 1991 Ringlords regular issue Tommy Hearns, signed by the Hitman.
775 1991 Kayo sample card
776 1991 Kayo regular issue Emmanuel Steward. Got it signed in person at the Lewis-Klitschko presser. Nice guy; he corrected the typos on the card, front and back.
777 1991 Kayo Lennox Lewis RC.
778 1991 Kayo certified autographed insert card.
779 1992 Classic Oscar De La Hoya. Check out the cheesy 'stache on the Golden Boy.
780 1991 Classic Muhammad Ali, signed version. One of the early signed insert cards.
781
782
783
784
785 1994 Browns Johnny Tapia RC
786
787
788
789
790
791
792 1994 Global Greats Ali. A regional issue from the UK, this version from an accounting firm. There are also constabulary (police) versions.
793
794 1994 Tetrad Larry Holmes signed insert card
795 1996 Merlin Sky Sport Prince Naseem Hamed
796 1996 Merlin Sky Sport Nigel Benn
797 1996 Merlin Sky Sport Frank Bruno
798 1996 Ringside. Rookie card.
799 1996 Ringside promos
800 1996 Ringside promos, card backs
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808 1997 World Boxing Magazine Bernard Hopkins. Again, part of the 4 card insert, this is also a RC, preceding his Brown's card by a year.
809 1999 World Boxing Magazine. For several years the magazine issued cards in four card insert panels in the magazine. WBM issued a number of good rookie cards but they really caught lightning in a bottle with the Pacquiao card, widely considered to be his RC. Top quality examples can reach four figures.
810 Better look at Pac-Mans RC
811
812 2001 Ukrainian calendars of the Klitschko brothers.
813 2002 BBM (Japan) Muhammad Ali card. A very tough SP.
814 2002 Question of Sport (UK)
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
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831
832
833 2012 Leaf National Ali
834 2012. Tecate made a true boxing card for Pacquiao-Marquez 4. Fits right into standard holders, even has stats. I hope they make this style of card regularly.
835 2012 Panini Adrenalyn Anthony Joshua.
836 2013 Leaf National Roy Jones Jr.
837 2013 Upper Deck Precious Metal Gems Employee Mike Tyson: from a set issued to UD employees, #d to 125. Also contains Oscar De La Hoya.
838
839 This card and the next are from Vitali Klitschko's Ukraine political campaign.
840
841
842
843 2015 Leaf National Mike Tyson. Made of acetate. Clear background
844
845
846
847
848
849 2015 Tecate Mayweather-Pacquiao card. The fight was a dud but the card Tecate made is a beautiful die cut double sided card about the size of a 1952-56 Topps card.
850
851
852 2016 BBM Fighting Spirit (Japan)
853 2016 BBM Fighting Spirit (Japan)
854 2016 BBM Fighting Spirit (Japan)
855 2016 BBM Fighting Spirit (Japan)
856
857
858 2016 Boxing Ringwalk Songs. A UK issue created as a promotion of a CD compilation of music. 27 cards in all, very limited issue sent to music industry insiders, the first 50 online buyers of the CD and occasionally given away by the record company in contests.
