Trey

Mearto specialist

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry. Based on the photographs and description provided, the subject of this appraisal is a non-authenticated 1974 Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" Closed Circuit Poster, purportedly signed in black ballpoint pen by Ali dated July 31, 1978. The poster has numerous condition issues, with tearing, creases, a major fold, and pinholes. At best the poster would achieve a grade close to Fine condition. It appears Ali started and stopped an autograph on the green part of the African continent before abandoning that signature and starting the full signature in the upper right quadrant of the poster. Ali autographs on similar big-fight posters do come up for auction occasionally. The closest comparables include one specimen in October 2019 for about 1,200 GBP, albeit on a poster in better condition and from an arguably bigger fight (the "Thrilla in Manilla") and with PSA authentication. On a different dual-signed PSA-authenticated poster in excellent condition sold by Heritage in the same timeframe (this from a 1966 fight against Cleveland Williams), that piece sold for approximately 750 GBP. Unfortunately this piece's condition issues do detract from the value. Conditional upon authentication from a reputable third-party autograph authenticator (as Ali is a frequently forged signature in the sports memorabilia world), a Fair Market Value (pre-auction estimate) of this piece would be estimated at 400 to 800 GBP.