Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Juan Manuel Marquez commemorative limited edition 91/500 collectors chip.

Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Juan Manuel Marquez 19th September 2009, MGM Grand, Las Vegas. Official commemorative chip by Richard T. Slone limited to only 500 Worldwide. (not valid for gaming).

Condition mint

Price: £35

Richard T. Slone is a multi-award winning painter who has emerged as one of the most intriguing and sought after young artists working today. His works are appreciated and collected throughout the world.

His artistic ability was evident from his earliest schooldays; "Richard always showed artistic ability way beyond his years" wrote his art teacher in 1989. Even at an earlier age his work gained attention, his drawing of a dirt bike was showcased on Take Hart a British children's television show on BBC about art, fronted by the late Tony Hart.

Richard was born in 1974 in the quaint northern English town of Dalton-in-Furness, the same small town that 250 years earlier was the home of legendary English painter, George Romney. Slone, much like Romney has a special gift and is self-taught. Richard would spend his formative years roaming the countryside of England where his lifelong love of art was born. It was natural and inevitable that Richard would eventually combine his talents and love of art and ability as an aspiring boxer – from an early age he would spend his evenings either creating artwork or boxing out of the Barrow Amateur Boxing Club in England.

Richard would eventually pursue an offer to become a boxer under the guidance of boxing great Smokin’ Joe Frazier. Slone went to America and fought under Frazier’s guidance until Slone’s love for art forced him from the boxing canvas, and onto the stretched artist canvas upon an easel.

Richard’s art has become a much sought after item of high society with notable collectors including Donald Trump, Hugh Hefner, Glenn Schaeffer, Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela and many more. His work has graced the covers of many magazines, including Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, World Boxing Magazine and many more. His work has been used by many companies and advertising agencies, including Everlast. He is the Official Artist of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, a title he has held since the age of 23.

Because of his ability to capture the essence of any subject, particularly boxing, Richard has been compared to American artist LeRoy Neiman whom at 88 years of age is regarded by many as the greatest living artist. “It’s been said that Richard Slone is the new LeRoy Neiman” stated HBO commentator Emanuel Steward “He and LeRoy are the best artists in the world – and I’ve never seen anyone else capture the likeness and movement Slone captures in his work”.

Richard also considers the occasional portrait commission. He’s painted portraits of many of the world’s biggest names including Nelson Mandela, Hugh Hefner, Donald Trump, Lennox Lewis and many more. He is currently working on a huge oil portrait for multi-platinum selling rap star Eminem. “Hailed as the next great artist” is what the Evening Mail newspaper wrote of Richard. “He’s the artist to watch” said gallery owner Michelle DeLorenzo. At 35 years of age it seems that Slone’s future is very bright. He has already got years of critically acclaimed work under his belt, recently celebrating his 12th year as a published artist.

In 2005-2006 a surge of international art investors bought an entire series of Slone originals. The interest and demand in his art in the last 12 months has been phenomenal, the Slone Art Company was formed and two art dealers were brought in to cater to Slone’s rapidly growing clientele. The popularity of Slone’s artwork has continually grown. As a testament to his demand, Foxwoods Resort and Casino acquired an entire edition of 100 giclee prints in 2007.

Slone also ventured into apparel design. He was commissioned by the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) to create a special t-shirt design. Slone came up with the ‘Ultimate King’ design, the garments where limited to only 5,000 worldwide which sold-out in weeks.

In 2008 Slone signed a multi-year deal with Hampton-Brown and National Geographic – that allows the publisher to reproduce selected pieces of Slone’s work for the next decade.