This homage of a famous Muhammad Ali photo (done in the style of the NES Punch-Out!! game) was originally intended to be a poster project. However plans to make it available as a poster have been shelved out of fear of legal reprisal — famous photographs are notoriously litigated these days for copyright infringement.

I always thought it would be fun to make sports memorabilia with a video game twist. I intend to do something along those lines one day. I believe there are a lot of other geeks who enjoy sports, much like myself.

Instead of a poster, I’ll offer it as a freebie postcard or photo you can print. They’re available after the jump.

And for those asking, my preference was to include Mike Tyson, but I thought I’d play it safe and include franchise stalwart Bald Bull. The inclusion of referee Mario and the coach at ringside was ruled-out, in order to make this as close to the Muhammad Ali/Sonny Liston pic as possible.

I would love to make it available as a fundraiser item for charity, but it’s tough to get your foot in the door for such initiatives. For example, that recent Watchmen cover I did would be great as a fundraising poster for a children’s charity. But I’d need clearance from DC Comics and Fox, as well as a charity foundation willing to use it. A pretty tall order! Still it would be great to contribute along those lines.