Boxing

Heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe will fight Jesse Ferguson on May 22 at RFK Stadium in Washington, promoters announced.

It will be the first heavyweight championship fight in Washington since May 23, 1941, when Joe Louis stopped Buddy Bear.

Ferguson was supposed to be a tuneup for Ray Mercer before Mercer’s title shot against Bowe in May. Ferguson, however, upset Mercer on a 10-round unanimous decision in a preliminary to Bowe’s first-round knockout of Michael Dokes Feb. 6 at New York.