It was on the 25th of February 1964 in Miami when Cassius Clay beat the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, Sonny Liston. The match was surrounded by expectations since Clay started a psychological war against Liston, calling him “the big ugly bear.” Clay beat Liston in seven rounds after Liston threw in the towel, as he had injured his shoulder and could not continue the fight.
The day after the fight, he announced he was a member of the Nation of Islam or Black Muslims and he converted to Islam. He picked (or was given) the name Muhammad Ali. The media, however, ignored this fact, and the match was advertised as the “Clay-Liston” fight. The rematch took place on May 25, 1965. By the time the match started at 10:40 pm, the ring was already filled with thick blue clouds of smoke, which was not actually blue, but the strobe lights made it look blue when fired through the smoke.
After one minute and 44 seconds, what many called a phantom punch, Liston’s body hit the ground. It was a knock out.
Neil Leifer was positioned on the right side of the ring at the perfect angle. Even though the photo is almost 55 years old, it almost looks like a studio shot. It was mainly thanks to the powerful lights that the studio effect was achieved but also thanks to cigar smoke in the ring.
When we talk about composition, the shot is pretty much perfect. Even nowadays it would be very hard to replicate it, since you cannot position your subjects in sports photography to your liking during an event like this. This photograph is a great example of being in the right spot at the right moment. As you can see, those guys just weren’t so lucky.
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