History of the Legendary Photographs of Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston Match

Muhammad Ali was the former heavyweight boxing champion. During 1964, Ali won one of the most known fights against Sonny Liston. At the time of this event, Ali was known by his former name, Cassius Clay. Cassius Clay was known as the “the greatest man in the history of the human race.” The Guardian described him as a god who “stood before the covering press… below him were at least 46 boxing experts.” After he won the game, he stood among all the attendees and described himself as a person who could not be defeated and how strongly he believed in himself.

Sonny Liston “grew up in a world of poverty and discrimination and received no formal education.” Due to his unfortunate lifestyle, Liston spent a lot of time in jail to pay for some of the crimes he did in the past. While he was in jail, he found his love for boxing. It was one of the ways he used to cope with prison. Liston had many connections with different mobs in the United States, which made a majority of the white Americans hate him.

Ali was a devoted Muslim who always defended his religion and his faith. He used his religion to help him have a more successful career. Some say that this is part of the reason why Ali won the fight against Liston. Ali was strong and confident, whereas Liston had a more difficult time in finding what makes him strong. On the same day Ali won the fight, a very lucky photographer was present to capture one of the most important moments of the match. Nick Leifer, the photographer of one of the most iconic shot in history, said, “I was obviously in the right seat, but what matters is I didn’t miss.”

He shows us how sometimes great things happen spontaneously, however, it does not mean that you should not have a well-thought plan. The iconic photograph shows how timing helped create a powerful work of art. Leifer was in the right spot at the right moment. At such a young age, he achieved more than what 1 Cooke, Alistair. Out of the mouth of Cassius… 2 McCarthy, Michael. This Week In Boxing History: Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston II. 3 Time Staff, Behind the Greatest Photo of Muhammad Ali Ever Taken. the others did in his age. Neil Leifer was very young when he took this photo. He was not as experienced as the other photographers; however he was ambitious and was eager to succeed. The photograph was taken one minute and 44 seconds into the first round, where Ali stood towering over Liston’s body. Even though Ali got more famous from this photograph, the photographer as well was rewarded for being one of the greatest photojournalists.4 Ali became the nation’s most loved athlete of all time.

Leifer believed that his luck was what got him into taking the photograph. Leifer started out as a young teenager who helped handicapped people get into the New York Giants stadium. There, he had the chance to get in for free as well as take photographs of the players while they were playing. He started to sell his images to Sports Illustrated, who are known for covering most sports and were extremely famous. Leifer received his first cover in 1962 after Sports Illustrated realized his talent.

Leifer was one of the only two photographers who had color film in their cameras. Leifer went to the match with his supervisor, Herb Scharfman, who was a senior photographer at Sports Illustrated. Because Scharfman was the lead photographer, he decided to stand next to the judges table, where he thought that he would get the best angle of the two men fighting. Leifer was ordered to stand of the other side of Scharfman, where he had the perfect angle to take the most iconic image. Scharfman is actually the bald man who is framed by Ali’s legs.

One of the reasons why many people preferred Nick Leifer’s image over John Rooney’s image is because it was colored, as well as the fact that it had a square frame. Although most photographers try to avoid a square frame, many photojournalists commented on the importance of having this specific image in a square frame. It is believed that “its solid Boren, Cindy. Muhammad Ali was the greatest in one of sports’ most iconic photos, too. structure supports, reflects Ali’s strength; more importantly, it captures the blackness above the man.”

In the beginning of Ali’s career, he had a lot of management offers from different people. However, he wanted Joe Louis to be his manager. Louis turned Ali’s offer down because he was more of the quiet type and did not like Ali’s personality. Ali tried to have Sugar Ray Robinson as his manager, however, “he told [Ali] to come back in a few years [because] he did not have the time.”6 In 1964, Sugar Ray Robinson attended the fight where he supported Ali the whole time. Ali stood amongst the critics and shouted, “I am the greatest, I shook up the world!” Robinson heard Ali saying this and he laughed while trying to stop him from continuing. Ali and Robinson always thought about what would have happened if Robinson accepted to be Ali’s manager. They remained close friends and Ali told Robinson that he was the greatest fighter.

The Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston photograph remains one of the most iconic photographs of all time. The story behind each of the fighters brings great importance to the image itself, as well as the history of the photographer himself. In this photograph, we can see the rise of a legend, as well as the importance of good intentions. Because Nick Leifer was only trying to do his job given the circumstances, he was lucky to get an amazing shot that remains in most of the people’s minds.