Neil Leifer's Boxing Celebrates 60 Years of Fight Photography
By Alvin Ward

One of the most famous men in the world, the late Muhammad Ali, was photographed tens of thousands of times throughout his boxing career. But one image stands alone as the most well-known and resonant. It’s the photo of Ali standing over foe Sonny Liston in 1965, taunting him to rise from the canvas.
The photo was captured by Neil Leifer, a boxing photographer whose career has spanned 60 years and who has found countless novel ways to chronicle the grace of the athletes occupying the ring. In a new book, Leifer. Boxing. 60 Years of Fights and Fighters ($1000), TASCHEN has assembled Leifer’s most incredible shots in a package weighing in at nearly 20 pounds.
Leifer took his first shot at the age of 16, when he attended a bout between Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson at Yankee Stadium. That kicked off a career covering prizefighting, with Leifer at ringside for most of the major boxing bouts of the past 60 years.
Boxing also includes work from writers Gay Talese and Gabriel Schechter. The $1000 collector’s edition is limited to 1000 copies and each is signed by Leifer. It can be purchased on Taschen’s website. It will be available beginning December 15.