An Iconic Image That Captured A Legendary Knockout

Transcript

ARUN RATH, HOST:

One of the most iconic moments in sports history was captured 50 years ago this week. In one corner...

(SOUNDBITE OF BOXING MATCH ANNOUNCEMENT)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: ...The former heavyweight champion and now the challenger, Sonny Liston.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

RATH: And in the other corner...

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: ...The heavyweight champion of the world, Muhammad Ali.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

RATH: The fight would be Ali's second win over Liston, but it was over in less than two minutes.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: A knock down, ladies and gentleman - a right-hand shot - a right-hand shot on the chin.

RATH: Ali knocks Liston to the ground. Liston looks as helpless as a drowsy toddler - back flat on the canvas, arms over his head, as if surrendering.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Sonny cannot move.

RATH: Ali, towering above, his face a rictus of fury and contempt as he howls at his opponent to get up. There's a reason you see this photo in just about every boxing gym. It's a perfect image of one fighter thoroughly dominating the other.

NEIL LEIFER: I was one of two ringside photographers for Sports Illustrated at the Ali-Liston fight.

RATH: Neil Leifer snapped that picture. He talked to NPR about it back in 2002.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

LEIFER: If we sent two photographers, you try to position them on opposite sides of the ring, the hope being that somebody would be in the lucky seat. Right between Ali's legs, there's a character with a Rolleiflex up to his eye, looking at Ali's rear end. That was the other Sports Illustrated photographer, a fellow named Herbie Scharfman, who was a great sports photographer - had taken many of the best boxing pictures of our time. But on that night, he was in the wrong seat.

RATH: Even in 2002, before YouTube, Leifer worried about how much quality photographs had taken a backseat to video.

LEIFER: I just think that a still picture is something you can sit and look at. You can keep looking at. It doesn't go away. You can come back to it. You can put it on your wall and frame it. I do think we've lost something. You're seeing less and less of those kinds of moments.

RATH: Neil Leifer, from interview with NPR's Weekend Edition. The photo he took of Muhammad Ali boasting over the vanquished Sonny Liston was taken 50 years ago tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.