Thomas Hoepker Muhammad Ali, world heavyweight champion showing off his left fist. Chicago, USA. 1966.
“A 2015 search through hundreds of black-and-white negatives and color slides, for a new book on Muhammad A
(...) li, soon turned into an exciting and unexpected journey of discovery. One striking example is this image, which we chose to be the cover of the book, BIG CHAMP.
Decades of use had left many scratches on this strip of negatives, which only added strength to the image. I decided to let them stay. On the contact sheet the picture looked hopelessly under-exposed and dark, but when I scanned the negative, I saw two sides of ‘the Greatest’; Muhammad Ali: the dark and brutal fighter, but also Ali, the wounded and scarred victim of countless punches and vicious attacks from his adversaries.”
– Thomas Hoepker © Thomas Hoepker | Magnum Photos
