The Greatest

Smith spent time with Ali on several occasions, building an archive of photographs of the boxer both training and away from the gym. The book draws upon a selection of his images accompanied by anecdotes giving insight to Ali’s early morning training sessions, the now legendary 5th Street Gym in Miami, those who worked with Ali, the press conferences, interactions with the public and his conversations with the boxer himself. Smith was present when Ali was training for the ‘Fight of the Century’ in 1971 against Joe Frazier and when Ali first surrendered a fight in 1980 to the young Larry Holmes. After retiring, most of Smith’s work was archived until he was approached by gallerist Alon Zakaim about exhibiting his work in a retrospective. Together they went through his vast archive and brought to light a selection of photographs, exhibited in 2012, and form the basis of this book. The essay by Paolo Hewitt contextualises the political and social background to Ali’s life and career.