The Greatest

The Greatest brings together nearly 100 photographs of Muhammad Ali at the height of his career by Chris Smith.

The images are accompanied by Smith’s memories of his time spent with Ali from the early days of his career until his final years before retirement.
In 1964 Chris Smith was in the US to photograph The Beatles on their first tour of the country. After photographing the band he headed down to Miami to photograph Cassius Clay, as he was then known, training at the 5th Street Gym. Smith was curious about the athlete who was starting to become influential in the world of boxing. Fortuitously, he was in gym when the doors opened and, much to everyone’s surprise, in walked The Beatles.

Chris Smith was born in 1937 and began working with the Hartlepool Mail at the age of 16. At the age of 19 he undertook two years of national service before moving to London. In the subsequent years his work was frequently published in The Observer and The Sunday Times and he covered all the major sporting events of this period. Smith was awarded The Sports Photographer of the Year four times, as well as the Individual Sports Picture of the Year twice. He also won a Special Award in the SSF World Sports Photo Contest in 1995. Smith lives and works in London.