Boxing ring canvas
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- Regular price€9,00
The essentials: the ring photographed 24 m / 80 ft above the mat, Cleveland Williams down and Muhammad Ali standing with his arms out, ringed by the crowd seen straight from above. The canvas offered in 9 true square sizes, from 20 × 20 cm / 8 × 8 in to 100 × 100 cm / 39 × 39 in. Frame sold separately. From €9 to €119 depending on size, free standard shipping.
A camera 80 feet above the ring
On 14 November 1966, at the Houston Astrodome, Muhammad Ali defended his title against Cleveland Williams in front of close to 36,000 people. Photographer Neil Leifer had a remote camera rigged in the stadium lighting gondola, 80 ft / 24 m above the ring. Photographers normally hang a camera twenty feet lower, in the light banks; the Astrodome, built for concerts as well as sport, offered a height nobody had worked from before.
He fired in the third round: Williams flat at the centre of the white square, Ali a couple of paces away with his arms spread. Forty years of sport later, Leifer still names this as his favourite frame, and it is the one photograph of his own that he hangs at home, turned on the diagonal. He also points out that the shot could not be taken today: ring mats are now coloured and covered in advertising.
What you see
Square composition, shot straight down. At the centre, the ring: white mat, ropes forming a perfect square whose four corners point at the corners of the image. Cleveland Williams lies with his arms out, Ali stands two paces away, and the referee is moving off at the bottom left.
All around, the same photograph continues: press tables, photographers and rows of spectators seen from above form a dark, dense border that rings the white mat like a mount. From 3 m / 10 ft you read a white geometric shape inside a dark surround; from 1 m / 3 ft each figure at ringside becomes identifiable.
Technical specifications
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject | Ali–Cleveland Williams from above, Houston Astrodome, 14 November 1966 |
| Finish | Colour photograph, overhead viewpoint |
| Orientation | Square |
| Material | Cotton canvas, high definition digital print |
| Inks | Pigment based, UV resistant |
| Thickness | 3 mm / 0.12 in |
| Canvas delivery | Rolled in a protective tube, no stretcher bars |
| Frame | Frame sold separately |
| Care | Dry microfibre cloth, barely damp cloth if needed |
| Use | Indoor |
| Sizes | 20 × 20, 30 × 30, 40 × 40, 50 × 50, 60 × 60, 70 × 70, 80 × 80, 90 × 90, 100 × 100 cm (8 × 8 to 39 × 39 in) |
| Price | From €9 to €119 depending on size |
| Shipping | Free standard shipping |
Worth knowing: a square solves the walls a portrait overruns and a landscape cannot reach — the pier between two doors, the turn of a corridor, a stairwell. 100 × 100 cm / 39 × 39 in holds a wide bare span on its own. Frames are sold separately: wooden frame up to 100 cm / 39 in per side, XXL wooden frame from 110 to 200 cm / 43 to 79 in, or aluminium frame in 8 finishes.
Nine squares, from 20 × 20 to 100 × 100 cm / 8 × 8 to 39 × 39 in
Count 60 × 60 cm / 24 × 24 in for a wall 90 cm to 1.20 m / 35 to 47 in wide, and 100 × 100 cm / 39 × 39 in for a clear span. Hung on the diagonal, as Leifer hangs his own print, a square needs about 40 percent more width. The size chart by wall type covers the other placements room by room.
You may also like
- Ali vs Liston 1965 canvas — the other great black and white Ali photograph, if you want the 1965 scene from ringside.
- Ali vs Liston gold canvas — a gilded theatre in a wide landscape frame, if you need to cover the full width of a sofa.
- Muhammad Ali pool canvas — the 1961 underwater photograph, if you want one strong dominant colour.
Frequently asked questions
Where was this overhead photo of the ring taken?
From the roof of the Houston Astrodome on 14 November 1966, during Ali–Cleveland Williams. Neil Leifer had fixed a remote camera in the lighting gondola about 24 m / 80 ft above the mat, a height no other arena allowed at the time.
What size square canvas suits a narrow wall?
For a pier between two doors of 90 cm to 1.20 m / 35 to 47 in, 60 × 60 cm / 24 × 24 in sits well; for a corridor return, 40 × 40 cm / 16 × 16 in; for a clear span, 100 × 100 cm / 39 × 39 in. Nine sizes are offered in total.
What is the dark border around the ring?
It is not an added frame: it is the rest of the same photograph. With the camera 24 m / 80 ft above the mat, the field of view takes in the ring and everything around it — press tables, photographers, the front rows. The white mat at the centre against the dark mass of the crowd creates the mount effect on its own.
Who was Cleveland Williams?
A Texan heavyweight known as the Big Cat, who came to the fight having survived a police shooting in 1964. Ali put him down four times before the referee stopped it in the third round, on a night many writers rate as the finest performance of his career.
Does the canvas come with a frame?
No, the canvas ships on its own, rolled in a protective tube. Frames are sold separately: wooden frame up to 100 cm / 39 in per side, XXL wooden frame from 110 to 200 cm / 43 to 79 in, or aluminium frame in 8 finishes. The wooden kits are 2.5 cm / 1 in thick and come with instructions.
How do I clean a canvas print?
A dry microfibre cloth handles almost everything. For a mark that stays, use a barely damp cloth with no detergent, wiping across the surface. No abrasive sponge, no glass cleaner.
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