Knockout

Michael and Jessica talk about boxing and photography, and why both arts have endured beyond their heyday. They cover the bouts between Floyd Mayweather, Jr., and Manny Pacquiao; Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston; Neil Leifer and the second Ali-Liston fight; and Mary Ellen Mark (who died on the 50th anniversary of that rematch) and her subjects.

On the undercard, Michael recalls a “pugilistic incident” with a classmate named Mickey, who drew first blood.

Also discussed:

George Bellows, Stag at Sharkey’s and Dempsey and Firpo

Mayweather-Pacquiao: Kelefa Sanneh in The New Yorker and Carlo Rotella in the Times Magazine

Covers by George Lois: Sonny Liston as Santa Claus; Calling a Title Fight; Ali as St. Sebastian. Also, from our archives, Adam Harrison Levy on The Passion of George Lois

Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing

Sue Jaye Johnson’s film T-Rex

Knockout font

Dave Mondy, How Things Break

Melissa Harris, Remembering Mary Ellen Mark, 1940-2015

Thanks to MOO for sponsoring this episode. Learn more about Moo Letterpress business cards.

Subscribe to The Observatory on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, or follow Design Observer on Soundcloud.

Image from George Lois’s Esquire cover “Last Man in the Ring”.

Observed

View all

Jobs

View all

Share on Social

By Michael Bierut & Jessica Helfand

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer and a former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Communications Arts and Eye magazines. A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame, Helfand received her B.A. and her M.F.A. from Yale University where she has taught since 1994.

View more from this author

Design of Business | Business of Design

Ellen McGirt|Audio

Knockout

Candace Parker & Michael C. Bush on Purpose, Leadership and Meeting the Moment

Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte

Love Letter to a Garden and 20 years of Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Redesigning the Spice Trade: Talking Turmeric and Tariffs with Diaspora Co.’s Sana Javeri Kadri

Candace Parker & Michael C. Bush on Purpose, Leadership and Meeting the Moment

Compassionate Design, Career Advice and Leaving 18F with Designer Ethan Marcotte

Love Letter to a Garden and 20 years of Design Matters with Debbie Millman

Redesigning the Spice Trade: Talking Turmeric and Tariffs with Diaspora Co.’s Sana Javeri Kadri