As I watched the boxing match of the year so far, Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn, I was hit with a worrying revelation: it probably wouldn’t be that hard to fully automate boxing photography.
I’ve long considered sports photography one of the genres most safeguarded from the rising tide of artificial intelligence. But we’re not talking about a football field with 22 players on it or a speedway with scores of stock cars here.
A boxing ring is roughly 16 x 24 feet and is inhabited only by the boxers and the referee. So here’s a bold claim: fully automated photography would severely impact boxing. And not positively.
While boxing might be the sweet science, the concept is beautifully simple. Love it or loathe it, it’s fundamentally human. Not only is it one of the oldest sports in existence, it’s arguably changed the least.
Sure, the pomp and grandeur have grown tenfold, and both training advancements and sports science have revolutionized boxers' technique and conditioning. Still, at its heart, it all boils down to a pair of athletes and their relationship in and out of the ring.
Photography has played a huge role in conveying the brutality, character, respect, drama, and humanity of this incredible sport.
Legendary sports photographer Neil Leifer’s photograph of Muhammad Ali, standing over a downed Sonny Liston, isn’t just the most famous photo in boxing – it’s one of the most famous photographs, period.
Sports photography isn’t just about capturing the action, it’s about conveying a narrative. It’s essentially documentary photography. Leifer’s shot of Ali is beautifully exposed and beautifully composed, but it’s the narrative that has endured.
Leifer pressed the shutter button the moment Ali famously yelled at his downed opponent: “Get up and fight, sucker!”
The iconic fight remains one of the quickest knockouts for a heavyweight title, was marred by confusion as both men resumed fighting after the bout had been called, and Liston appeared to hit the canvas so easily that rumors swirled it was fixed. And Leifer experienced it all.
He was immersed in the action that night. The sound of 2,434 braying spectators ringing in his ear. Ali – a man Leifer had already built a working relationship with – danced around the ring as the 22-year-old photographer sighted him through the viewfinder of his Rolleiflex. Leifer even admitted to GQ: “Ali was my favorite subject.”
How could an AI ever compare to Neil’s experience, passion for the sport, admiration for ‘The Greatest’, and humanity? And I wonder, what moment would an AI-controlled camera have immortalized that night?
I don’t know. But I doubt it would have been that moment. Logically, the connecting punch was the photo to capture. But Neil captured the emotion, the humanity: “Get up and fight, sucker!”
Back to the long-awaited grudge match between Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn. In a world where short-form video content is king, it’s the photography by talented sports photographers such as Richard Pelham (@dickiepelham) that’s been etched into my mind post-fight.
A poignant image of the two fighters entwined in battle on the cover of Boxing News. Freeze frames of leather connecting with face, giving me shades of Herb Scharfman’s famous photo of Rocky Marciano’s knockout blow to Jersey Joe Walcott.
An exhausted Eubank Jr rising from his corner to go another round with an unshakable Conor Benn. And perhaps the photograph that will forever be associated with the bout, an elated Eubank Sr hoisting a triumphant Jr into the air as father and son celebrate the win.
This generational boxing saga of the Eubanks and the Benns is a perfect example of sport’s human element. A fight that goes back to the elder Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, duking it out on two occasions in the early Nineties.
No title was on the line last weekend. It was a fight billed entirely on a clash of personalities and two men’s pride in their respective family names.
Photography has played a huge part in delivering that narrative. Boxing isn't averse to AI involvement, with last year’s Usyk vs Fury II featuring boxing’s first AI judge (not that it contributed to the overall outcome of the fight).
But I think we need to remember that sport is about the human element, first and foremost – and sports photography is about capturing it. Let’s not remove the human element from sports photography. Trust me, the sport will suffer.
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