Muhammed Ali: Zurich, 26.12.1971 1971

Muhammad Ali, Zurich, 26.12.1971�shows the iconic American smooth-talking�rhymester-boxer before and during�his prize fight in Zurich against German�heavyweight Jurgen Blin on December�26, 1971.�Hans-Ruedi Jaggi, a Swiss hustler and�promoter, succeeded in bringing the champ�to Zurich for the fight. At Zurich's Playboy�Bar, Jaggi made a bet with Jack Starck,�a society reporter for the Swiss tabloid�Blick, for a bottle of Ballantine's that, after�having already got Jimi Hendrix and the�Rolling Stones to give concerts in Zurich,�he would now lure the mighty Muhammad�Ali to town for a fight. He subsequently�flew to the States three times but couldn't�get an "in" with Ali. Eventually he made�it through to Ali's Black Muslims. When�asked by the clan's spiritual leader Herbert�Muhammad, "What's with the dough?"�he pulled $10,000 pretty much all the�money he had at the time out of his silver�ankle-boots and a preliminary deal was�promptly signed and sealed on a sheet of�hotel stationery. Zurich photographer�Eric Bachmann accompanied�Ali during his ten-day stay, on his�winter jog through Zurich's woods or buying�shoes in a working-class neighborhood,�going through his training drills and, finally,�during the big fight, which rapidly climaxed�in the seventh round when he knocked�out the blond German giant Jurgen Blin. The book�documents the events in brisk chronological�order, as befits a boxer who "floats like�a butterfly, stings like a bee," in a rapid-fire�succession of impressively intimate and�humorous shots against the placid urban�backdrop of mid-'70s Zurich.