S.I.’s Leifer having flashbacks Photographer back in Lewiston to revisit image of a lifetime

LEWISTON – It was 40 years ago Wednesday that photographer Neil Leifer took his memorable photo of a triumphant Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston moments after the first-round knockout that ended their heavyweight championship fight at the Central Maine Youth Center.

“It’s not my favorite photograph, but without question, it’s my signature picture, and I’m very, very proud of it,” said Leifer, who was back in Lewiston on Wednesday for a Sports Illustrated photo shoot in which the venue was re-created much as it was on May 25, 1965.

It was a bout so wacky and controversial it can still provoke debate among boxing fans. Singer Robert Goulet mangled the words of the national anthem, referee Jersey Joe Walcott mishandled the count, and the righthand blow with which Ali, then Cassius Clay, decked Lisbon was quickly labeled by skeptics as the “phantom punch.”

The photo session at the former Central Maine Youth Center, which has since been renamed The Colisee, is part of a yearlong assignment in which Leifer is revisiting events and places he covered for Sports Illustrated from 1958 to 1978.

The Colisee is one of only two buildings on Leifer’s itinerary, along with the Houston Astrodome. The rest of what he calls his “senior citizen tour” has already brought him back to such events as the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby and the Masters.

“I thought it would be fun to go back and really just reminisce. And I’m lucky that [Sports Illustrated] said yes,” said Leifer, 62.

Leifer had been discussing a return to Lewiston with Assistant City Administrator Phil Nadeau for nearly two years. Nadeau began corresponding when he contacted Leifer’s son about purchasing a print of the famous photo.

“Neil called back because he was so thrilled someone from Lewiston, Maine, was going to buy this picture,” Nadeau said.

“I thought about what could I do about the one picture, the one moment, that everyone remembered me for, obviously the fight that took place here 40 years ago, and I thought it would really be a fun idea if I could come back and photograph this arena,” Leifer said.

The photographer said he never imagined Nadeau would re-create the scene to make it appear as near as possible to the way it was in 1965.