John Rooney
Photographer Herb Scharfman, lower left, looks on as Muhammad Ali knocks down Sonny Liston during the World Heavyweight Title at St, Dominic’s Arena, Lewiston, Maine, May 25, 1965
Don Delliquanti: “Attorneys have a rule to never ask a question to which they already do not know the answer. Unfortunately for me, I did not learn this rule until I had asked such a question. In October of 1971, I was riding in a rented station wagon back to New York City with some Sports Illustrated photographers who had finished photographing the final World Series game. One of the photographers was the late Herb Scharfman, a veteran who was equally skillful photographing both baseball and boxing. Somewhere along the New Jersey Turnpike, I began talking boxing with Herb and happened to ask if he was the SI photographer who shot the famous photo of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston. Herbie answered with an icy ‘No’ and our conversation ended abruptly. A few days after we returned to NYC, I noticed THE Neil Leifer photo hanging on a the wall at SI and there was Herbie Scharfman in the photo on the opposite side of the ring between Ali’s legs, exactly 180 degrees away from one of the greatest photos ever taken…and then I knew!”
—Don Delliquanti, former Deputy Picture Editor and 25-year veteran at Sports Illustrated.