Floyd Patterson / Ingemar Johansson Sports Illustrated Art Collection. In the third round of the World Heavyweight Championship fight on June 26, 1959 a then relatively unknown fighter from Sweden floored Floyd Patterson seven times to become the new Heavyweight Champion. The fight stunned the boxing world and elevated Johansson to Sports Illustrated's exalted title of "Sportsman of the Year."

Prior to the much anticipated re-match, SI's cover story on June 20, 1960 was a seven page article titled "Why Ingo Will Do It Again." To illustrate the story, SI brought in Robert Riger, arguably the most accomplished artist whose work consistently appeared on that popular magazine's pages. Riger produced thirteen drawings for the story, depicting the combatants in action as the writer of the article, Martin Kane, anticipated they would unfold. Fight fans, however, now know that the re-match did not turn out the way he expected-Patterson won back his title.

Of the thirteen original Riger drawings, eleven have been preserved and are included in this lot. Robert Riger worked on 15 x 20in. illustration boards, with one or two drawings per board. (The eleven drawings were created on eight boards. In the case of the three boards that each contained two drawings, ample room exists to cut those boards and separate the art.) On the verso of the boards are Sports Illustrated's notes indicating that this original art appeared in their June 20, 1960 issue.

A copy of the original issue of the magazine that published these images is included in the lot.

BIDDERS PLEASE NOTE: This lot has been included in this auction because of its relevance to other items available; however, it does not come from Mr. Leifer's collection.

Please note the terms being used to describe photographic prints:

Vintage print: Printed no more than 3-5 years after the negative was made.
Older print: Also referred to by collectors as "printed later." Refers to a print that was made more than 3-5 years after the original negative was made, but not within the 21st century.
Modern print: Refers to a print made in the 21st century from an earlier, 20th century negative.