LEADING OFF

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Photograph by Howard Schatz

The Souls Of Boxers This black-and-white image of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao is one of more than 300 studio shots of major fighters and other figures in boxing—from referees and judges to trainers and promoters—taken by award-winning photographer Howard Schatz and collected in his large-format book At the Fights (Sports Illustrated Books, $75). Schatz, a former retina specialist who left his medical career in 1995 to dedicate himself to photography and has published 19 books of images ranging from sports to botany, began shooting boxers because, he says, "I saw how different [they] are from other athletes. They are at significant physical risk. The courage to box is beyond anything I can understand." At the Fights will be published on Nov. 13.

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Photographs by Howard Schatz

Dressed To Kill Resplendent in his white satin robe, retired three-division champion Shane Mosley swung, jabbed and flexed for Schatz's camera as if he were in the throes of another 12-round title fight. For At the Fights, Schatz took an average of more than 1,000 photos during each studio session—55 from Mosley's session appear on this spread—and a total of more than 100,000.

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Photograph by Howard Schatz

Fellowship Of the Ring Besides a 7-foot-long gatefold with photos of 37 current and former division champions, from minimumweight Ivàn Calderón to heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko, At the Fights features this group shot showing the camaraderie among the middleweights contesting Showtime's 2009 Super Six World Boxing Classic (from left): Andre Ward, Mikkel Kessler, Carl Froch, Andre Dirrell, Jermain Taylor and Arthur Abraham.