Boxing is a sport more often associated with brute violence than with aesthetics. But photographer Howard Schatz has turned thuggish fighters into the subjects of extraordinary portraits showing the beautiful side of pugilism. The stunning pictures, collected in a new book, took six years to capture as Mr Schatz sought to investigate every aspect of the controversial sport.

These pictures were bought by EspressoBuzz at an estate sale, and later scanned. Apparently, they all date from the 1944 year.

Photo: “American eagle fished out of the water in North Pacific”. (Photo by Elmer Alfred Bishop)