In this February 11, 2105 photo, 72-year-old Aurea Murillo prepares to make a pass during a handball match among elderly Aymara indigenous women in El Alto, Bolivia. Dozens of traditional Aymara grandmothers ease many of the aches and pains of aging by practicing a sport that is decidedly untraditional in Bolivia: team handball. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

Richard Kilty of Britain celebrates after winning the men's 60 metres final during the European Indoor Championships in Prague March 8, 2015. REUTERS/David W Cerny (CZECH REPUBLIC - Tags: SPORT ATHLETICS)

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.