Circa 1960s Sports Pix Boxing Premium Cassius Clay Portrait BGS EX 5

Rare blank-back, matter photographic premium of legendary boxer Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) issued by Sports Pix. The offered premium is printed on heavy photo paper and measures approximately 8 x 10 inches. Graded EX 5 by BVG, the piece presents extremely well, with a small bend in the lower right corner and a clean blank back. It is free of any other creases or wrinkles and has been encapsulated with a plastic sleeve for stability by BVG. While BVG has assigned a date range of 1968-1973 to this piece, it is believed that this piece may more likely date to circa 1963-1964 as Clay denounced his birth name in 1964 and officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali. Additional research reveals three different sets of Sports Pix advertised in a 1963 issue of the Street and Smith Pictorial Annual (a copy of this ad is posted online for review but does not accompany the item). Each set consists of twelve different athletes from baseball, football, and boxing. According to the advertisement, the photos are 8.5 x 11 inches and "coated," which may suggest glossy finish. The advertisement also announces five extra photos to anyone who orders all three sets. While Clay is known in a full-body pose within one of the offered sets, one operating theory for this thicker stock premium featuring a portrait pose is that it may have been one of the "bonus" photos offered to purchasers. We may never know the exact origin of this piece, but it represents the only one of its kind we have ever seen and the only one authenticated by any grading company to date. This is a fascinating premium photograph worthy of even the most advanced Ali collection!