Grantland: Macklin vs. Martinez

McSweeney's fourth Grantland Quarterly is out now and includes a two-color illustration I did for a piece on the St. Patricks Day Macklin vs. Martinez fight and the racial politics of boxing. I thought it was an interesting read, touching on the how the crowds drive promoters and how "...being the best is second or maybe third on the list of qualities needed to become a superstar..."
The sketches below were approaches to the idea of the fighters being overshadowed by their nationalist bases, and how many other layers besides the fight were at play. AD Juliet Litman.

Grantland: Hagler v. Leonard

 The new issue of Grantland, McSweeney's sports quarterly is on stands now with a huge amount of really nice artwork and essays. I had the good fortune to get to work with Juliet Litman on an illustration for a piece by Eric Raskin recounting the hotly debated oral history of the 1987 Hagler vs. Leonard fight. The crux of the piece being how subjective the calls were depending on perspectives and tastes of the judges, and how far from clean-cut the final decision was. Below are a few of the steps of the process, beginning with thumbnails done while reading the article, followed by sketches on the idea of conflicting viewpoints, and then the ink drawing layers.