It’s not very often, but occasionally I will get the chance to capture a boxing competition. What could be more fun than shooting two teams trying to belt the living hell out of each other?
Well fun is the wrong word I suppose, It’s not fun. These competitions are tense, in fact the air feels thick, it’s an effort to move around.
Capturing these things can be difficult, but I think you have to put the time in, spend time with these boys in the build up. The afternoon is all about the bravado, the image, the focus. Young men with little experience but a big heart and weeks of dedicated training. Too much effort to just let it all go.
Then the evening comes, the tension just gets worse. Making eye contact, looking for a glimpse of an emotion, but the discipline is good, just focus.
The bell goes, the crowd erupt. I wonder if the fighters even hear it all. I try to be in the ring with them, to pre-empt the attack, it’s not easy trying to be inside someone’s head.
Three two minute rounds sounds like a breeze, a token effort, but that is not what the faces say. Now the fight is on the masks slip a little, on some more than others. The chatter between rounds seems pointless as you feel the fighters know now how it is all going to go. Have they got the measure of their opponent?
Still, it only takes one hit, lucky, maybe. You make your own luck. All those hours of training seem distant, has it all been worth it?
The fight ends, the final bell. What now? The fighters seem lost. Who won, dare I believe? There is no certainty, only confusion. Two confident boxers believe, but they can’t both be right, so who saw what? What did the judges see? The crowd silenced in anticipation.
As the referee calls the competitors forward and grabs their wrists, the fighters regain composure daring to anticipate. The ref holds up the winners hand and then for a moment the story reveals itself for a briefest of moments. It’s all over, this time.
Was it really worth it? Don’t ask me, I bear no bruises from this one.
The mastery of life, work and Photography 