Boxing Club Photography – Part 2

When I went to photograph Faversham Boxing Club, the thing that really astounded me was just how physically fit you have to be in order to box. You are constantly moving. A great part of each session is spent skipping, shadow boxing and doing drills. 

Something I was a bit worried about, before going to the Club, was how adversarial it would be – I have always shied away from any kind of conflict. I need not have worried. There is a bell that rings every sixty seconds. For three minutes, two people spar. Then for sixty seconds they rest or do a set of press-ups and Ian offers advice on how to improve. These periods keep alternating throughout the “fight”. As soon as anyone gives way to frustration, they lose the fight. 

In other words, I learned that boxing is about learning how to control and channel your emotions, rather than venting them indiscriminately. 

At the end of each session, the two boxers touch gloves by way of a handshake, or pat each other on the back. I like good sportsmanship, and these young people have all learnt it.

I’m a portrait photographer and so I was less interested in the action than I was in the individuals. I wanted to see them in isolation from each other.  Like Frank Bruno said: “Boxing is the toughest and loneliest sport in the world. You’ve got all the fans, lots of hangers-on jumping up and shouting different words. But when you actually go in the ring, it’s a very lonely and scary place. It’s just you and the other guy.” 

I met some remarkable people. Evie, who is quite slight in stature, trains alongside men a foot taller than her. She is utterly undaunted and as determined as any of them. Rhys was the youngest boxer and had the most incredible energy – he barely takes a moment of rest. Owen and his older brother Henry come over from the Isle of Sheppey three times a week to box at the club. William, Ben and Alex are more experienced and compete nationally and also help to coach those with less experience. Charlie had just started learning boxing and I watched as William taught him footwork. The club has such a supportive environment with such a wonderful variety of characters.

I confess that I had imagined boxing as a violent sport. I’m sure it can be violent, but that wasn’t what I saw at Faversham Boxing Club. Here were a group of people practising with great dedication and generosity of spirit, all working together to achieve incredible fitness and skill, all under the care of someone who holds their best interests dear.