Monday, August 27, 2007

No excuses

Above, Kenyan welterweight Josh Onyango, left, and trainer Mike Skowronski at Teaneck Boxing Club, Training Grounds Gym, Teaneck, N.J.



Josh Onyango left his native Kenya for the United States five years ago. He lives in New Jersey. Josh is a soft-spoken, enthusiastic young man with a terrific right hook.

2 comments:

YourFireAnt said...

These photos could be titled: "Defense"; "Protection"; "Attack".

Or so they seem to me.

Interesting.

FA

Michael said...

Hi FA. Yes, boxing offers infinite possibilities for the photographer. What I like about boxing is that once you're in the ring, the bullshit stops. It's you versus your opponent. You win or lose on your own merits.

I used to cover professional boxing when I was a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in South Jersey. I've sat ringside at Mike Tyson's fights during his glory days in the 1980s, and met the man several times at post-fight victory parties. In fact, I've chatted with most of the heavyweights (Foreman, Holyfield, etc.) active in that era. Bravado on the part of the fighters aside, once they entered the ring, the bullshit stopped (unless the fix was in -- but that's an indictment against professional boxing and not the art of boxing itself).