Charter Oak Boxing Academy

Five nights a week and most weekends, in what looks like an old garage sitting on the edge of the Parkville section of Hartford, Connecticut, dozens of boys and girls - men and women - check into the Charter Oak Boxing Academy to practice, study and spar.

In a room made humid by perspiration, there are the sounds of jump ropes snapping on the floor, punches landing on heavy bags, the snorting of shadow boxers and the squeak of shoes shuffling across two rings, as fighting friends practice the art of hitting without being hit. For all the sound the place is quiet, because boxing takes concentration and as much as success in the ring builds confidence, absorbing a punch infuses humility which removes the impulse to brag over momentary conquest.

This is a two-part series of photo essays originally published in early 2019.

There has always been a link between boxing and black and white photography. The photo essay I titled COBA-Classic is an homage to that pairing.