Salute to some of the top Boxing Photo Journalists
Who does this? Apparently Joe Joyce. Here we see him celebrating his victory over Filip Hrgovic with a back flip during their World Series of Boxing contest, February 7, 2013 in London, England. Photo: Scott Heavy
Each day the working photographers of the world, especially those who work for Getty Images are on assignment to come up with some interesting photos. Photos that often tell a tale. Photos that would surely put network programming like America’s Most Funny Videos to shame. The following photos produced by Scott Heavy (the first six) and the final one from Kevork Djansezian of Getty Images, are classic photos that need our praise as well as a little bit of explaining.
Please read the summaries and then check out these unique photos from the world of boxing.
Photo #1 – the tough journeyman fighter
Twenty-four year-old top prospect John “The Gorilla” Ryder (14-0-0, 8 KOs) is shown knocking 33 year-old journeyman Farai Musiyiwa down in the seventh round of their scheduled eight round middleweight bout at Wembley Arena on March 9, 2013 in London, England.
Big deal you say. Yes, Ryder did end up getting the win but not by knockout. He had to battle his senior opponent right up until the close of Round #8.
The behind the scenes tale of this matchup between the journeyman fighter Mr. Musiyiwa (no way a Tomato Can) and the much younger Ryder? You often hear people talk about this person or that person being a glutton for punishment. Well, in Musiyiwa’s 33 career contests, he has only fought four boxers with soft records. If you’re not a tough guy, a potential contender with a winning record, he doesn’t want any part of fighting you. He’d much rather take his lumps and have a good competitive bout. In other words, he likes to fight.
Since boxing is a learning process, you’re first 10 bouts are supposed to be warmups against the not so good journeymen. If you check the records of the current champions – they were all brought along slowly – not the way Musiyiwa was.
Photos #2a and 2b Have you ever seen this before? I haven’t.
In the top photo, we see Chris Evangelou almost leveling his opponent, Danny “Cassius” Connor. The two men were in an intense battle to win the Southern Area Light Welterweight Championship at Wembley Arena, March 9, 2013 in London, England.
As the bout progressed, Conner finally figured out a way to beat his opponent. Now comes the crazy part. Some people get excited when they win, Evangelou got excited when he lost. In the larger, second photo, Evangelou (9-2) is shown with Connor (8-5) up on his shoulders after Connor defeated Evangelou for the second straight time.
What must his coach be thinking?
Photo #3 – who does this?
Joe Joyce is shown celebrating his victory over Filip Hrgovic during their World Series of Boxing contest, February 7, 2013 in London, England. He got such rave reviews from his friends regarding the tumbling performance, that he plans to do it again and again after each win.
Photo #4 – Monkey see, monkey do
Andrew Selby of the British Lionhearts (L) is shown doing the very same thing. Well, almost the same, he is entertaining. During the break in action of the World Series of Boxing show at York Hall in London, England, Selby tried his hand at tumbling or was that bumbling?
Photo #5 – Getting back to the serious stuff
In this photo we see Darren Barker knocking down Simone Rotolo during their vacant IBF Inter-Continental Middleweight Championship bout at the very same Wembley Arena on March 9, 2013 in London, England.
The final photo was taken Saturday evening March 16, 2013 by Kevork Djansezian who also works for Getty Images. This is without a doubt the best photo taken that night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA at that WBO Welterweight title fight between Timothy Bradley, the eventual winner, and Ruslan Provodnikov. With the fighters being quick of hand, the timing had to be perfect.
