Making the Weight
The ceiling is low and the air heavy with sweat in the cowshed come boxing gym on the outskirts of Hartlepool. There is no state of the art equipment to be found just the old fashioned barebones, no frills approach to training. The walls are coarsely decorated with posters and pictures of fights and fighters from past and present. This is the home of the world famous Fannans’ Gym.
Francis had been offered a bout on the under-card of a World title fight with only a short amount of time to get ring ready. On the morning of the weigh-in I turned up as arranged to photograph him as he worked to shed the last few pounds in order to make the weight classification. The last few pounds turned out to be 7lb’s; the only way to lose them was through sweat. He was wrapped in several layers of clothing and a rubber ‘sweat suit’ with an industrial strength gas heater blasting into the stifling gym. Sweat was pouring from under his woolly hat as he pounded the rolling road of the running machine. He struggled to talk but managed to greet me with a smile and tell me that he had been at it for several gruelling hours “but there’s only a few more pounds to go”. Exhausted, he stopped the machine and headed into the ring. He picked up a jump rope and attempted to skip, it was over 100 degrees and he was so exhausted he couldn’t coordinate his body to do what his mind wanted. He looked so drained and weak, but back to the bike it was; cycle, run, cycle, run, until he doggedly lost those last few pounds. I can only imagine the pain and mental anguish he was going through, unable to quench his thirst with a mere sip of water, as this would add weight, a request for an ice cube rejected by his trainer.
Francis won that fight and went on to challenge for a British title.
In this intimate series of photographs I have delved deeper into the life of Francis ‘Fearless’ Jones as he battles for maximum fitness as well as sustaining a life and livelihood outside of the ring.
Paul Alexander Knox
This exhibition will run from the 29th of March 2008 to the 24th of May 2008, the opening was attended by an audience of 57 people.
The top 3 prize winners in our Big Snap competition received their awards at the Best of Darlington Awards on the 15th of February. The competition's theme, Hidden Gems, produced some remarkable interpretations in hundreds of entries. First prize was won by Alison Gall for her unusual take on the famous town hall clock (above).
Ian Martin won second prize for his abstract interpretation of the water feature outside Darlington Arts Centre (below left).
Chris Walker took third, with his image of a corner of West Cemetery (below right).
Other prize winners will receive theirs at a special Arts Cafe event on Saturday March 16th between 11 and 12pm. They are:
Best Place - Andrew McAdam
Best Portrait Angela Muzetti
Best Animal - Steve Cambrige
Each receive a cheque for £25.
In the Junior category there were two winners - Best over all picture Jacob and Best Place Jack Usher.
Three other prizes will be announced on Saturday the 15th March. The popular vote, DMGs commendation and the Best entry of pictures on a theme these will also receive £25 each. So come along you may still win a prize.