Boxing, The Spirit and Zimbabwean Dollars

This week I had a splendid time photographing a night of French boxing at the beautiful Cirque d'Hiver in Paris. The tournament titled "Le Grand Tournoi" featured professional French boxers in various weight classes as well as one international bout. I was quite surprised at the talent level. The two main fights were excellent.


Being ringside is thrilling as well as disturbing. Things happen so quickly in the ring and before you know it, the boxers can be right on top of you. I only hope and pray that they're tested for AIDS because all the photographers catch a fair bit of fluids during the fight. Boxing is problematic because from a human standpoint, there's no reason for a sport to exist where the rules are to basically hit the other guy in the head so hard that he can't even stand up for 10 seconds - it's real savagery. Yet at the same time, I find the intensity of a good boxing match to be one of the most engaging and exciting events in the world of sport.

Somewhat less violent (and interesting) was the French premiere of the film "The Spirit" with Samuel Jackson, Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes (the women, at least based on this photo, arrived naked).


The most entertaining part of the evening happened when Samuel verbally smacked down one of the French photographers who kept ordering him to move around. Once you photograph Samuel on a red carpet you know that he's the one in charge and yelling requests really doesn't sit well with him. I loved it when Samuel stopped, pointed at the French photographer and said in his Pulp Fiction-like voice "You gonna keep on barkin' or take some damn pictures?" Not sure the Frenchman understood the words but he certainly understood the meaning.


In the "it could be much worse" category, Zimbabwe this week announced the minting of new 500 million dollar bank notes. Take a guess how much 500 MILLION Zimbabwean dollars is worth in terms of US dollars. The answer: $8 So if your desire to become a millionaire is strong, you know where to move. You'd need just under 2 US cents to be a millionaire in Zimbabwe.

Here is some very compelling and telling video shot by a photographer Robbie Cooper showing young people playing video games. CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

Photo of the week ...

Danger of death

P.S. - Don't miss the special holiday video just below - only good through January 15